Kong, a leading provider of API infrastructure platforms, has announced a significant update to its Kong Konnect API platform with the introduction of the Konnect Service Catalog. This new feature acts as a comprehensive system of record, offering improved visibility and control over all APIs within an organization’s IT infrastructure. The Service Catalog enables businesses to better manage their APIs, ensuring they can easily track and govern every API in use across the enterprise. With this update, Kong is reinforcing its commitment to providing a unified platform that securely supports the entire API lifecycle, from development and deployment to security and governance.
The Konnect Service Catalog integrates seamlessly with key systems such as API gateways, service meshes, and Kubernetes. This integration provides a “single source of truth” for APIs, offering enhanced visibility and control over shadow APIs—those that are often deployed without full oversight. By consolidating API management into one centralized platform, organizations can proactively eliminate unused or undiscovered APIs, reducing security risks and improving operational efficiency. This new capability is designed to help businesses mitigate vulnerabilities by ensuring that all APIs are properly accounted for and governed.
In addition to the Service Catalog, the latest update also introduces AI Gateway 3.8, which focuses on optimizing the connection to large language models (LLMs). The update features semantic caching, which can speed up AI responses by as much as 20 times while lowering computational overhead. This advancement is particularly beneficial for businesses leveraging generative AI applications, making them faster and more cost-effective. AI Gateway 3.8 also includes Semantic Prompt Guard, a security feature that intelligently blocks inappropriate prompts, and Semantic Routing, which simplifies the process of selecting the right AI model for specific tasks.
Other new features in the Kong Konnect update include the introduction of Konnect Dedicated Cloud Gateways on AWS and Azure. These fully managed, multi-region API management solutions provide high-performance API infrastructure globally. Additionally, Kong Gateway 3.8 offers Incremental Configuration Updates, which significantly reduce memory and CPU usage, making the platform more efficient and responsive. The update also includes enhanced OpenTelemetry support, improving observability and enabling better security and scalability for API operations. Kong Insomnia 10, the company’s API design and testing tool, also receives new features aimed at boosting developer productivity, including multi-LLM support and AI-driven performance improvements.