Management Options
API7 Gateway provides several options for working with gateway groups and resources such as routes, services, upstreams, and consumers. These options support different operational workflows, from interactive configuration to automation and AI-assisted operations.
| Option | How it works | Common operational scenarios |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | Provides a graphical interface in the API7 Gateway control plane. | Routine interactive configuration and inspection, one-off resource changes, and access-token creation. |
| Admin API | Provides RESTful endpoints for control-plane and gateway resource operations. | Custom controllers, internal platforms, and applications that need direct HTTP integration. |
| API Declarative CLI (ADC) | Applies declarative YAML or JSON configuration from a separately installed CLI. | GitOps and CI/CD workflows where files are the source of truth, including validation, drift review, environment promotion, and approved synchronization. |
| a7 CLI | Runs commands against the control-plane API and Admin API from a separately installed CLI. | Interactive resource inspection and changes across gateway groups, scripts that consume structured output, troubleshooting, and AI coding agents that support Agent Skills and shell commands. |
| API7-MCP | Exposes API7 Gateway operations as tools through a separately configured MCP server. | MCP-compatible AI clients and agents that need resource lookup, monitoring, RBAC administration, or gateway test requests. |
The Dashboard is included with the control plane. ADC, a7, and API7-MCP are set up separately. The Quick Start and the tutorial that follows provide examples for the Dashboard, Admin API, and ADC.
Use API7 Gateway with an AI Agent
Both a7 and API7-MCP can connect an AI agent to API7 Gateway, but they work differently. The API7 Gateway agent skills provide API7-specific instructions and examples, which a shell-capable coding agent follows by running a7 commands. API7-MCP provides structured tools that an MCP-compatible client or agent can discover and call.
You do not need both for the same task. Use the a7 skills when your agent supports Agent Skills and shell commands. Use API7-MCP when your client or agent supports MCP and you want an MCP server to provide API7 Gateway operations as tools.
What's Next
You have now reviewed the available management options. Next, proxy and manage API requests with plugins using the Dashboard, Admin API, or ADC.