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TykTechnologies

TykTechnologies/tyk

Open source API and AI gateway in Go that proxies REST, GraphQL, TCP, gRPC and MCP traffic with auth, rate limiting and analytics.

Open-source alternative to:ApigeeKong Konnect

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What is it?

Tyk Gateway is an open source API gateway written in Go. It sits in front of upstream services and handles cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, rate limiting and quotas, access control per API version and operation, and usage analytics, without requiring changes to the backend services.

The gateway supports REST (including OpenAPI import), SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP and MCP (Model Context Protocol). For MCP, it parses JSON-RPC 2.0 and applies policies per tool, resource and prompt, and can generate an MCP proxy from an existing REST API. Plugins can be written in Go, Python, JavaScript or any language that speaks gRPC.

Tyk Gateway can be run with Docker, installed through Helm on Kubernetes, or compiled from source on Linux. Commercial management features such as a dashboard and developer portal are offered separately under a commercial license in the 'ee' directory.

Key features

  • 01Proxies REST, GraphQL, gRPC, TCP, SOAP and MCP traffic through one gateway.
  • 02Applies JWT, bearer token, basic auth and client certificate authentication.
  • 03Enforces rate limits and quotas per consumer to protect upstream services.
  • 04Applies access policies per tool, resource and prompt for MCP traffic.
  • 05Imports Swagger and OpenAPI 2.x and 3.0.1 definitions to create APIs.
  • 06Supports custom plugins written in Go, Python, JavaScript or any gRPC-capable language.

Use cases

  • Putting authentication and rate limiting in front of a set of microservices.
  • Governing AI agent access to remote MCP servers with per-tool policies.
  • Exposing an existing REST API as an MCP endpoint without writing a separate server.
  • Running an API gateway in Kubernetes via Helm or in Docker Compose.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Create tyk.conf and a Docker Compose file that runs Tyk Gateway and Redis (see the README quick start link)

  2. 2

    Start the Gateway with Docker Compose

    docker compose up -d
  3. 3

    Send a request to the hello endpoint to confirm the Gateway runs

    curl localhost:8080/hello

Things to know

  • Some features, such as the Tyk Operator and the Dashboard, require a commercial licence.
  • The code in the 'ee' folder is under a commercial licence rather than MPL 2.0.

In collections

MCP serversGraphQL APIs & API clientsMicroservice frameworks & service infrastructure

Topics

#api-gateway#mcp#graphql#grpc#reverse-proxy#rate-limiting#kubernetes#golang#ai#ai-gateway

FAQ

What is tyk?
Open source API and AI gateway in Go that proxies REST, GraphQL, TCP, gRPC and MCP traffic with auth, rate limiting and analytics. Tyk Gateway is an open source API gateway written in Go. It sits in front of upstream services and handles cross-cutting concerns such as authentication, rate limiting and quotas, access control per API version and operation, and usage analytics, without requiring changes to the backend services.
Is tyk free to use? What license does it have?
tyk is open source under the Other license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is tyk still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to tyk was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use tyk for?
Putting authentication and rate limiting in front of a set of microservices. Governing AI agent access to remote MCP servers with per-tool policies. Exposing an existing REST API as an MCP endpoint without writing a separate server. Running an API gateway in Kubernetes via Helm or in Docker Compose.
How do I install tyk?
Create tyk.conf and a Docker Compose file that runs Tyk Gateway and Redis (see the README quick start link) Start the Gateway with Docker Compose: docker compose up -d Send a request to the hello endpoint to confirm the Gateway runs: curl localhost:8080/hello
Where can I get tyk?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/TykTechnologies/tyk

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