agentgateway

agentgateway is an Apache 2.0 Rust gateway designed for AI agent traffic, covering MCP, A2A (Agent-to-Agent), and LLM completion protocols under one control point. The project joined the Linux Foundation in early 2026 with contributor participation from AWS, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Red Hat, and Solo.io.

What it does

agentgateway applies Envoy-style filter chains — implemented in Rust for throughput — to agent traffic. Multi-protocol routing dispatches MCP, A2A, and LLM completion requests through configurable policy, with CEL expressions for dynamic decisions. JWKS-based authentication validates JWTs from any OIDC IdP with automatic key rotation. OpenTelemetry tracing instruments all traffic end-to-end.

MCP 2025-06-18 specification support includes OAuth 2.1 authorization server flow. Configuration uses Kubernetes Gateway API resources declaratively.

Where it fits

Kubernetes-heavy organizations adopting the Gateway API pattern that want agent governance in-line with their existing traffic management stack, with the Linux Foundation governance posture for long-term OSS stability.

Licensing

Apache 2.0 under Linux Foundation governance. There is no commercial tier directly offered by the project.

Deployment

Primarily Kubernetes via Helm and Gateway API resources. A standalone binary mode is supported and is stabilizing through the pre-1.0 release cycle.

Limitations

• Kubernetes Gateway API-first design means Docker Swarm and single-VM deployments are second-class relative to K8s.
• No built-in virtual-key wallet with hard budget enforcement; quota and budget logic require wiring to an external rate-limit service.
• No admin UI — configuration is YAML manifests, which fits GitOps well but is heavier for ad-hoc team management.
• Governance tooling (audit retention, RBAC UI, cost dashboards) is less developed than purpose-built LLM gateways such as LiteLLM or Portkey.
• Pre-1.0 release cycle means API changes can occur between minor versions.