# alibaba/tengine

A high-performance web server and reverse proxy, 100% compatible with nginx.

Repository: https://github.com/alibaba/tengine
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/tengine
Homepage: https://tengine.taobao.org
Language: C
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: tengine, nginx, http3, quic, load-balancer, lua, reverse-proxy, tls, web-server, forward-proxy, health-check, sm2, tlcp, kubernetes-ingress, tcp-proxy
Last push: 2026-08-24T06:13:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 60, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5278, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 22, "gap_med": 4.0, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: prerelease_only
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 13338, forks 2504 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:03.182930+00:00)

## What it is
Tengine is a high-performance web server and reverse proxy forked from nginx, developed by Taobao/Alibaba since 2011. It is 100% nginx-compatible and adds HTTP/3 (QUIC), active upstream health checks, zero-downtime dynamic configuration, Kubernetes Ingress support, Lua scripting, and Chinese national-standard TLS (SM2/TLCP).

## Use cases
- serve high-traffic websites with an nginx-compatible web server
- reverse proxy and load balance backend services
- run a kubernetes ingress controller with dynamic config
- terminate HTTP/3 QUIC traffic at the edge
- perform active health checks on upstream servers
- support SM2/TLCP national cryptography TLS
- use Lua to extend web server behavior
- forward proxy with HTTP CONNECT

## When to choose
- you need nginx compatibility plus health checks, dynamic config, or HTTP/3
- you operate very large-scale traffic like e-commerce gateways
- you need a Kubernetes ingress controller with zero-downtime dynamic routing
- you must support Chinese national cryptographic TLS standards (SM2/TLCP)

## When to avoid
- you want a minimal vanilla nginx with official vendor support
- you need a lightweight dev server or static file host only
- your team cannot maintain a fork-specific feature set

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: http-server, proxy, load-testing, api-gateway, middleware, websocket
- domain: web-development, backend, networking, self-hosted, microservices, security
- platform: cross-platform, self-hosted
- tags: nginx-fork, http3, quic, reverse-proxy, load-balancer, health-check, lua-scripting, kubernetes-ingress, sm2, tlcp, tcp-proxy, high-performance, linux, docker, kubernetes, web-server

## Member repositories
- alibaba/tengine (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:03.182930+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 2026-08-29T17:13:20.936699+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/alibaba/tengine (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:03.182930+00:00, sha 62a796f359e5)
  - homepage: https://tengine.taobao.org (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.616456+00:00, sha 49f146b75035)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/documentation.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.625641+00:00, sha dbcfbe2a1dc3)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/nginx_docs/cn (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.633384+00:00, sha 99987b9326ba)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/faq.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.627438+00:00, sha bda8f6a2f307)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/changelog_ingress_cn.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.629044+00:00, sha 32cce16f7f32)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/changelog_cn.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.630821+00:00, sha 25018db2a5ba)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/changelog_ingress.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.635028+00:00, sha 3fa2ca24e1e7)
  - site_page: https://tengine.taobao.org/changelog.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:08:32.636604+00:00, sha 42bdda08337d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.