Reverse Proxy Overview
Web.Casa uses Caddy as its reverse proxy engine. All configuration changes are pushed through Caddy’s Admin API in real time — no process restarts, no reloads, zero downtime.
Host Types
Section titled “Host Types”Web.Casa supports four distinct host types, each tailored to a specific use case:
| Host Type | Description | Common Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
| Reverse Proxy | Forwards requests to one or more upstream servers with Round Robin load balancing | Web apps, APIs, microservices |
| Redirect | Sends visitors to a target URL with 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary) status codes | Domain migrations, vanity URLs |
| Static Website | Serves files directly from a directory on the server | Docs, landing pages, SPAs |
| PHP Site | Routes requests through FastCGI to PHP-FPM (localhost:9000 or a Unix socket) | WordPress, Laravel, custom PHP |
For Redirect hosts, Web.Casa automatically appends the original URI path to the target URL, preserving deep links.
How Caddy Integration Works
Section titled “How Caddy Integration Works”- You create or edit a host in the Web.Casa panel.
- Web.Casa translates your settings into valid Caddy configuration.
- The configuration is pushed to Caddy via its Admin API instantly.
- Caddy applies the change with no process restart required.
All host configurations are persisted in the Web.Casa SQLite database and kept in sync with Caddy’s running config. If Caddy restarts, Web.Casa rebuilds the full configuration automatically.
Per-Host Features
Section titled “Per-Host Features”Every host — regardless of type — can be configured with:
- TLS / SSL — Five modes: Auto (ACME), DNS Challenge, Wildcard (DNS), Custom Certificate, Off (HTTP only)
- WebSocket support — Proxy WebSocket connections to upstream servers
- Compression — Gzip and Zstd compression for responses
- Security headers —
X-Frame-Options,X-Content-Type-Options,X-XSS-Protection - CORS — Configurable allowed origins, methods, and headers
- Custom error pages — Branded pages for 404, 500, and other status codes
- Custom Caddyfile directives — Inject raw Caddyfile snippets for advanced use cases
- HTTP Basic Auth — Password protection with bcrypt-encrypted credentials
- IP access control — Whitelist or blacklist IPs and CIDR ranges
- HTTP to HTTPS redirect — Force all traffic to HTTPS
- Groups and Tags — Organize hosts by project, environment, or team
- Host cloning — Duplicate an existing host configuration in one click
- DNS check — Validate A/AAAA records against your server’s IP before going live
Templates
Section titled “Templates”Web.Casa includes preset templates to accelerate common setups:
- WordPress Reverse Proxy — PHP-FPM with WordPress-optimized rules
- SPA Static Site (Single Page Application) — Static site with fallback routing
- API Reverse Proxy — Reverse proxy tuned for API backends
- PHP-FPM Site — Generic PHP FastCGI configuration
- Static File Download Site — Directory serving with optional index files
- WebSocket Application — Reverse proxy with WebSocket pass-through
Templates pre-fill host settings that you can customize before saving.
SSL/TLS
Section titled “SSL/TLS”Caddy handles TLS certificate provisioning automatically:
- Let’s Encrypt or ZeroSSL via ACME HTTP-01 / TLS-ALPN-01 challenge (default)
- DNS challenge for wildcard domains and servers behind firewalls
- Custom certificate upload for commercial or internal PKI certificates
See SSL/TLS Certificates and DNS Challenge & Wildcards for details.
Dashboard
Section titled “Dashboard”The Reverse Proxy dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of all configured hosts:
- Status — Enabled or disabled
- Host type — Reverse Proxy, Redirect, Static, or PHP
- SSL certificate expiry dates
- Groups and tags for filtering
- Quick actions — Edit, clone, enable/disable, delete