---
title: HTTP/1.1 & HTTP/2
description: The default reverse-proxy path — auto-negotiated HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 with connection pooling.
---

# HTTP/1.1 & HTTP/2

HTTP is the default path. Any request that is not detected as a WebSocket upgrade, an
SSE stream, or a gRPC call (see [Protocols](/docs/octopus/protocols)) is buffered and proxied as
ordinary HTTP.

## How it is handled

Each inbound connection is served with hyper's automatic protocol builder, which
negotiates **HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2 per connection** and supports connection upgrades (this
is what enables WebSocket on the same listener). HTTP/2 is accepted via prior-knowledge
(h2c) on the same port; there is no separate HTTP/2 port.

For a matched HTTP request the gateway:

1. Buffers the request body.
2. Matches a route by host, method, and path (see [Routing](/docs/octopus/concepts/routing)).
3. Runs the configured middleware chain.
4. Forwards the request to a selected upstream instance through the pooled HTTP client,
   applying any `strip_prefix` / `add_prefix` rewriting from the route.
5. Returns the upstream response to the client.

Upstream HTTP/1.1 connections are pooled and reused. A separate pooled, multiplexed
HTTP/2 connection path also exists and is used for the gRPC proxy (see
[gRPC](/docs/octopus/protocols/grpc)).

The built-in HTTP protocol handler also answers `OPTIONS` preflight requests directly,
returning `204 No Content` with `Allow` and `Access-Control-Allow-*` headers for the
methods it accepts (`GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS`).

## Route considerations

Routes are protocol-agnostic. An HTTP route is just a path pointed at an upstream:

```yaml
upstreams:
  - name: api-service
    instances:
      - id: api-1
        host: 127.0.0.1
        port: 8080

routes:
  - path: /api
    methods: [GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH]
    upstream: api-service
    strip_prefix: /api
```

There is no `protocol:` field — do not add one. The same upstream and route can also
serve WebSocket or SSE traffic; the gateway decides per request based on headers. See
[Routes](/docs/octopus/configuration/routes) for the full route schema, including method
filtering, prefix rewriting, priority, per-route timeouts, rate limits, and CORS.

<Callout type="info">
  Cross-cutting behavior — load balancing across upstream instances, health checks, and
  circuit breaking — applies to the HTTP path. See
  [Load Balancing](/docs/octopus/concepts/load-balancing),
  [Health Checks](/docs/octopus/concepts/health-checks), and
  [Circuit Breaker](/docs/octopus/concepts/circuit-breaker).
</Callout>

## Limitations

- **HTTP/3 / QUIC is not implemented.** Only HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 are served.
- The HTTP proxy path **buffers** the full request and response body in memory before
  forwarding. Large uploads/downloads are not streamed on this path. Streaming is only
  used for [SSE](/docs/octopus/protocols/sse), [WebSocket](/docs/octopus/protocols/websocket), and the
  gRPC response body.