Here’s what you need to know about the Internet Computer’s new boundary node architecture.

Boundary nodes act as the mailmen of the network, routing user requests to canisters without requiring clients to understand the complex backend. With the Solenoid milestone, the system is now fully decentralized.

The architecture has been split into three components:
- API boundary nodes, which handle request routing and caching;
- HTTP gateways, which translate browser requests into IC API calls;
- and a discovery library that connects clients to optimal nodes.

This update improves scalability, security, and accessibility while enabling developers to bypass HTTP gateways and connect directly to API boundary nodes.