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Architecture

Smart Proxy acts as a "Man-in-the-Middle" for your Kubernetes Ingresses and OpenShift Routes.

Workflow

  1. Patching: When you "Patch" a route via the Admin UI, Smart Proxy modifies the Ingress/Route to point to its own service (smart-proxy) instead of the original application service.

    • The original configuration is saved in annotations (smart-proxy/original-service).
    • The smart-proxy/patched annotation is set to true.

  2. Request Handling:

    • Users access app.example.com.
    • Traffic hits smart-proxy.
    • The proxy checks the Host header to find the corresponding configuration.

  3. Idle Detection:

    • If the target deployment is scaled to 0 (sleeping), the proxy holds the request and triggers a scale-up.
    • It shows a "Waking Up" page to the user.
    • Once the deployment is ready, it proxies the request.
    • A timer tracks inactivity. If no requests occur within the IdleTimeout, the proxy scales the deployment back to 0.

  4. Dependencies:

    • If a route has dependencies configured, the proxy ensures all dependent services are running before forwarding traffic.
    • Usage of one service keeps the entire chain alive.
    • When the main service idles, dependencies can optionally be stopped as well.