Varnish Software Releases Open-Source Kubernetes Gateway API Implementation

Varnish Gateway brings HTTP caching to Kubernetes-native routing - no VCL required.

Amsterdam, Netherlands – March 24, 2026 – Varnish Software today announced Varnish Gateway, an open-source implementation of the Kubernetes Gateway API built on Varnish. The project passes the Gateway API v1.2 conformance test suite and is available now on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license. With the Varnish Gateway comes Varnish Cache’s industry-leading performance, now in a cloud-native format.

Varnish Gateway is a spec-compliant Gateway API controller that routes HTTP traffic using standard Kubernetes resources - Gateway, HTTPRoute, and GatewayClass. What sets it apart is that it runs on Varnish, giving every route built-in HTTP caching without additional infrastructure. You can enable caching on a HTTP route just by attaching a Varnish Caching Policy object.

VCL Is Optional

Historically, using Varnish has required writing VCL, Varnish Configuration Language, to define routing and caching behavior. Varnish Gateway removes that barrier. Routing is configured entirely through the Gateway API, and Varnish's default caching behavior works out of the box by respecting standard HTTP cache headers.

For teams that do want fine-grained control, custom VCL can be injected via a ConfigMap reference in the GatewayClassParameters CRD. The user VCL is appended to the generated configuration, so teams can add custom logic — cache rules, header manipulation, access control — without modifying or understanding the gateway's internals.

How It Works

Varnish Gateway is built on Varnish 9.0, which moves Varnish from static configurations to a cloud-native model with native TLS support and dynamic backend handling. This allows the gateway to track Kubernetes endpoints. It consists of three components:

  • Operator - A Kubernetes controller that watches Gateway API resources and manages the lifecycle of Varnish pods, VCL generation, and routing configuration.
  • Chaperone - A wrapper process that watches kubernetes for real-time backend changes and triggers configuration reloads when routing or backends change.
  • Ghost — A Varnish module written in Rust that handles request routing inside Varnish, matching requests by hostname, path, headers, query parameters, and HTTP method.

Configuration changes are applied without downtime through two hot-reload paths: VCL changes are reloaded via the Varnish admin interface, and routing/backend changes are reloaded via an internal HTTP endpoint. Neither path requires restarting the Varnish process.

Getting Started

Varnish Gateway requires Kubernetes 1.26+ and can be installed via Helm:

helm install varnish-gateway \
  oci://ghcr.io/varnish/charts/varnish-gateway \
  --namespace varnish-gateway-system \
  --create-namespace

Pre-built container images are available on GitHub Container Registry and require no authentication to pull.

Availability 

Varnish Gateway is available now at github.com/varnish/gateway. The Varnish 9.0 caching engine is available at github.com/varnish/varnish. Following this open-source release, the Varnish Gateway API with Varnish Enterprise support will be available as a Tech Preview in Q2 2026, with full production support scheduled for Q4 2026. 

KubeCon attendees are invited to visit Booth #887 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre for a live demonstration.

 

About Varnish Software

Varnish Software is a European-founded leader in high-performance caching and content delivery. Trusted by leading streaming services and enterprises worldwide, Varnish optimises the delivery of digital content, APIs, and applications. Its customisable platform empowers businesses to scale efficiently, reduce costs, and deliver outstanding user experiences across video, web, and cloud environments. 

www.varnish-software.com

Media Enquires

Ian Vaughan, Senior Product Marketing Manager
Varnish Software 
ianv@varnish-software.com

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