Quickstart

Build Praxis from source for local development, then route a request to an upstream backend.
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Quick Test Servers

For rapid experimentation without building or configuring, use the xtask utilities:

Echo server (static responses):

cargo xtask echo
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/
# {"status": "ok"}

Customize responses:

cargo xtask echo --status 201 --body '{"created": true}' --header "X-Custom: value"

Debug server (run with dev settings):

cargo xtask debug
# Runs with debug logging, admin API on :9090, single-threaded

Pass a config file:

cargo xtask debug examples/configs/traffic-management/basic-reverse-proxy.yaml

Build and Run

Build the release binary:

make release

Start Praxis:

./target/release/praxis

The server starts on 127.0.0.1:8080 with a built-in default configuration. Verify it:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/

{"status": "ok", "server": "praxis"}

Proxy to a backend

Create praxis.yaml:

# The backend below is on loopback, which the SSRF endpoint check
# rejects unless you opt in. Drop this block once your backends are
# on real addresses.
insecure_options:
  allow_private_endpoints: true

listeners:
  - name: web
    address: "127.0.0.1:8080"
    filter_chains: [main]

filter_chains:
  - name: main
    filters:
      - filter: router
        routes:
          - path_prefix: "/"
            cluster: backend
      - filter: load_balancer
        clusters:
          - name: backend
            endpoints:
              - "127.0.0.1:3000"

Note: Praxis rejects upstream endpoints that resolve to loopback, link-local, or cloud-metadata addresses by default, as an SSRF guard. insecure_options.allow_private_endpoints: true opts a config into using them — appropriate for local development, not for production configs pointing at real backends.

Start Praxis with your config:

./target/release/praxis -c praxis.yaml

Requests to port 8080 are now forwarded to your backend on port 3000:

curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/

Next steps