Networking

Routes, gateways, and domains for your applications

Networking covers how your applications become reachable from the internet. Every access method uses standard Gateway API routing on your cluster. The difference is how traffic arrives at your workers and who manages DNS and certificates.

Preview domains

Instant *.cnap.app URLs for every deployment. No DNS, no certificates, no configuration.

Cloudflare Tunnel

Route through Cloudflare’s network using your own account. No public IPs required.

Direct IP

Point your DNS at your worker nodes. Full control over routing and TLS.

Domain routing API

Automate workspace subdomains, preview hostnames, and custom domains.

Choosing an approach

	Preview domains	Cloudflare Tunnel	Direct IP
Public IP required	No	No	Yes
DNS setup	Automatic	Automatic (Akua-managed)	You manage A records
TLS	Automatic	Cloudflare edge	Bring your own
Best for	Development, demos, quick sharing	Production custom domains without public IPs	Full control, existing infrastructure
Traffic path	Cloudflare edge → tunnel → app	Cloudflare edge → tunnel → app	DNS → worker node → app

How routing works

All three options use Gateway API routing on your cluster. When you expose a hostname, a route is created that matches incoming requests by hostname and forwards them to the correct application. A gateway controller on the cluster detects the route and configures the appropriate gateway (Cloudflare Tunnel, Cilium’s built-in envoy proxy, or another compatible controller).

Because routing is defined through standard Kubernetes Gateway API resources, it works with GitOps workflows, custom Helm charts, and kubectl apply. Akua’s UI is one way to create routes, not the only way.

For apps deployed from Docker images or GitHub repositories, Akua automates the routing setup: toggle Expose externally on a port, enter a hostname, and Akua creates the route for you. Apps deployed from custom Helm charts create routes through the chart’s own values.

Related topics

Domain routing API

Manage preview hostnames, workspace subdomains, and custom domains programmatically.

Deployments

Deploy applications to your clusters.

Clusters

Create and manage the clusters your applications run on.

API authentication

Set up API tokens for programmatic access.