# OptimalBits/redbird

A modern reverse proxy for node

Repository: https://github.com/OptimalBits/redbird
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/redbird
Language: TypeScript
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-09-30T08:57:11+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 34/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 40, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4411, "days_push": 702, "days_rel": 702, "gap_med": 5.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4412, forks 274 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:48.530734+00:00)

## What it is
Redbird is a TypeScript library for building dynamic reverse proxies on Node.js, built on top of http-proxy. It supports programmatic route registration without restarts, automatic Let's Encrypt TLS certificates, websockets, HTTP2, load balancing, and automatic Docker container registration.

## Use cases
- route multiple domains from one host to different backend services
- terminate SSL and auto-renew Let's Encrypt certificates for proxied apps
- reverse proxy websockets alongside HTTP traffic
- load balance requests across several backend servers
- automatically register Docker containers as proxy routes
- register and unregister proxy routes at runtime for zero-downtime deployments

## When to choose
- you need a programmable reverse proxy inside a Node.js application
- you want automatic HTTPS with Let's Encrypt without a separate tool
- you run many small services on one host and need dynamic virtual hosts
- you want Docker containers to be proxied automatically as they start

## When to avoid
- you need a full-featured standalone proxy like nginx, HAProxy, or Traefik
- your stack is not Node.js based
- you need advanced traffic shaping, retries, or observability features of mature proxies
- you require a GUI or declarative configuration file workflow

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: proxy, routing, http-server, websocket, load-testing
- domain: networking, web-development, backend
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: reverse-proxy, letsencrypt, ssl-termination, http-proxy, dynamic-routing, zero-downtime, docker-integration, load-balancing, devops, containers, nodejs, docker, web-server

## Member repositories
- OptimalBits/redbird (main) score 34

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.530734+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 2026-08-29T18:21:02.901957+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/OptimalBits/redbird (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:48.530734+00:00, sha 7dc810cb8a00)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/redbird (fetched 2026-08-29T09:09:02.389210+00:00, sha e6a4c41a08ca)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.