# Architecture

IMESH API Gateway uses Envoy Gateway as a controller to create gateways and routes for online traffic. It supports protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, TLS, UDP, and gRPC.

The IMESH API Gateway has four main components: Envoy Gateway, Envoy Gateway controller, IMESH Agent, and IMESH Platform. <br>

1. **Envoy Gateway:** It is an open-source API gateway based on an Envoy proxy. It is fast, secure, and highly scalable. It follows Gateway API standards.&#x20;
2. **Gateway Controller:** Gateway Controller is responsible for provisioning and configuring Envoy proxies, including the gateway, based on the configuration defined by the user. Although there are many open source Gateway controllers, we are supporting two popular controllers- Envoy Gateway and Istio Ingress.
3. **IMESH Agent:** It is a cluster agent installed on the gateway to implement enterprise features such as RBAC, visibility, and network policies.&#x20;
4. **IMESH Platform:** It is the backend core application that interfaces with the user to configure various gateways and provides insights into the performance of network and gateway resources.

<figure><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdZORQlqwxPz2lpRr3uOkrhzef8IQRINHh0YrUIlYP-c4A-9pvSlcpvExidge84ou-ELIS72PcNx7Qr18x_hQEQ4rB11pXPfZM8M3htahW07aRDZpCM5anglHVKZXefbHNpGE2OLCvK--FPYgOQy1Dp5FH5?key=TmnoeuMYwYPADPNdd3FkNg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

<br>

<br>

###


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.imesh.ai/imesh-api-gateway/architecture.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.