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Introduction

A lightweight, self-hosted API rate limiting reverse proxy.

OpenWard sits between your clients and upstream APIs, enforcing configurable rate limits before forwarding requests.

Built in Go, OpenWard is designed around a simple philosophy:

  • Single binary deployment
  • SQLite persistence with WAL mode
  • Zero runtime dependencies
  • Project-based API authentication
  • High-performance reverse proxy
  • Self-hosted

Whether you're protecting your own APIs or placing limits in front of third-party services like OpenAI, OpenWard provides a simple, production-ready solution without requiring Redis or external infrastructure.

Why OpenWard?

Many rate limiting solutions rely on multiple moving parts—Redis, external databases, containers, or orchestration platforms.

OpenWard takes a different approach inspired from Pocketbase

By combining Go, SQLite in WAL mode, and an embedded dashboard into a single executable, OpenWard keeps deployment simple while remaining performant for real-world workloads.

Features

  • Reverse proxy
  • Multiple built-in rate limiting algorithms
    • Fixed Window
    • Sliding Window
    • Token Bucket
  • Embedded web dashboard
  • REST API

Project Status

Early Development

OpenWard is currently under active development.

Breaking changes should be expected until the first stable release.

Next Steps

  • Read the About page to understand OpenWard's architecture and philosophy.
  • Follow the Getting Started guide to run your first instance.