| Project | A logical workspace grouping APIs, gateways, and users. All configurations and deployments are managed per project. |
| API Gateway | A component that handles client API requests, enforces policies, and routes requests to backend services. |
| Gateway URL | The external endpoint assigned to an API Gateway, allowing access to deployed APIs. |
| Ingress Class | A Kubernetes configuration used to specify which ingress controller (e.g., NGINX, Kong) to use. |
| Gateway Policy | A rule or logic applied to API requests or responses, such as authentication, logging, or transformation. |
| Inbound Policy | A policy executed before the request is forwarded to the backend. |
| Outbound Policy | A policy executed after the backend responds but before the client receives the response. |
| Kong Gateway | The open-source API gateway engine used by the APIM system for managing API traffic. |
| Kubernetes | An open-source platform for container orchestration, used by APIM to deploy and scale gateways. |
| Pod | A basic deployable unit in Kubernetes that contains one or more containers. APIM Gateways run as pods. |
| Affinity | A Kubernetes configuration that controls pod co-location on specific nodes. |
| Toleration | A Kubernetes setting that allows pods to run on nodes with specific taints. |
| Topology Spread | A configuration that ensures gateway pods are evenly distributed across nodes or zones. |
| API | A defined interface that allows communication between software services. In APIM, APIs are exposed to external clients. |
| API Product | A published package of one or more APIs grouped for developer consumption. |
| API Subscription | A request made by a developer to gain access to a specific API product. |
| Developer Portal | A web interface where developers can browse, request access to, and test available APIs. |
| Dev User | An external developer who uses the Developer Portal to access and consume APIs. |
| Developer | A user role representing someone who consumes APIs through the Developer Portal. |
| APIM Console | The administrative interface for managing projects, APIs, policies, gateways, and users. |
| Request Dashboard | A monitoring dashboard showing API request counts, status codes, and performance over time. |
| Report Dashboard | A historical reporting tool for viewing API usage statistics across projects or APIs. |
| Realtime Dashboard | A dashboard that displays live API traffic metrics and error rates. |
| API Test | A testing tool that allows users to execute API requests directly via Swagger UI. |
| Swagger | A framework (OpenAPI Specification) used to define and interact with RESTful APIs. |
| OpenAPI | The official name of the Swagger specification used for API documentation and testing. |
| JWT | JSON Web Token - a compact token format used for securely transmitting claims between parties. |
| Rate Limiting | A policy that restricts the number of API requests allowed within a specific time window. |
| Redis | An in-memory data store used by the gateway for temporary data such as rate limits or token caches. |
| Fluent Bit | A log processor used to collect and forward gateway logs to external observability tools. |
| Annotation | A key-value pair used to configure metadata for Gateway or Ingress resources. |
| Ingress Annotation | Specific annotations used in Kubernetes to fine-tune ingress behavior, such as timeout or path rewrite. |
| Request Transformer | A policy that modifies the structure or content of incoming API requests. |
| Response Transformer | A policy that modifies the structure or content of outgoing API responses. |
| Request Termination | A policy that stops request processing and returns a fixed error response based on defined rules. |
| IP Restriction | A policy that allows or denies access to APIs based on the client’s IP address. |
| Timeout Policy | A policy that defines how long the system waits for a request or response before timing out. |
| Request Size Limiting | A policy that restricts the maximum size of API request payloads. |
| Stdout Log | A policy that logs request and response information to standard output for debugging or audit. |
| Deployment | The action of applying API configurations and policies to a Gateway instance. |
| Environment | A logical stage such as development, staging, or production, each with its own settings and endpoints. |
| Subscription Request | A formal request from a developer to subscribe to an API product. |
| Manual Approval | A workflow where an admin manually reviews and approves access or subscriptions. |
| User Role | A set of permissions assigned to a user (e.g., Admin, API Manager, Viewer) in a project. |
| Policy Template | A reusable configuration preset for a gateway policy, used to simplify repeated setups. |