Zoraxy

Zoraxy is a self‑hosted HTTP reverse proxy written in Go that consolidates routing, TLS termination, and network tooling into a single binary. From a developer’s standpoint it functions as an orchestrator that forwards inbound traffic to backend services, while providing advanced features such as WebSocket support, load‑balancing, and dynamic certificate management via ACME. The application exposes a web UI that mirrors its API surface, allowing runtime configuration without process restarts—a critical capability for continuous‑deployment pipelines and edge‑compute scenarios.

Technical Stack

The core is implemented in Go 1.23+, leveraging the standard net/http and golang.org/x/net/http2 packages for high‑performance HTTP/2 support. TLS handling is delegated to the crypto/tls package, with automatic certificate provisioning powered by the lego ACME client (Go‑ACME). The configuration layer is persisted in a JSON/YAML file; the UI serializes changes directly to this store, enabling versioning and auditability. For networking utilities (IP/port scanners, mDNS discovery), Zoraxy imports lightweight Go libraries such as github.com/miekg/dns and golang.org/x/net/ipv4. The optional plugin system is built on Go’s plugin architecture, allowing dynamic loading of shared objects that can extend routing logic or introduce custom middleware.

Core Capabilities

• Reverse Proxy: Full HTTP/2 support, automatic WebSocket upgrade, virtual directory mapping, and per‑host aliasing.
• Load Balancing: Round‑robin and least‑connection strategies with health checks.
• TLS/SSL: ACME integration (Let’s Encrypt), DNS‑01 challenge for any provider supported by lego, SNI/SAN support, and auto‑renewal with configurable intervals.
• Routing Rules: Static redirects, conditional rewrites, and country/IP blacklisting via CIDR or wildcard rules.
• Stream Proxy: TCP/UDP forwarding for non‑HTTP services (e.g., database replication, gaming servers).
• Monitoring & Terminal: Built‑in uptime checks and a web‑SSH terminal for remote maintenance.
• Utilities: CIDR conversion, mDNS scanning, Wake‑On‑LAN, IP/port scanners—all exposed through the UI and REST endpoints.

Deployment & Infrastructure

Zoraxy ships as a single statically linked binary, making it trivial to drop onto any Linux/Windows/ARM machine. Docker images are available under the /docker directory, enabling containerized deployment with environment variables for port binding and data persistence. The application is stateless aside from its configuration file, which can be mounted as a volume for CI/CD pipelines. For scaling, multiple Zoraxy instances can run behind an external load balancer; each instance shares the same config store (e.g., a shared NFS or etcd) to maintain consistent routing tables. The lightweight Go runtime keeps memory footprints below 50 MiB on typical workloads, and the event‑driven architecture scales horizontally with minimal overhead.

Integration & Extensibility

Developers can hook into Zoraxy’s request pipeline via the plugin system, writing Go plugins that implement a simple middleware interface. REST endpoints expose all configuration entities (routes, certificates, rules), allowing external orchestration tools to programmatically modify the proxy. Webhooks can be configured for event notifications (e.g., certificate renewal, health‑check failures). The UI’s JSON schema is documented in the repo, facilitating third‑party tooling that consumes or produces configuration blobs. Additionally, Zoraxy can integrate with external authentication providers (SMTP for password resets, external permission systems) via its single‑admin mode or delegated user management.

Developer Experience

The web UI is intentionally minimalistic yet feature‑rich, with inline documentation and live validation. Configuration changes apply instantly without restarting the binary—ideal for agile development cycles. The codebase follows idiomatic Go practices, with extensive unit tests and a clear module layout that eases contribution. Documentation is split across the README, Wiki, and inline comments; the API surface is self‑describing through Swagger annotations. Community support is growing, with a dedicated Discord channel and issue tracker for feature requests and bug reports.

Use Cases

• Homelab Orchestration: Centralize routing for multiple local services (Nextcloud, GitLab, VPN) behind a single public endpoint.
• Edge Compute Gateways: Deploy on Raspberry Pi or ARM SBCs to expose micro‑services in remote locations with automatic TLS.
• CI/CD Pipelines: Dynamically add temporary routes for testing PR previews, then remove them via API calls.
• Multi‑Tenant SaaS: Use alias hostnames and per‑tenant SSL certificates to serve isolated customer instances from a single proxy.
• Game Server Hosting: Stream TCP/UDP traffic for game servers while providing health checks and load balancing.

Advantages

Zoraxy offers a blend of performance, simplicity, and extensibility that sets it apart from larger frameworks like Traefik or Nginx. Its Go implementation eliminates external dependencies, reducing attack surface and simplifying container builds. The auto‑renewing ACME integration removes operational overhead for TLS, while the plugin system provides a lightweight path to custom logic without full‑blown microservice refactoring. Licensing under an open source model (Apache‑2.0) allows unrestricted commercial use, making it attractive for both hobbyists and enterprises seeking a turnkey reverse proxy solution.