Commercial transition
Previous stateA self-managed Enterprise gateway could start without a configured licence without the new 3.15 read-only configuration boundary.
→New stateWithout a valid licence, configuration surfaces are read-only; recovery endpoints remain writable and existing proxy traffic continues.
Who is affected
Self-managed Kong Gateway Enterprise operators, platform teams and customers planning licence renewal or node scaling.
Action required
Deploy and verify a valid licence before upgrading, test restart and DB-less/KIC behaviour, and retain a licence-recovery procedure.
Evidence boundary
The change governs configuration writes and node startup conditions, not immediate proxy shutdown. Existing unchanged traffic continues, and the listed recovery endpoints remain writable.
Timeline
- Commercial change documented
Kong Gateway 3.15 applies the expired-license read-only behaviour when no valid Enterprise licence is configured, while existing proxy traffic continues on the last accepted configuration.
Official sources
- Kong Gateway 3.15 changelogKong Docs · 2026-07-02 · Official release changelog
- Kong Gateway licencesKong Docs · 2026-07-30 · Current official licence behaviour