---
layout: docs
page_title: Service Splitter: Configuration Entry Reference
description: >-
The service splitter configuration entry kind defines how to divide service mesh traffic between service instances. Use the reference guide to learn about `""service-splitter""` config entry parameters and how it can be used for traffic management behaviors like canary rollouts, blue green deployment, and load balancing across environments.
---
# Service Splitter Configuration Entry
-> **v1.8.4+:** On Kubernetes, the `ServiceSplitter` custom resource is supported in Consul versions 1.8.4+.
**v1.6.0+:** On other platforms, this config entry is supported in Consul versions 1.6.0+.
The `service-splitter` config entry kind (`ServiceSplitter` on Kubernetes) controls how to split incoming Connect
requests across different subsets of a single service (like during staged
canary rollouts), or perhaps across different services (like during a v2
rewrite or other type of codebase migration).
If no splitter config is defined for a service it is assumed 100% of traffic
flows to a service with the same name and discovery continues on to the
resolution stage.
## Interaction with other Config Entries
- Service splitter config entries are a component of [L7 Traffic
Management](/docs/connect/l7-traffic).
- Service splitter config entries are restricted to only services that define
their protocol as http-based via a corresponding
[`service-defaults`](/docs/connect/config-entries/service-defaults) config
entry or globally via
[`proxy-defaults`](/docs/connect/config-entries/proxy-defaults) .
- Any split destination that specifies a different `Service` field and omits
the `ServiceSubset` field is eligible for further splitting should a splitter
be configured for that other service, otherwise resolution proceeds according
to any configured
[`service-resolver`](/docs/connect/config-entries/service-resolver).
## UI
Once a `service-splitter` is successfully entered, you can view it in the UI. Service routers, service splitters, and service resolvers can all be viewed by clicking on your service then switching to the _routing_ tab.
![screenshot of service splitter in the UI](/img/l7-routing/Splitter.png)
## Sample Config Entries
### Two subsets of same service
Split traffic between two subsets of the same service:
```hcl
Kind = "service-splitter"
Name = "web"
Splits = [
{
Weight = 90
ServiceSubset = "v1"
},
{
Weight = 10
ServiceSubset = "v2"
},
]
```
```yaml
apiVersion: consul.hashicorp.com/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceSplitter
metadata:
name: web
spec:
splits:
- weight: 90
serviceSubset: v1
- weight: 10
serviceSubset: v2
```
```json
{
"Kind": "service-splitter",
"Name": "web",
"Splits": [
{
"Weight": 90,
"ServiceSubset": "v1"
},
{
"Weight": 10,
"ServiceSubset": "v2"
}
]
}
```
### Two different services
Split traffic between two services:
```hcl
Kind = "service-splitter"
Name = "web"
Splits = [
{
Weight = 50
# will default to service with same name as config entry ("web")
},
{
Weight = 50
Service = "web-rewrite"
},
]
```
```yaml
apiVersion: consul.hashicorp.com/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceSplitter
metadata:
name: web
spec:
splits:
- weight: 50
# will default to service with same name as config entry ("web")
- weight: 50
service: web-rewrite
```
```json
{
"Kind": "service-splitter",
"Name": "web",
"Splits": [
{
"Weight": 50
},
{
"Weight": 50,
"Service": "web-rewrite"
}
]
}
```
### Set HTTP Headers
Split traffic between two subsets with extra headers added so clients can tell
which version:
```hcl
Kind = "service-splitter"
Name = "web"
Splits = [
{
Weight = 90
ServiceSubset = "v1"
ResponseHeaders {
Set {
"X-Web-Version": "v1"
}
}
},
{
Weight = 10
ServiceSubset = "v2"
ResponseHeaders {
Set {
"X-Web-Version": "v2"
}
}
},
]
```
```yaml
apiVersion: consul.hashicorp.com/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceSplitter
metadata:
name: web
spec:
splits:
- weight: 90
serviceSubset: v1
responseHeaders:
set:
x-web-version: v1
- weight: 10
serviceSubset: v2
responseHeaders:
set:
x-web-version: v2
```
```json
{
"Kind": "service-splitter",
"Name": "web",
"Splits": [
{
"Weight": 90,
"ServiceSubset": "v1",
"ResponseHeaders": {
"Set": {
"X-Web-Version": "v1"
}
}
},
{
"Weight": 10,
"ServiceSubset": "v2",
"ResponseHeaders": {
"Set": {
"X-Web-Version": "v2"
}
}
}
]
}
```
## Available Fields
',
yaml: false,
},
{
name: 'Namespace',
type: `string: "default"`,
enterprise: true,
description:
'Specifies the namespace to which the configuration entry will apply.',
yaml: false,
},
{
name: 'Partition',
type: `string: "default"`,
enterprise: true,
description:
'Specifies the admin partition to which the configuration entry will apply.',
yaml: false,
},
{
name: 'Meta',
type: 'map: nil',
description:
'Specifies arbitrary KV metadata pairs. Added in Consul 1.8.4.',
yaml: false,
},
{
name: 'metadata',
children: [
{
name: 'name',
description: 'Set to the name of the service being configured.',
},
{
name: 'namespace',
description:
'If running Consul Open Source, the namespace is ignored (see [Kubernetes Namespaces in Consul OSS](/docs/k8s/crds#consul-oss)). If running Consul Enterprise see [Kubernetes Namespaces in Consul Enterprise](/docs/k8s/crds#consul-enterprise) for more details.',
},
],
hcl: false,
},
{
name: 'Splits',
type: 'array',
description:
'Defines how much traffic to send to which set of service instances during a traffic split. The sum of weights across all splits must add up to 100.',
children: [
{
name: 'weight',
type: 'float32: 0',
description:
'A value between 0 and 100 reflecting what portion of traffic should be directed to this split. The smallest representable weight is 1/10000 or .01%',
},
{
name: 'Service',
type: 'string: ""',
description: 'The service to resolve instead of the default.',
},
{
name: 'ServiceSubset',
type: 'string: ""',
description: {
hcl:
"A named subset of the given service to resolve instead of one defined as that service's `DefaultSubset`. If empty the default subset is used.",
yaml:
"A named subset of the given service to resolve instead of one defined as that service's `defaultSubset`. If empty the default subset is used.",
},
},
{
name: 'Namespace',
enterprise: true,
type: 'string: ""',
description:
'The namespace to resolve the service from instead of the current namespace. If empty, the current namespace is used.',
},
{
name: 'Partition',
enterprise: true,
type: 'string: ""',
description:
'The admin partition to resolve the service from instead of the current partition. If empty, the current partition is used.',
},
{
name: 'RequestHeaders',
type: 'HTTPHeaderModifiers: ',
description: `A set of [HTTP-specific header modification rules](/docs/connect/config-entries/service-router#httpheadermodifiers)
that will be applied to requests routed to this split.
This cannot be used with a \`tcp\` listener.`,
},
{
name: 'ResponseHeaders',
type: 'HTTPHeaderModifiers: ',
description: `A set of [HTTP-specific header modification rules](/docs/connect/config-entries/service-router#httpheadermodifiers)
that will be applied to responses from this split.
This cannot be used with a \`tcp\` listener.`,
},
],
},
]}
/>
## ACLs
Configuration entries may be protected by [ACLs](/docs/security/acl).
Reading a `service-splitter` config entry requires `service:read` on the resource.
Creating, updating, or deleting a `service-splitter` config entry requires
`service:write` on the resource and `service:read` on any other service referenced by
name in these fields:
- [`Splits[].Service`](#service)