# Gateway API v1.6: TCPRoute and UDPRoute Graduate to Standard

DevFeed: [Gateway API v1.6: TCPRoute and UDPRoute Graduate to Standard](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/gateway-api-v1-6-tcproute-and-udproute-graduate-to-standard-4570.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://kubernetes.io/blog/2026/08/03/gateway-api-v1-6-release/>)

Author: Beka Modebadze; Ricardo Katz

Published: 2026-08-03T16:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Kubernetes Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/kubernetes-blog.md>)

Topics: [Kubernetes](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/kubernetes.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/networking.md>), [Protocol (disambiguation)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/protocol.md>), [API](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/api.md>), [releases](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/releases.md>)

Tags: [api](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/api.md>), [kubernetes](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kubernetes.md>), [networking](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/networking.md>), [release](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/release.md>), [v1](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/v1.md>)

## AI overview

Gateway API v1.6.0 expands Kubernetes service networking with TCPRoute and UDPRoute graduating to the Standard channel and v1 API, enabling portable Layer 4 routing for raw TCP and UDP traffic. The release also separates experimental API resources into a distinct group.

## Source excerpt

The Kubernetes SIG Network community is thrilled to share the release of Gateway API v1.6.0, which was released on June 30th of this year! Gateway API has become the standard for modern, role-oriented, and expressive service networking in Kubernetes. In previous releases, Gateway API established a production-grade foundation for HTTP and TLS layer 7 traffic. With version 1.6.0, Gateway API takes a major step forward by expanding standard layer 4 protocol routing and introducing cleaner API boundaries for experimental innovation. Here is a quick summary of what's new in Gateway API v1.6.0: TCPRoute and UDPRoute Graduate to Standard: Raw L4 TCP and UDP traffic routing reach GA stability in the v1 API version. Experimental API Group Separation: Experimental resources transition to a distinct API group (gateway.networking.x-k8s.io) with an X prefix to make experimental vs. standard boundaries crystal clear. Let's dive into the details! TCPRoute and UDPRoute graduate to Standard Leads: Nick Young, Ricardo Katz and Zac Nixon GEP-2644 - TCPRoute GEP-2645 - UDPRoute Until now, Gateway API only offered a stable routing model for HTTP and TLS traffic. Workloads that speak a raw protocol over TCP or UDP - databases, DNS, VoIP, gaming, IoT telemetry - had no portable way to plug into a Gateway. Users either fell back to a plain Kubernetes Service, or to an implementation-specific CRD that doesn't travel between Gateway controllers. TCPRoute and UDPRoute close that gap: they route traffic to backends based on protocol and port alone, no L7 awareness required. With this release, both have graduated from the Experimental channel to Standard, and moved to the v1 API version. The v1alpha2 version of each was deprecated as of the v1.6 release, and will be removed in a future release. How it works A Gateway needs a listener that allows TCPRoute attachment: apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1 kind: Gateway metadata: name: example-gateway spec: gatewayClassName: example-gateway-cla