Admin UI Settings

Complete guide to configuring FlexGate through the Admin UI Settings panel. This page documents all global configuration options available to developers and administrators.

Accessing Settings

Login to Admin UI at http://localhost:3000/admin
Click "Settings" in the left sidebar
You'll see the Settings dashboard with multiple configuration tabs

Settings Overview

The Settings panel is organized into these sections:

Section	Description	User Access
General	Server and application settings	Admin only
Database	PostgreSQL configuration	Admin only
Redis	Cache and session storage	Admin only
Security	Authentication and CORS	Admin only
Rate Limiting	Global rate limit defaults	Admin/Developer
Circuit Breaker	Default circuit breaker settings	Admin/Developer
Health Checks	Default health check configuration	Admin/Developer
Logging	Log levels and output	Admin only
Monitoring	Metrics and observability	Admin/Developer
Webhooks	Event notification settings	Admin/Developer
API Keys	API key generation settings	Admin only
Advanced	Expert-level configuration	Admin only

General Settings

Server Configuration

Configure the core FlexGate server:

HTTP Server:

Setting	Description	Default	Example
Port	HTTP server port	`3000`	`8080`
Host	Bind address	`0.0.0.0`	`127.0.0.1`
Base Path	URL base path	`/`	`/gateway`
Max Connections	Maximum concurrent connections	`10000`	`50000`
Keep-Alive Timeout	Connection keep-alive (ms)	`60000`	`120000`

Configuration Example:

yaml

server:
  port: 3000
  host: 0.0.0.0
  basePath: /
  maxConnections: 10000
  keepAliveTimeout: 60000
  
  # Trust proxy headers
  trustProxy: true
  proxyHops: 1
  
  # Compression
  compression:
    enabled: true
    level: 6
    threshold: 1024  # bytes

UI Form Fields:

Port (Number input, 1-65535)
- Tooltip: "Port number for FlexGate to listen on"
- Validation: Must not conflict with other services
Host (Text input)
- Options: 0.0.0.0 (all interfaces), 127.0.0.1 (localhost only)
- Tooltip: "Network interface to bind to"
Trust Proxy (Toggle)
- When enabled: Trust X-Forwarded-* headers
- Use when: Behind load balancer or reverse proxy
Compression (Toggle + Settings)
- Enable gzip/brotli compression
- Level: 1-9 (higher = better compression, slower)
- Threshold: Minimum response size to compress

Admin UI Configuration

Customize the Admin UI itself:

Setting	Description	Default
Enabled	Enable/disable Admin UI	`true`
Path	URL path for Admin UI	`/admin`
Session Timeout	Session duration (ms)	`3600000` (1h)
Max Login Attempts	Failed login limit	`5`
Lockout Duration	Account lockout time (ms)	`900000` (15m)
Theme	Default theme	`auto`
Auto Refresh	Dashboard refresh interval	`30000` (30s)

Configuration Example:

yaml

admin:
  enabled: true
  path: /admin
  sessionTimeout: 3600000
  maxLoginAttempts: 5
  lockoutDuration: 900000
  
  # UI Preferences
  theme: auto  # auto, light, dark
  autoRefresh: 30000
  
  # Branding
  branding:
    logo: /assets/logo.svg
    title: "FlexGate Admin"
    primaryColor: "#007bff"

UI Form Fields:

Session Timeout (Duration picker)
- Options: 15m, 30m, 1h, 2h, 4h, 8h
- Tooltip: "How long users stay logged in without activity"
Max Login Attempts (Number input)
- Range: 3-10
- Tooltip: "Failed attempts before account lockout"
Branding (Expandable section)
- Upload logo (SVG/PNG)
- Color picker for theme
- Custom title text

Database Settings

Configure PostgreSQL connection:

Connection Settings

Setting	Description	Example
Host	Database hostname	`localhost`
Port	Database port	`5432`
Database	Database name	`flexgate`
User	Database username	`flexgate`
Password	Database password	`••••••••`
SSL Mode	SSL connection mode	`prefer`

Configuration Example:

yaml

database:
  host: localhost
  port: 5432
  database: flexgate
  user: flexgate
  password: ${DB_PASSWORD}  # From environment
  
  # SSL Configuration
  ssl:
    enabled: true
    mode: prefer  # disable, prefer, require, verify-ca, verify-full
    ca: /path/to/ca.crt
    cert: /path/to/client.crt
    key: /path/to/client.key
  
  # Connection Pool
  pool:
    min: 2
    max: 10
    idleTimeout: 30000
    acquireTimeout: 30000

Connection Pool

Optimize database performance:

Setting	Description	Default	Range
Min Connections	Minimum pool size	`2`	1-50
Max Connections	Maximum pool size	`10`	1-100
Idle Timeout	Idle connection timeout (ms)	`30000`	1000-300000
Acquire Timeout	Connection acquire timeout (ms)	`30000`	1000-60000

UI Form Fields:

Connection Test (Button)
- Click to test database connectivity
- Shows: ✅ Connected or ❌ Error message
Migration Status (Read-only display)
- Current schema version
- Pending migrations
- "Run Migrations" button
Backup/Restore (Actions)
- Export database schema
- Create backup
- Restore from backup

Redis Settings

Configure Redis for caching and sessions:

Connection Settings

Setting	Description	Default	Example
Host	Redis hostname	`localhost`	`redis.example.com`
Port	Redis port	`6379`	`6379`
Database	Redis database number	`0`	`1`
Password	Redis password	-	`••••••••`
Key Prefix	Key namespace prefix	`flexgate:`	`prod:flexgate:`

Configuration Example:

yaml

redis:
  host: localhost
  port: 6379
  db: 0
  password: ${REDIS_PASSWORD}
  keyPrefix: "flexgate:"
  
  # Connection Options
  connectTimeout: 10000
  commandTimeout: 5000
  retryStrategy:
    maxAttempts: 3
    delay: 1000
  
  # Sentinel (High Availability)
  sentinel:
    enabled: false
    masterName: mymaster
    sentinels:
      - host: sentinel1
        port: 26379
      - host: sentinel2
        port: 26379

Cache Settings

Configure caching behavior:

Setting	Description	Default
Default TTL	Default cache lifetime (ms)	`300000` (5m)
Max Memory	Maximum cache memory (MB)	`1024`
Eviction Policy	Memory eviction strategy	`allkeys-lru`

Eviction Policies:

noeviction - Return errors when memory limit reached
allkeys-lru - Evict least recently used keys
allkeys-lfu - Evict least frequently used keys
volatile-lru - Evict LRU keys with TTL set
volatile-ttl - Evict keys with shortest TTL

UI Form Fields:

Connection Test (Button)
- Test Redis connectivity
- Shows latency and memory usage
Clear Cache (Button with confirmation)
- Options: Clear all, Clear by prefix, Clear expired only
- Warning: "This will invalidate all cached data"
Cache Statistics (Read-only metrics)
- Hit rate
- Miss rate
- Memory usage
- Key count

Security Settings

Authentication

Configure authentication methods:

JWT Configuration:

Setting	Description	Example
JWT Secret	Signing secret	From environment
Algorithm	Signing algorithm	`HS256`
Expiration	Token lifetime	`24h`
Issuer	Token issuer	`flexgate`
Audience	Token audience	`api.example.com`

Configuration Example:

yaml

security:
  jwt:
    secret: ${JWT_SECRET}  # Required: Set in environment
    algorithm: HS256  # HS256, HS384, HS512, RS256, RS384, RS512
    expiresIn: 24h
    issuer: flexgate
    audience: api.example.com
    
    # Validation
    validateIssuer: true
    validateAudience: true
    validateExpiration: true
    clockTolerance: 5  # seconds
  
  # Session Configuration
  session:
    secret: ${SESSION_SECRET}
    name: flexgate.sid
    cookie:
      maxAge: 3600000  # 1 hour
      secure: true
      httpOnly: true
      sameSite: strict

UI Form Fields:

JWT Secret (Password field)
- "Generate Random" button
- Validation: Minimum 32 characters
- Warning: Changing this invalidates all tokens
Token Expiration (Duration picker)
- Options: 1h, 4h, 12h, 24h, 7d, 30d, Never
- Default: 24h

CORS Configuration

Configure Cross-Origin Resource Sharing:

Setting	Description	Example
Enabled	Enable CORS	`true`
Origins	Allowed origins	`["https://example.com"]`
Methods	Allowed methods	`["GET", "POST"]`
Headers	Allowed headers	`["Content-Type"]`
Credentials	Allow credentials	`true`
Max Age	Preflight cache (seconds)	`86400`

Configuration Example:

yaml

security:
  cors:
    enabled: true
    
    # Allowed Origins
    origins:
      - https://example.com
      - https://*.example.com  # Wildcard subdomain
      - http://localhost:3000  # Development
    
    # Allowed Methods
    methods:
      - GET
      - POST
      - PUT
      - PATCH
      - DELETE
      - OPTIONS
    
    # Allowed Headers
    allowedHeaders:
      - Content-Type
      - Authorization
      - X-Requested-With
      - X-API-Key
    
    # Exposed Headers (visible to browser)
    exposedHeaders:
      - X-RateLimit-Limit
      - X-RateLimit-Remaining
      - X-Response-Time
    
    # Credentials
    credentials: true
    
    # Preflight Cache
    maxAge: 86400  # 24 hours

UI Form Fields:

Origins (Tag input)
- Add multiple origins
- Supports wildcards: *.example.com
- Validation: Valid URL format
Quick Presets (Buttons)
- "Development" - Allow localhost
- "Production" - Strict HTTPS only
- "Public API" - Allow all origins (not recommended)

API Key Settings

Configure API key generation:

Setting	Description	Default
Key Length	Generated key length	`32`
Prefix	Key prefix	`fg_`
Default Expiration	Default TTL	`never`
Rate Limit	Default rate limit	`1000/hour`

Configuration Example:

yaml

security:
  apiKeys:
    length: 32
    prefix: fg_
    defaultExpiration: never  # or duration like "30d"
    
    # Default Permissions
    defaultPermissions:
      - routes:read
      - metrics:read
    
    # Rate Limiting per Key
    defaultRateLimit:
      max: 1000
      windowMs: 3600000  # 1 hour

Rate Limiting Defaults

Set global default values for rate limiting:

Default Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
Strategy	Default algorithm	`token-bucket`
Max Requests	Default limit	`100`
Window	Default window (ms)	`60000`
Scope	Default scope	`ip`
Headers	Include rate limit headers	`true`

Configuration Example:

yaml

rateLimit:
  defaults:
    strategy: token-bucket
    max: 100
    windowMs: 60000
    scope: ip
    headers: true
    
    # Error Response
    statusCode: 429
    message: "Rate limit exceeded"
    
    # Skip Conditions
    skipSuccessfulRequests: false
    skipFailedRequests: false

UI Form Fields:

Strategy Selector (Radio buttons with descriptions)
- Token Bucket (Recommended)
- Fixed Window
- Sliding Window
- Leaky Bucket
Preview (Live calculation)
- Shows: "Users can make X requests per Y seconds"
- Updates as you change settings

Circuit Breaker Defaults

Default circuit breaker configuration:

Default Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Threshold	Error rate to trip (%)	`50`
Timeout	Open state duration (ms)	`30000`
Reset Timeout	Half-open retry time (ms)	`60000`
Volume Threshold	Min requests before evaluation	`10`

Configuration Example:

yaml

circuitBreaker:
  defaults:
    threshold: 50  # percentage
    timeout: 30000  # 30 seconds
    resetTimeout: 60000  # 1 minute
    volumeThreshold: 10
    
    # Error Conditions
    errorStatuses:
      - 500
      - 502
      - 503
      - 504
    
    # Fallback Response
    fallback:
      statusCode: 503
      body:
        error: "Service Unavailable"
        message: "Circuit breaker is open"

Health Check Defaults

Default health check settings:

Default Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
Enabled	Enable by default	`false`
Interval	Check interval (ms)	`30000`
Timeout	Request timeout (ms)	`5000`
Healthy Threshold	Successes to mark healthy	`2`
Unhealthy Threshold	Failures to mark unhealthy	`3`

Configuration Example:

yaml

healthCheck:
  defaults:
    enabled: false
    interval: 30000
    timeout: 5000
    healthyThreshold: 2
    unhealthyThreshold: 3
    
    # Expected Response
    expectedStatus: 200
    method: GET
    
    # Headers
    headers:
      User-Agent: "FlexGate-HealthCheck/1.0"

Logging Settings

Configure logging behavior:

Log Configuration

Setting	Description	Default	Options
Level	Minimum log level	`info`	debug, info, warn, error
Format	Log format	`json`	json, text
Output	Output destination	`file`	file, console, both
Max File Size	Log rotation size	`10MB`	-
Max Files	Retained log files	`10`	-

Configuration Example:

yaml

logging:
  level: info  # debug, info, warn, error
  format: json  # json or text
  
  # Output Destinations
  outputs:
    - type: file
      path: /var/log/flexgate
      filename: combined.log
      maxSize: 10485760  # 10MB
      maxFiles: 10
      
    - type: file
      path: /var/log/flexgate
      filename: error.log
      level: error
      maxSize: 10485760
      maxFiles: 5
    
    - type: console
      level: debug
  
  # Log Structure
  prettyPrint: false
  colorize: true
  timestamp: true
  
  # Sensitive Data
  redact:
    - password
    - token
    - authorization
    - cookie

UI Form Fields:

Log Level (Dropdown)
- Debug (verbose, development only)
- Info (recommended for production)
- Warn (warnings and errors only)
- Error (errors only)
View Logs (Button)
- Opens log viewer in modal
- Filter by level
- Search functionality
- Download logs
Log Rotation (Settings)
- Max file size slider
- Number of files to retain
- Compression option (gzip old logs)

Monitoring Settings

Configure metrics and observability:

Prometheus Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
Enabled	Enable Prometheus metrics	`true`
Endpoint	Metrics endpoint path	`/metrics`
Include Defaults	Include default metrics	`true`
Labels	Default labels	`{app: "flexgate"}`

Configuration Example:

yaml

monitoring:
  prometheus:
    enabled: true
    endpoint: /metrics
    includeDefaults: true
    
    # Default Labels (added to all metrics)
    labels:
      app: flexgate
      environment: production
      region: us-east-1
    
    # Histogram Buckets
    buckets:
      response_time: [0.005, 0.01, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 10]
    
    # Prefix for all metrics
    prefix: flexgate_

Grafana Integration

Setting	Description	Example
URL	Grafana instance URL	`http://localhost:3001`
Dashboard ID	Default dashboard	`flexgate-overview`
API Key	Grafana API key	From environment

Configuration Example:

yaml

monitoring:
  grafana:
    url: http://localhost:3001
    dashboardId: flexgate-overview
    apiKey: ${GRAFANA_API_KEY}
    
    # Auto-provisioning
    autoProvision: true
    datasource: prometheus

Tracing Configuration

Setting	Description	Default
Enabled	Enable distributed tracing	`false`
Provider	Tracing backend	`jaeger`
Sample Rate	Percentage to trace	`0.1` (10%)

Configuration Example:

yaml

monitoring:
  tracing:
    enabled: false
    provider: jaeger  # jaeger, zipkin, otel
    
    # Jaeger Configuration
    jaeger:
      endpoint: http://localhost:14268/api/traces
      agentHost: localhost
      agentPort: 6831
    
    # Sampling
    sampler:
      type: probabilistic  # const, probabilistic, rate-limiting
      param: 0.1  # 10% of requests
    
    # Tags
    tags:
      service: flexgate
      environment: production

Webhook Settings

Configure event notifications:

Webhook Configuration

Setting	Description	Example
Enabled	Enable webhooks	`true`
Retry Attempts	Max retry attempts	`3`
Retry Delay	Delay between retries (ms)	`1000`
Timeout	Webhook timeout (ms)	`5000`

Configuration Example:

yaml

webhooks:
  enabled: true
  
  # Retry Configuration
  retry:
    attempts: 3
    delay: 1000  # Initial delay
    backoff: exponential
    maxDelay: 10000
  
  # Request Configuration
  timeout: 5000
  headers:
    User-Agent: "FlexGate-Webhook/1.0"
  
  # Events
  events:
    - route.created
    - route.updated
    - route.deleted
    - circuit_breaker.opened
    - circuit_breaker.closed
    - health_check.failed
    - rate_limit.exceeded

UI Form Fields:

Event Selection (Checkboxes)
- Select which events trigger webhooks
- Grouped by category (Routes, Health, Security, etc.)
Test Webhook (Section)
- Enter test URL
- Select event type
- Send test payload
- View response

Advanced Settings

Expert-level configuration options:

Performance Tuning

Setting	Description	Default
Worker Threads	Number of worker threads	CPU cores
Max Request Size	Maximum request body (MB)	`10`
Request Timeout	Global request timeout (ms)	`30000`

Configuration Example:

yaml

advanced:
  performance:
    workerThreads: 4  # or "auto"
    maxRequestSize: 10485760  # 10MB
    requestTimeout: 30000
    
    # Cluster Mode
    cluster:
      enabled: false
      workers: 4  # or "auto"
      gracefulShutdown: 30000
  
  # Memory Management
  memory:
    heapSize: 2048  # MB
    gcInterval: 60000  # Force GC interval (ms)

Feature Flags

Enable/disable experimental features:

yaml

advanced:
  features:
    # Experimental Features
    http2: false
    http3: false
    websocketCompression: true
    
    # Beta Features
    autoScaling: false
    mlAnomalyDetection: false

UI Form Fields:

⚠️ Warning Banner
- "Advanced settings can affect performance and stability"
- "Only modify if you understand the implications"
Feature Toggles (Switches with descriptions)
- Each feature has:
  - Name and description
  - Stability status (Stable, Beta, Experimental)
  - Documentation link

Configuration Import/Export

Export Configuration

Export current settings:

Click "Export Configuration"
Select sections to export
Choose format (YAML, JSON, ENV)
Download file

Export Options:

All settings
Selected sections only
Exclude sensitive data (passwords, secrets)
Include environment variables

Import Configuration

Import settings from file:

Click "Import Configuration"
Upload file (YAML/JSON)
Review changes (diff view)
Confirm import

Safety Features:

Preview changes before applying
Validate configuration
Backup current config
Rollback option

Environment Variables

View all configurable environment variables:

bash

# Server
FLEXGATE_PORT=3000
FLEXGATE_HOST=0.0.0.0

# Database
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=flexgate
DB_USER=flexgate
DB_PASSWORD=secret

# Redis
REDIS_HOST=localhost
REDIS_PORT=6379
REDIS_PASSWORD=secret

# Security
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-here
SESSION_SECRET=your-secret-here

# Monitoring
PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true
GRAFANA_URL=http://localhost:3001

Configuration Validation

Real-time Validation

Settings are validated as you type:

Validation Rules:

✅ Required fields not empty
✅ Valid data types
✅ Value ranges (min/max)
✅ Format validation (URLs, durations)
✅ Dependency checks (if X enabled, Y required)

Validation Indicators:

🟢 Green checkmark - Valid
🔴 Red X - Invalid (with error message)
🟡 Yellow warning - Valid but not recommended

Configuration Test

Test configuration before applying:

Click "Test Configuration"
FlexGate validates settings
Shows:
- Database connectivity ✅/❌
- Redis connectivity ✅/❌
- Port availability ✅/❌
- File permissions ✅/❌
Apply if all tests pass

Best Practices

Security

Never commit secrets to git
- Use environment variables
- Use secret management systems
Strong authentication
- Change default passwords
- Use long JWT secrets (32+ chars)
- Enable 2FA for admin accounts
CORS configuration
- Whitelist specific origins
- Avoid wildcard (*) in production

Performance

Database connection pool
- Min: 2-5 connections
- Max: Based on database capacity
- Monitor pool utilization
Redis cache
- Set appropriate TTLs
- Monitor memory usage
- Use eviction policies
Logging
- Use info level in production
- Rotate logs regularly
- Don't log sensitive data

Reliability

Health checks
- Enable for all external services
- Reasonable intervals (30s-60s)
- Set appropriate thresholds
Circuit breakers
- Protect critical dependencies
- Monitor open/close events
- Tune thresholds based on SLAs
Rate limiting
- Protect against abuse
- Set limits based on capacity
- Monitor rate limit hits

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Saving

Symptoms:

Changes not persisted
Settings revert after restart

Solutions:

Check file permissions
Verify database connectivity
Check logs for errors
Ensure not using read-only config

Performance Issues

Symptoms:

Slow Admin UI
High memory usage
Database connection errors

Solutions:

Reduce connection pool size
Increase heap size
Enable database query logging
Check Redis memory usage

Settings Conflicts

Symptoms:

Validation errors
Unexpected behavior
Service won't start

Solutions:

Use "Test Configuration" button
Check dependency requirements
Review validation messages
Compare with default config

Next Steps

Route Configuration - Configure individual routes
Security Guide - Secure your gateway
Production Deployment - Deploy to production

Need help? Join our GitHub Discussions.

Admin UI Settings ​

Accessing Settings ​

Settings Overview ​

General Settings ​

Server Configuration ​

Admin UI Configuration ​

Database Settings ​

Connection Settings ​

Connection Pool ​

Redis Settings ​

Connection Settings ​

Cache Settings ​

Security Settings ​

Authentication ​

CORS Configuration ​

API Key Settings ​

Rate Limiting Defaults ​

Default Configuration ​

Circuit Breaker Defaults ​

Default Settings ​

Health Check Defaults ​

Default Configuration ​

Logging Settings ​

Log Configuration ​

Monitoring Settings ​

Prometheus Configuration ​

Grafana Integration ​

Tracing Configuration ​

Webhook Settings ​

Webhook Configuration ​

Advanced Settings ​

Performance Tuning ​

Feature Flags ​

Configuration Import/Export ​

Export Configuration ​

Import Configuration ​

Environment Variables ​

Configuration Validation ​

Real-time Validation ​

Configuration Test ​

Best Practices ​

Security ​

Performance ​

Reliability ​

Troubleshooting ​

Configuration Not Saving ​

Performance Issues ​

Settings Conflicts ​

Next Steps ​

Admin UI Settings

Accessing Settings

Settings Overview

General Settings

Server Configuration

Admin UI Configuration

Database Settings

Connection Settings

Connection Pool

Redis Settings

Connection Settings

Cache Settings

Security Settings

Authentication

CORS Configuration

API Key Settings

Rate Limiting Defaults

Default Configuration

Circuit Breaker Defaults

Default Settings

Health Check Defaults

Default Configuration

Logging Settings

Log Configuration

Monitoring Settings

Prometheus Configuration

Grafana Integration

Tracing Configuration

Webhook Settings

Webhook Configuration

Advanced Settings

Performance Tuning

Feature Flags

Configuration Import/Export

Export Configuration

Import Configuration

Environment Variables

Configuration Validation

Real-time Validation

Configuration Test

Best Practices

Security

Performance

Reliability

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Saving

Performance Issues

Settings Conflicts

Next Steps