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Traffic Mirroring

Traffic mirroring (shadowing) copies production traffic to test backends, allowing you to validate changes without affecting users.

Use Cases​

  • Test new backend versions with real traffic
  • Validate performance under production load
  • Debug issues with production request patterns
  • Compare responses between versions

RequestMirror Configuration​

Configure mirroring in route filters:

filters:
  - type: "RequestMirror"
    requestMirror:
      backendRef:
        name: "shadow-backend"
        port: 8080
      fraction: 100

Mirror Percentage​

Control the percentage of traffic to mirror:

FractionDescription
100Mirror all requests (100%)
50Mirror half of requests
10Mirror 10% of requests

Important Notes​

  • Mirrored requests are fire-and-forget
  • Responses from mirror backend are ignored
  • Original request latency is not affected
  • Mirror backend errors don't impact users

Start with low percentages and increase gradually to avoid overwhelming test backends.