dubbo-go-pixiu is a free, open source api development & testing project written in Go and released under Apache-2.0. It has 566 GitHub stars, 193 forks and 24 open issues, and was last pushed yesterday. On this registry it ranks #176 of 187 tracked projects in API Development & Testing, with 5 head-to-head comparisons available.

What is dubbo-go-pixiu?

Dubbo-Go-Pixiu is an Apache-2.0, Go-based AI and API gateway built on Dubbo-go that lets external callers reach internal Dubbo clusters and unifies access to LLMs and MCP services, aimed at developers and platform engineers running Dubbo microservices or AI workloads.

What it is

Dubbo-Go-Pixiu is a proxy gateway service built on Dubbo-go. It acts as a next-generation AI and API gateway that bridges external protocols with internal Dubbo clusters, supporting HTTP, gRPC, Dubbo2, and Triple. The project also describes itself as a universal AI gateway for connecting LLMs and AI service providers, whether public vendors or self-hosted models, and has evolved into a Kubernetes Ingress Controller so that API and AI traffic inside a cluster can be managed through declarative routing and the gateway governance model. Its architecture is built around a plugin and filter framework, and the README calls it the official sidecar solution for connecting non-Java applications written in Go, Python, Node.js, and similar languages to Dubbo services.

The concrete problem it solves is the protocol gap between outside callers and an internal Dubbo cluster. A caller speaking HTTP or gRPC cannot talk to Dubbo services directly, so something has to translate and route the request inward. Pixiu is that translation layer, and it replaces the bespoke per-language bridging code or custom adapter that a team would otherwise write and maintain to expose Dubbo services to clients outside the Java ecosystem. In its AI role it solves a related problem: rather than integrating each client directly with OpenAI, Anthropic, or a custom on-prem model, a single consistent gateway layer fronts them, and existing HTTP APIs and backend services can be exposed as MCP servers so AI applications can invoke business logic directly.

Key capabilities

  • Bridges external protocols with internal Dubbo clusters across HTTP, gRPC, Dubbo2, and Triple, with the project tagline still marking gRPC as developing.
  • Provides unified access to AI models, connecting OpenAI, Anthropic, and custom or on-prem LLM and MCP services through one gateway layer.
  • Exposes existing HTTP APIs and backend services as MCP servers so AI applications can call business logic directly.
  • Applies authentication, caching, rate limiting, retry policy, observability, and model orchestration through a plugin and filter framework.
  • Supports multi-tenant deployments with cost control, auditing, and token accounting for large-scale AI traffic.
  • Runs as a Kubernetes Ingress Controller, with routing, traffic governance, and observability defined declaratively through Kubernetes APIs.
  • Operates as a sidecar for non-Java applications such as Go, Python, and Node.js connecting to Dubbo services.

Who uses it and how

  • Dubbo teams whose callers are non-Java: Go, Python, or Node.js clients reach Dubbo services through the sidecar instead of a hand-written bridge.
  • Platform engineers in Kubernetes who want API and AI traffic governed at the ingress layer through declarative routing.
  • Teams running LLM or MCP workloads that need per-tenant cost control, auditing, and token accounting in front of multiple model providers.
  • API owners with existing HTTP backends who want those services callable as MCP servers by AI applications.
  • Environments mixing Dubbo, Spring Cloud, and custom backends, with the topic list also tagging Kafka and RocketMQ among supported ecosystem protocols.

Getting started

The provided README excerpt does not name an exact package, Docker image, or compose file; its documented starting point is the official samples repository at github.com/apache/dubbo-go-pixiu-samples, which includes dedicated llm and mcp sample directories. Documentation is hosted at dubbogo.github.io/dubbo-go-proxy/.

How it compares

The facts provided name no other gateway or Dubbo-related project, so no direct comparison to similar tools can be drawn here. On the evidence supplied it stands alone in this registry.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster must operate the gateway itself alongside the upstream Dubbo cluster or backend services it fronts, plus whatever Kubernetes configuration the Ingress Controller role requires, and must own routing, authentication, and observability configuration rather than buying it as a service. Teams with no Dubbo services and no LLM or MCP traffic should not pick it, since a plain reverse proxy covers that ground with far less to run. The evidence also carries two cautions: the README excerpt is truncated, so feature documentation beyond the gateway and AI sections is incomplete, and the tagline lists gRPC as developing while the README body claims gRPC support, which means protocol maturity should be verified before relying on it.

project readme (upstream, from github) — read inline

Pixiu Logo

Dubbo-Go-Pixiu: A Next-Generation, High-Performance AI / API Gateway

Build Status codecov go.dev reference Go Report Card license

English | 中文


Dubbo-Go-Pixiu is a next-generation AI / API Gateway built on Dubbo-go, empowering seamless connections to LLMs and MCPs with unified access, intelligent extensions, and cost-efficient management. At the same time, Pixiu bridges external protocols with internal Dubbo clusters, supporting HTTP, gRPC, Dubbo2, and Triple for high-performance, scalable integration.

⭐ New Capability: Pixiu has evolved into a universal AI Gateway, designed to simplify and unify access to LLMs and AI service providers — whether from public vendors or self-hosted models.

⭐ New Capability: Pixiu has also evolved into a Kubernetes Ingress Controller, enabling native management of API and AI traffic within Kubernetes clusters through declarative routing and Pixiu’s flexible governance model.

👉 Try it now: Explore our official samples

We've evolved into the Next-Generation AI Gateway

Pixiu has evolved into a universal AI Gateway, designed to simplify and unify access to LLMs and AI service providers — whether from public vendors or self-hosted models.

With Pixiu, you can:

  • Unified Access to AI Models: Connect effortlessly to OpenAI, Anthropic, or any custom / on-prem LLM or MCP service through a single, consistent API gateway layer.

  • MCP Server Exposure: Expose your existing HTTP APIs and backend services as MCP Servers through Pixiu, enabling AI applications to directly invoke your business logic.

  • Flexible Extension for AI Workloads: Apply authentication, caching, rate-limiting, retry policy, observability, or even model orchestration — all through Pixiu's plugin system.

  • Multi-Tenant & Cost-Efficient: Implement fine-grained cost control, auditing, and token accounting for large-scale AI deployments.

  • Future-Proof Architecture: Designed for the hybrid world of API + AI traffic — bridging traditional microservices with the AI-first era.

✨ Now also a Kubernetes Ingress Controller: Pixiu’s AI gateway abilities can now be applied directly at the cluster ingress layer — allowing traffic governance, routing, and observability to be defined declaratively via Kubernetes APIs.

👉 Try it now: Explore our AI Gateway Samples: LLM and MCP

Why Choose Dubbo-Go-Pixiu?

  • ⚡ High Performance: Built with Go for ultra-low latency and high throughput, Pixiu is optimized for large-scale API traffic and LLM workloads.

  • 🧩 Highly Extensible: A powerful plugin and filter framework makes it easy to extend or customize gateway behavior — from routing and authentication to observability and AI-specific use cases.

  • 🎯 Developer Friendly: Simple configuration, unified management plane, and clear observability make Pixiu ideal for both developers and platform engineers.

  • 🌩️ Cloud-Native by Design: Works seamlessly in Kubernetes, supports declarative configuration, and integrates easily with Dubbo, Spring Cloud, or custom backends.

  • 🔗 Seamless Dubbo Integration: The official sidecar solution for connecting non-Java applications (Go, Python, Node.js, etc.) to Dubbo services.

Core Features

Category Description
🚀 Protocol Processing Supports proxying and translation between HTTP, gRPC, Dubbo2, and Triple protocols, delivering rich protocol gateway features.
🛡️ Security & Auth HTTPS, JWT, OAuth2, and other security mechanisms to safeguard your APIs and AI endpoints.
🔍 Service Discovery Integrates with Zookeeper, Nacos, or any service registry to discover Dubbo and Spring Cloud services automatically.
⚖️ Traffic Governance Integrates with Sentinel for fine-grained rate limiting, circuit breaking, and traffic shaping.
📈 Observability OpenTelemetry and Jaeger support for full tracing, metrics, and logging visibility.
🎨 Visual Management The Pixiu-admin UI offers real-time visual configuration for gateway rules and policies.

Deploying with Docker

We also provide Docker images for quick and easy deployment.

1. Build Docker Image from Source Code

Make sure you are in the root directory of the project (where the Dockerfile is located), then run the following command to build the image:

# You can customize the image name and tag, here we use dubbo-go-pixiu:local
docker build -t dubbo-go-pixiu:local .

It may take a few minutes to build. Once successful, you can use the local image named dubbo-go-pixiu:local.

2. Run Pixiu with Default Configuration

Start a container using the local image you just built:

docker run --name pixiu-gateway -p 8888:8888 -d dubbo-go-pixiu:local

3. Run with Custom Configuration File

If you need to use your own configuration file, you can mount a local file to the container's /etc/pixiu/ directory.

# make sure to use the local image name you built, i.e., dubbo-go-pixiu:local
docker run --name pixiu-gateway -p 8888:8888 -d \
    -v /your/local/path/conf.yaml:/etc/pixiu/conf.yaml \
    -v /your/local/path/log.yml:/etc/pixiu/log.yml \
    dubbo-go-pixiu:local

Pixiu Admin – Visual Control Plane

Manage traffic, routing via pixiu-admin. Start instantly with Docker Compose:

docker-compose up -d

👉 Access admin UI at: http://localhost:8080

pixiu-admin.png

Other Projects in the Dubbo-Go-Pixiu Ecosystem

  • dubbo-go-pixiu-samples — Official sample repository demonstrating various use cases
  • pixiu-admin — Visual management plane for configuration & monitoring
  • pixiu-api — API / model definitions for Pixiu Admin
  • benchmark — Benchmarking suite for pixiu

Community & Contribution

We warmly welcome all forms of contributions! Whether it's submitting an issue, proposing a new feature, or contributing code, your participation is vital to the project.

If you like Dubbo-Go-Pixiu, please ⭐ star us on GitHub!

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Frequently asked questions

Is dubbo-go-pixiu free to use?

dubbo-go-pixiu is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. There is no licence fee and no seat count — you can self-host it or, where the project offers one, pay a vendor for a managed version instead.

What does dubbo-go-pixiu do?

Based on the proxy gateway service of dubbo-go, it solves the problem that the external protocol calls the internal Dubbo cluster. At present, it supports HTTP

What is dubbo-go-pixiu written in?

dubbo-go-pixiu is primarily written in Go. Its source is publicly available at https://github.com/apache/dubbo-go-pixiu, and it has 566 GitHub stars.