envoyproxy/envoy

allow close downstream idle connection while draining

Open

#42,305 opened on Nov 30, 2025

View on GitHub
 (12 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)C++ (5,373 forks)batch import
area/drainarea/listenerenhancementhelp wanted

Repository metrics

Stars
 (27,997 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (Avg merge 8d) (378 merged PRs in 30d)

Description

Description: When stopping envoy by using curl -X POST http://localhost:15000/drain_listeners?graceful Envoy only sending Connection: CLOSE on HTTP1, that means idle connection will be Established after idle_timeout at most.

Background: We are building AI Gateway based on Envoy, we hope idle_timeout could be large enough. Meanwhile we hope downstream idle connections could be closed as soon as possible, so that the the Gateway could be shutdown as early as possible.

[optional Relevant Links:] https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/operations/admin#operations-admin-interface-drain

Maybe close downstream idle connection could be the default behaviour or add a new configuration to enable it.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Examine the drain listener handler in Envoy's admin interface and the HTTP connection manager's idle timeout logic. Look for where connections are drained and consider adding a mechanism to close idle connections immediately upon drain.
Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GitC++HTTP
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
35