PortwayWhat is Portway?
Practical context for setting up Portway, what it is, how it works, and where to start.
Portway is an API gateway. It sits in front of your SQL databases, internal services, and static content, exposing them through a consistent REST interface. If you're running a mix of legacy systems and newer services, Portway surfaces them without rewriting anything.
Quick links
What Portway works with
- SQL databases (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite), tables, views, and stored procedures
- Internal HTTP/HTTPS services
- JSON, XML, and CSV files
- Incoming webhook payloads stored to a SQL table
- Multi-step composite operations across proxy endpoints
Concepts
Security
All requests to Portway require a Bearer token. Tokens are scoped to specific environments and endpoints, so a token issued for dev cannot reach prod unless explicitly permitted. Rate limiting, request validation, and optional Azure Key Vault integration are built in.
See Security for token management, encryption, and network configuration.
Environment awareness
Each request URL includes an environment segment, /api/{environment}/{endpoint}. Portway routes the request to the connection string, headers, and access rules defined for that environment. Development, testing, and production configurations stay completely separate.
See Environments for configuration details.
Endpoint types
| Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| SQL | Exposes tables, views, or stored procedures as REST endpoints with OData filtering |
| Proxy | Forwards requests to internal HTTP/HTTPS services with URL rewriting |
| Composite | Orchestrates multiple proxy steps into a single transaction |
| File | Stores and retrieves files via upload/download API calls |
| Webhook | Receives HTTP POST payloads and persists them to a SQL table |
| Static | Serves pre-defined JSON, XML, or CSV content with optional OData filtering |
Configuration and reloading
Endpoints and environments are defined as JSON files on disk. Portway watches these files and reloads configuration automatically, no restart required. The OpenAPI documentation at /docs updates immediately after a configuration change.
Next steps
- Getting Started: install and run Portway for the first time
- Deployment: deploy to Windows Server with IIS
- Security: configure tokens, scopes, and network access
- Issues / Discussions: report bugs or ask questions