# zalando/skipper

An HTTP router and reverse proxy for service composition, including use cases like Kubernetes Ingress

Repository: https://github.com/zalando/skipper
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/skipper
Homepage: https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/
Language: Go
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: proxy, router, eskip, mosaic, skipper, http-proxy, etcd, go, kubernetes-ingress, kubernetes, kubernetes-controller, cloud, ingress-controller
Last push: 2026-08-25T18:47:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4073, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 0, "n_releases_24m": 506}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3319, forks 404 (observed 2026-08-28T04:07:56.222946+00:00)

## What it is
Skipper is an HTTP router and reverse proxy written in Go, designed for service composition with support for hundreds of thousands of dynamically updated routes and per-route request/response filters. It can run standalone or as a Kubernetes Ingress controller, with data clients for etcd, Kubernetes, static files, and custom sources.

## Use cases
- route http requests to backend services
- run a kubernetes ingress controller
- reverse proxy with per-route filters
- blue-green deployments and shadow traffic
- rate limiting and circuit breaking at the edge
- dynamically update routing rules without downtime
- verify and manage routes with a cli

## When to choose
- you need a high-performance http router/proxy with large, frequently changing route tables
- you run kubernetes and want an ingress controller with advanced traffic features
- you need per-route filters, circuit breakers, or shadow traffic in a proxy layer

## When to avoid
- you need a simple static reverse proxy with minimal configuration
- you want a layer-4 TCP/UDP load balancer only
- your stack is not Go/Kubernetes-friendly and you prefer nginx or envoy ecosystems

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: stable
- function: proxy, routing, http-server, middleware, rate-limiting, api-gateway, tracing, monitoring, cli
- domain: networking, web-development, microservices, cloud-computing, infrastructure-as-code, self-hosted
- platform: go, cloud, self-hosted, cli
- tags: reverse-proxy, http-router, ingress-controller, eskip, service-composition, circuit-breaker, blue-green-deployment, shadow-traffic, load-balancing, devops, linux, docker, kubernetes

## Member repositories
- zalando/skipper (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:56.222946+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 2026-08-29T18:42:02.829932+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/zalando/skipper (fetched 2026-08-28T04:07:56.222946+00:00, sha 59f2b9318d92)
  - homepage: https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:34:57.168557+00:00, sha d137bcbfb827)
  - site_page: https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/kubernetes/ingress-controller (fetched 2026-08-29T09:34:57.190665+00:00, sha bf77b165aef6)
  - site_page: https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/tutorials/basics (fetched 2026-08-29T09:34:57.181826+00:00, sha cdaba1d779c7)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.