Gateway API monthly-2026.01 Release Notes

This is the monthly release for the Gateway API experimental channel for January 2026. This release includes the latest features and fixes from Gateway API's main branch.

Using this Release

• To install the CRDs for this release, use install monthly-2026.01-install.yaml:

  kubectl apply --server-side=true -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/monthly-2026.01/monthly-2026.01-install.yaml
  

• To build using this release in Go, include this release in your go.mod:

  require sigs.k8s.io/gateway-api monthly-2026.01
  

  and run go mod tidy. You'll find that monthly-2026.01 gets replaced by a Go pseudoversion; this is expected.

Cautions

N/A

Changes Summary

Bundle Version

• Updated bundle version from v1.4.0 to v1.4.1 across all experimental CRDs

Gateway API Enhancements

• Added attachedListenerSets field to Gateway status for tracking ListenerSet attachments
• Clarified AttachedRoutes counting logic to only include Routes with Accepted: true condition
• Updated BackendTLSPolicy documentation with expanded support level guidance

Documentation Improvements

• Fixed grammar and typos throughout CRD descriptions (e.g., "case sensitive" → "case-sensitive", "retryable" → "retriable")
• Improved clarity of namespace access error messages
• Enhanced ListenerSet attachment documentation with clearer conditions

Affected Resources

• BackendTLSPolicy, Gateway, GatewayClass, GRPCRoute, HTTPRoute, ReferenceGrant, TCPRoute, TLSRoute, UDPRoute
• XBackendTrafficPolicy, XListenerSet, XMesh

What's Changed

• Update External Auth GEP to be Experimental by @youngnick in #4297
• Optimize mesh (GRPC|HTTP)RouteWeight tests by @LiorLieberman in #4300
• Perform Implementations page review for v1.4 by @youngnick in #4238
• Fix GCL version with bugfix for git problem by @rikatz in #4313
• Fix incorrect spec change for Policy objects by @youngnick in #4304
• chore(1.4.1): CHANGELOG and version updates by @kflynn in #4317
• fix(build): build-install-yaml needs to tolerate $1 being unset. Oops. by @kflynn in #4319
• chore(1.4.1): Update README and guide for 1.4.1 by @kflynn in #4320
• conformance: normative test for backend client certificate in Gateway by @snorwin in #4119
• api: Update gateway status to include AttachedListeners by @davidjumani in #4211
• Add verbose flag to golangci-lint command by @LiorLieberman in #4311
• Add github actions update to dependabot by @rikatz in #4312
• Move GEPs out of ToC and re-add provisional by @rikatz in #4277
• conformance: Add Airlock Microgateway 4.8.0 report for v1.4.0 and v1.4.1 by @root30 in #4285
• Spelling by @jsoref in #4279
• Fix docs typos by @nurzhan-zhanuzak in #4328
• fix: target object status description by @guicassolato in #4275
• build(deps): bump pymdown-extensions from 10.17.2 to 10.18 in /hack/mkdocs/image in the mkdocs-deps group by @dependabot[bot] in #4331
• gep: refine CACertificateRefs description for frontend TLS by @snorwin in #4183
• Update the ListenerSet GEP per Kubecon discussions by @rikatz in #4286
• Adding more HTTPRoute guides by @robscott in #4326
• Adding ingress-nginx welcome guide along with new "getting started" section by @robscott in #4334
• build(deps): bump actions/checkout from 4.2.2 to 6.0.1 by @dependabot[bot] in #4323
• build(deps): bump actions/setup-go from 5.5.0 to 6.1.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4324
• build(deps): bump the k8s-io group across 4 directories with 4 updates by @dependabot[bot] in #4325
• GEP-2643: TLSRoute by @rikatz in #4064
• build(deps): bump the mkdocs-deps group in /hack/mkdocs/image with 2 updates by @dependabot[bot] in #4352
• conformance: check ObservedGeneration of status conditions for HTTPRoutes, Gateways and Gatewayclasses with polling by @pmalek in #4339
• chore: add sigs.k8s.io to dependabot config by @rikatz in #4366
• build(deps): bump the mkdocs-deps group in /hack/mkdocs/image with 2 updates by @dependabot[bot] in #4367
• Conformance report for NGINX Gateway Fabric 2.3.0 by @sjberman in #4365
• build(deps): bump sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime from 0.22.3 to 0.22.4 in /conformance by @dependabot[bot] in #4289
• implementations: update Azure Application Gateway for Containers badge by @ffurrer2 in #4343
• Clarify at least 3 implementations must upload their report to appear by @xtineskim in #4373
• Gravitee Kubernetes Operator 4.8.5 conformance report for 1.3.0 by @a-cordier in #4059
• 1.4.0 Conformance report for NGINX Gateway Fabric by @sjberman in #4372
• Update NGF conformance report by @sjberman in #4379
• Fix link to design goals in migrating-from-ingress.md by @JoeyC-Dev in #4380
• Add a link validator and fix broken links by @rikatz in #4363
• Fix AttachedRoutes documentation aligned to count only Accepted Routes by @davidesalerno in #4341
• Use correct link when mentioning conformance levels by @Stevenjin8 in #4391
• Clarify gep-1713 language to make it clear ListenerSet to Gateway is 1:1 by @zac-nixon in #4390
• build(deps): bump pymdown-extensions from 10.19.1 to 10.20 in /hack/mkdocs/image in the mkdocs-deps group by @dependabot[bot] in #4398
• Bump golangci-lint to the latest version (v2) by @erikgb in #4377
• docs: rename rogue listener.routes per ffd6005 by @cavcrosby in #4400
• BackendTLSPolicy GEP - add Implementation-specific behavior by @rikatz in #4381
• fix: add MinItems=1 validation to HTTPRoute rules by @snorwin in #4301
• submit 1.3 conformance report for aws lbc by @shuqz in #4384
• api: Update Gateway status to reflect changes to GEP-1713 by @davidjumani in #4358
• docs: add rikatz as maintainer by @shaneutt in #4403
• docs: fix typo in CONTRIBUTING.md and README.md by @kube-gopher in #4395

New Contributors

• @davidjumani made their first contribution in #4211
• @nurzhan-zhanuzak made their first contribution in #4328
• @ffurrer2 made their first contribution in #4343
• @a-cordier made their first contribution in #4059
• @JoeyC-Dev made their first contribution in #4380
• @davidesalerno made their first contribution in #4341
• @zac-nixon made their first contribution in #4390
• @cavcrosby made their first contribution in #4400
• @shuqz made their first contribution in #4384
• @kube-gopher made their first contribution in #4395

Full Changelog: monthly-2025.12...monthly-2026.01