API Response Compression Middleware

[phertyameen]

Labels: middleware, performance, optimization, medium-priority

Description:

Create response compression middleware to reduce bandwidth usage and improve API response times through gzip/brotli compression.

Requirements:

Compress response bodies over a certain size threshold (1KB)
Support multiple compression algorithms:

1. Brotli (best compression, modern browsers)
2. Gzip (good compression, universal support)
3. Deflate (fallback)

Negotiate compression based on Accept-Encoding header
Skip compression for:

• Already compressed content (images, videos)
• Small responses (under 1KB)
• Streaming responses

Set appropriate Content-Encoding headers
Configure compression levels (trade-off between speed and size)
Cache compressed responses when appropriate
Monitor compression ratios for optimization

Acceptance Criteria:

• Large JSON responses compressed by 60-80%
• Compression algorithm selected based on client support
• Small responses not compressed (overhead not worth it)
• Compressed responses correctly decompressed by clients
• Content-Encoding header properly set
• Compression level configurable (balance CPU vs bandwidth)
• No corruption of binary data
• Performance improved for slow connections
• Bandwidth usage reduced by 50%+ on average
• No compression of already-compressed formats (images)

Compression Strategy:

• Brotli (quality 4) for modern browsers
• Gzip (level 6) for older browsers
• No compression for IE 6 and older

Content Types to Compress:

• application/json
• text/html
• text/plain
• application/javascript
• text/css
• text/xml

Content Types to Skip:

• image/* (JPEG, PNG already compressed)
• video/* (already compressed)
• audio/* (already compressed)
• application/zip
• application/gzip

Thresholds:

• Minimum size for compression: 1024 bytes
• Maximum CPU time for compression: 50ms
• Target compression ratio: 70% size reduction

Performance Considerations:

• CPU usage vs bandwidth savings
• Compression level tuning (6 for gzip, 4 for brotli)
• Caching compressed responses
• Async compression for large payloads

[mijinummi]

@mijinummi has applied to work on this issue as part of the Stellar Wave Program's 3rd wave.

Can I work on this?

ℹ️ Repo Maintainers: To accept this application, review their application or assign @mijinummi to this issue.

[drips-wave]

Congratulations, @mijinummi! 🎉 Your application was accepted by the repo's maintainers, and the issue is due on March 30, 2026.

🧑‍💻 @mijinummi: Please resolve the issue such that the repo's maintainers have enough time to review your contribution before the due date. You'll earn Points for completing the issue on-time, which will make you eligible for a share of the Stellar Wave Program's reward pool.

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