SuperHTTPRoute

The problem

Gateway API’s HTTPRoute has hard limits enforced via OpenAPI validation:

• 16 hostnames per HTTPRoute
• 64 rules per HTTPRoute
• CEL validations that prevent larger objects

These limits come from etcd’s object size constraint. If you serve the same app on 74 country subdomains, you need 5 identical HTTPRoutes just to shard hostnames.

The solution

SuperHTTPRoute is a custom CRD (vrata.io/v1) that is byte-for-byte identical to HTTPRoute but without maxItems and CEL validation constraints. The spec is exactly the same — same fields, same structure, same semantics. Only the limits are removed.

Generating the CRD

The CRD is generated from Go types that wrap gwapiv1.HTTPRouteSpec:

make controller-generate-crd

This runs:

1. controller-gen generates the raw CRD from the Go types
2. scripts/crdclean strips all maxItems and x-kubernetes-validations
3. scripts/helmwrap adds Helm template guards

Output: charts/vrata/templates/controller/superhttproute-crd.yaml

Installing

Via Helm:

controller:
  enabled: true
  installCRDs: true

Or manually:

make controller-deploy-crd

Using it

Create a SuperHTTPRoute exactly like an HTTPRoute, just with a different API group:

apiVersion: vrata.io/v1
kind: SuperHTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: all-locales
  namespace: frontend
spec:
  hostnames:
    - fr.example.com
    - de.example.com
    - es.example.com
    # ... 74 more hostnames, no limit
  rules:
    - matches:
        - path:
            type: PathPrefix
            value: /
      backendRefs:
        - name: frontend-svc
          port: 80

The controller handles SuperHTTPRoutes and HTTPRoutes with the same mapper — the reconciliation logic is identical.

Enable in config

watch:
  httpRoutes: true
  superHttpRoutes: true
  gateways: true