Architecture
Request Lifecycle
Every API call proxied through RequestRocket passes through a well-defined pipeline of stages — from authentication to response delivery. Understand each stage, how it can be configured, and what happens when one short-circuits.
Overview
Gateway Architecture
RequestRocket sits between your application and any third-party API. Every request passes through authentication, authorization, and rate limiting before being forwarded to your upstream target. Responses pass back through payload operations and logging before reaching the caller.
Pipeline
Sequence of Operations
Click any stage to see when it runs, how it works, and which documentation covers it. Stages marked short-circuit will return a response to the caller immediately if their condition is met — meaning the remaining pipeline stages are skipped.
Your Request
PURPOSE
Every call to a RequestRocket proxy endpoint starts here. Any HTTP method and content type is accepted.
APPROACH
The inbound HTTP request arrives at the RequestRocket API Gateway. The proxy identifier is resolved from the URL path, and the request is handed off to the authorizer.
Authentication short-circuit
If the caller's credential is missing, expired, or invalid, RequestRocket returns a 401 Unauthorized immediately. The request never reaches your upstream — protecting your APIs from unauthenticated traffic.
Rules short-circuit
If any rule layer — proxy credential, target credential, proxy, or target — denies the request, a 400 is returned with the matching rule metadata. All four layers must allow before the request is forwarded.
Platform
How RequestRocket Runs
Serverless Runtime
Our hosted solution runs on AWS Lambda behind API Gateway — no servers to manage, no warm-up required. The gateway scales with your traffic automatically. Binary responses are supported up to Lambda payload limits. Contact us for self-hosted options.
Contact Us →Regional Deployment
Our hosted solution runs in any AWS region. Each region is an independent stack with its own API Gateway endpoint. Configuration is fully API-driven — no GitOps workflow required. Contact us to enable additional regions for your account.
Contact Us →Protocol Support
Proxies any HTTP traffic: REST, GraphQL, and webhook calls. All standard HTTP methods are supported. Upstream communication uses HTTPS with a configurable timeout enforced per request. Check out examples in the documentation.
Examples →Core REST API
Every gateway resource — proxies, targets, credentials, rules, filters, and telemetry — is managed through a versioned REST API. Everything the dashboard does is API-accessible for automation and CI/CD integration.
API Reference →Proxy Design
Choosing the Right Components
RequestRocket provides multiple points throughout the pipeline where you can apply logic. Use this reference to pick the right one for your use case.
Add outbound API security
without changing code
Start on your own or talk to our team about improving the security of every API call you make.