# traefik/mesh

Traefik Mesh - Simpler Service Mesh

Repository: https://github.com/traefik/mesh
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mesh
Homepage: https://traefik.io/traefik-mesh
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: traefik, mesh, service-mesh, service-mesh-interface, traefik-mesh
Last push: 2026-03-23T15:56:06+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 56/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 73, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2661, "days_push": 163, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2105, forks 145 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:13.877369+00:00)

## What it is
Traefik Mesh is a simple, full-featured service mesh for Kubernetes that implements the Service Mesh Interface (SMI) specification. It uses a sidecar-less architecture with node-level proxy endpoints, leaving existing Kubernetes objects and traffic untouched until services are explicitly opted in.

## Use cases
- add a service mesh to my kubernetes cluster
- sidecar-less service mesh for kubernetes
- implement SMI traffic policies between services
- opt-in service-to-service routing without modifying pods
- simple alternative to istio or linkerd
- control traffic splitting and access between microservices

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, non-invasive service mesh on Kubernetes
- you prefer SMI-spec compliance and annotation-based configuration
- you want to avoid sidecar containers and pod mutation
- you already use CoreDNS and Helm in your cluster

## When to avoid
- you need advanced features like mTLS, deep observability, or multi-cluster mesh
- you use a DNS provider other than CoreDNS
- you need a sidecar-based mesh with per-pod proxies
- your project requires the newest service mesh features and active development

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: maintenance
- function: microservices, routing, networking, deployment
- domain: microservices, cloud-computing, networking
- platform: go, self-hosted
- tags: service-mesh, smi, sidecar-less, coredns, helm, traefik, containers, devops, kubernetes, docker

## Member repositories
- traefik/mesh (main) score 56

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:13.877369+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:54:12.042521+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/traefik/mesh (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:13.877369+00:00, sha ab9575b87ae4)
  - homepage: https://traefik.io/traefik-mesh (fetched 2026-08-29T10:34:21.399872+00:00, sha 3b6747e4ba28)
  - site_page: https://traefik.io/about-us (fetched 2026-08-29T10:34:21.414712+00:00, sha 85f868b96d98)
  - site_page: https://traefik.io/pricing (fetched 2026-08-29T10:34:21.409259+00:00, sha fdd8fd34b90c)
  - site_page: https://doc.traefik.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:34:21.411233+00:00, sha 58364afe9c0f)
  - site_page: https://doc.traefik.io (fetched 2026-08-29T10:34:21.413015+00:00, sha 58364afe9c0f)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.