PortwayWhat is Portway?
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
We've made sure it works with at least the following:
- SQL databases (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite), tables, views, and stored procedures
- Internal HTTP/HTTPS services
- Static files, not limited to JSON, XML, and CSV
- File storage, with upload, download, and listing over the API
- Incoming webhook payloads stored to a database table
- Multi-step composited 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
Every endpoint you define is one of six types, and the type decides what Portway does with the request:
| 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: run Portway with Docker or on Windows Server
- Security: configure tokens, scopes, and network access
- Issues / Discussions: report bugs or ask questions