Apache Knox

Apache Knox is a REST API and application gateway for the Apache Hadoop ecosystem. It provides a single access point for all REST and HTTP interactions with Apache Hadoop clusters, with authentication, authorization, SSO, and audit capabilities. Governed by the Apache Software Foundation under Apache 2.0.

Apache Knox publishes 3 APIs on the APIs.io network: Descriptors API, Providers API, and Topologies API. Tagged areas include API Gateway, Authentication, Hadoop, Open Source, and Security.

The Apache Knox catalog on APIs.io includes 3 JSON-LD contexts and 2 Spectral governance rulesets.

Apache Knox’s developer surface includes authentication, documentation, getting-started guide, and 9 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

51.9/100 developing ▼ -5.2 Agent 37/100 agent ready Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6

AccessFreemiumSelf serve⚡ Free to try

4 APIs 8 Features 4 Use Cases

API GatewayAuthenticationHadoopOpen SourceSecuritySSO

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6

Composite quality — 51.9/100 · developing

Contract Quality 14.3 / 25

Developer Ergonomics 6.1 / 20

Commercial Clarity 10.0 / 20

Operational Transparency 6.8 / 13

Governance 8.3 / 12

Discoverability 6.5 / 10

Agent readiness — 37/100 · agent ready

Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10

Idempotency 0 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8

Request/Response Examples 7 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7

Typed Event Surface 0 / 6

Agent Skills 0 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

A2A Agent Card 0 / 8

Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/apache-knox: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 4

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Apache Knox Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Apache Knox Finops

FINOPS

Features 8

Notable capabilities this provider offers.

Single Access Point

Unified gateway for all Hadoop REST services eliminating direct cluster access.

Authentication

Kerberos, LDAP, OAuth2, and JWT authentication support.

SSO Integration

SAML2-based SSO and token-based federation across Hadoop services.

Authorization

Fine-grained authorization via Apache Ranger integration.

SSL/TLS Termination

SSL/TLS termination at the gateway for encrypted communication.

Service Discovery

Automatic service discovery via Ambari and Cloudera Manager integration.

Topology Management

Dynamic topology configuration without gateway restarts.

Audit Logging

Comprehensive audit logs for all gateway interactions.

Scroll for all 8

JSON Schema 5

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Examples 5

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Use Cases 4

What developers build with this provider.

Hadoop Cluster Security

Secure and centralize access to all Hadoop REST APIs through Knox.

Cloud Hadoop Access

Provide secure REST access to EMR, HDInsight, and Dataproc clusters.

Hadoop SSO

Enable single sign-on across Ambari, Hue, Spark UI, and other Hadoop UIs.

REST API Proxying

Proxy WebHDFS, Hive JDBC/REST, HBase REST, and YARN REST through Knox.

Integrations 6

Pre-built integrations with other platforms and tools.

Apache Hadoop HDFS

WebHDFS REST API proxied and secured through Knox.

Apache Hive

Hive JDBC and REST API access via Knox gateway.

Apache HBase

HBase REST API proxied through Knox with authentication.

Apache Ranger

Authorization policy enforcement via Ranger Knox plugin.

Apache Ambari

Ambari REST API proxied through Knox for cluster management.

{"type" => "Blog", "url" => "https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KNOX/News"}

Resources

Get Started 1

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

GettingStarted

GettingStarted

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation

Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess

AgenticAccess

Design & Contract 3

Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events

Versioning

Versioning

SpectralRules

SpectralRules

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Build 2

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrganization

GitHubOrganization

GitHubRepository

GitHubRepository

Access & Security 3

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

VulnerabilityDisclosure

VulnerabilityDisclosure

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

Authentication

Authentication

Commercial 1

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

TermsOfService

TermsOfService

Source (apis.yml)

aid: apache-knox
name: Apache Knox
description: Apache Knox is a REST API and application gateway for the Apache Hadoop ecosystem. It provides a single access
  point for all REST and HTTP interactions with Apache Hadoop clusters, with authentication, authorization, SSO, and audit
  capabilities. Governed by the Apache Software Foundation under Apache 2.0.
type: Index
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: false
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/apache-knox.png
tags:
- API Gateway
- Authentication
- Hadoop
- Open Source
- Security
- SSO
created: '2026-03-16'
modified: '2026-05-19'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/apache-knox/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: apache-knox:gateway-api
  name: Apache Knox Gateway API
  description: The Knox gateway proxies and secures access to Hadoop ecosystem services including HDFS WebHDFS, Hive, HBase
    REST, YARN, Oozie, Ambari, and Ranger with authentication and authorization enforcement.
  humanURL: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html#Service+Details
  tags:
  - API Gateway
  - Hadoop
  - Proxy
  - Security
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html#Service+Details
- aid: apache-knox:apache-knox-descriptors-api
  name: Apache Knox Descriptors API
  description: Simple descriptor management
  humanURL: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
  tags:
  - Descriptors
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/apache-knox-descriptors-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
- aid: apache-knox:apache-knox-providers-api
  name: Apache Knox Providers API
  description: Provider configuration management
  humanURL: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
  tags:
  - Providers
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/apache-knox-providers-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
- aid: apache-knox:apache-knox-topologies-api
  name: Apache Knox Topologies API
  description: Gateway topology management
  humanURL: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
  tags:
  - Topologies
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/apache-knox-topologies-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/apache-knox-agentic-access.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/apache-knox-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/apache-knox-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/apache-knox-authentication.yml
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/apache
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/apache/knox
- type: Documentation
  url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://knox.apache.org/books/knox-2-0-0/user-guide.html#Quick+Start
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- type: Versioning
  url: https://knox.apache.org/books/
- type: SpectralRules
  url: rules/apache-knox-spectral-rules.yml
- type: Vocabulary
  url: vocabulary/apache-knox-vocabulary.yaml
- type: Features
  data:
  - name: Single Access Point
    description: Unified gateway for all Hadoop REST services eliminating direct cluster access.
  - name: Authentication
    description: Kerberos, LDAP, OAuth2, and JWT authentication support.
  - name: SSO Integration
    description: SAML2-based SSO and token-based federation across Hadoop services.
  - name: Authorization
    description: Fine-grained authorization via Apache Ranger integration.
  - name: SSL/TLS Termination
    description: SSL/TLS termination at the gateway for encrypted communication.
  - name: Service Discovery
    description: Automatic service discovery via Ambari and Cloudera Manager integration.
  - name: Topology Management
    description: Dynamic topology configuration without gateway restarts.
  - name: Audit Logging
    description: Comprehensive audit logs for all gateway interactions.
- type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: Hadoop Cluster Security
    description: Secure and centralize access to all Hadoop REST APIs through Knox.
  - name: Cloud Hadoop Access
    description: Provide secure REST access to EMR, HDInsight, and Dataproc clusters.
  - name: Hadoop SSO
    description: Enable single sign-on across Ambari, Hue, Spark UI, and other Hadoop UIs.
  - name: REST API Proxying
    description: Proxy WebHDFS, Hive JDBC/REST, HBase REST, and YARN REST through Knox.
- type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: Apache Hadoop HDFS
    description: WebHDFS REST API proxied and secured through Knox.
  - name: Apache Hive
    description: Hive JDBC and REST API access via Knox gateway.
  - name: Apache HBase
    description: HBase REST API proxied through Knox with authentication.
  - name: Apache Ranger
    description: Authorization policy enforcement via Ranger Knox plugin.
  - name: Apache Ambari
    description: Ambari REST API proxied through Knox for cluster management.
  - url: https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KNOX/News
    type: Blog
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: info@apievangelist.com

Apache Knox

APIs 4

Pricing Plans 1

Rate Limits 1

FinOps 1

Features 8

Single Access Point

Authentication

SSO Integration

Authorization

SSL/TLS Termination

Service Discovery

Topology Management

Audit Logging

Semantic Vocabularies 3

Spectral Rules 2

JSON Schema 5

JSON Structure 5

Examples 5

Security Posture 3

Agentic Access 1

Use Cases 4

Hadoop Cluster Security

Cloud Hadoop Access

Hadoop SSO

REST API Proxying

Integrations 6

Apache Hadoop HDFS

Apache Hive

Apache HBase

Apache Ranger

Apache Ambari

Get Started 1

Documentation 1

Agent Surfaces 1

Design & Contract 3

Build 2

Access & Security 3

Commercial 1

Source (apis.yml)