Add H1 same-connection redirect follow-up

Author: kursadaltan

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
+## Unreleased
+
+**🚀 Features**
+
+* Add `Session::h1_set_same_connection_followup` for following an HTTP/1.1 redirect on a single pooled upstream connection; disables cache for the skipped intermediate hop when caching is enabled.
+
+**📚 Documentation**
+
+* `ProxyHttp::response_filter`: point to the new follow-up API for same-connection redirect handling.
+
 ## [0.8.0](https://github.com/cloudflare/pingora/compare/0.7.0...0.8.0) - 2026-03-02
 
 

pingora-proxy/src/lib.rs

@@ -480,6 +480,8 @@ pub struct Session {
     upstream_body_bytes_received: usize,
     /// Upstream write pending time. Set by proxy layer (HTTP/1.x only).
     upstream_write_pending_time: Duration,
+    h1_skip_downstream_response: bool,
+    h1_same_connection_followup: Option<RequestHeader>,
     /// Flag that is set when the shutdown process has begun.
     shutdown_flag: Arc<AtomicBool>,
 }
@@ -502,6 +504,8 @@ impl Session {
             downstream_modules_ctx: downstream_modules.build_ctx(),
             upstream_body_bytes_received: 0,
             upstream_write_pending_time: Duration::ZERO,
+            h1_skip_downstream_response: false,
+            h1_same_connection_followup: None,
             shutdown_flag,
         }
     }
@@ -742,6 +746,23 @@ impl Session {
         self.upstream_write_pending_time = d;
     }
 
+    /// Queue a follow-up request on the same HTTP/1.1 upstream connection after the current
+    /// response body is consumed, without sending that response downstream. Use from
+    /// `response_filter` (e.g. after a 3xx with a same-origin `Location`). Disables caching for
+    /// the skipped hop when cache is enabled.
+    pub fn h1_set_same_connection_followup(&mut self, request: RequestHeader) {
+        if self.cache.enabled() {
+            self.cache
+                .disable(NoCacheReason::Custom("H1SameConnectionRedirect"));
+        }
+        self.h1_skip_downstream_response = true;
+        self.h1_same_connection_followup = Some(request);
+    }
+
+    pub(crate) fn h1_skip_downstream_for_upstream_response(&self) -> bool {
+        self.h1_skip_downstream_response
+    }
+
     /// Is the proxy process in the process of shutting down (e.g. due to graceful upgrade)?
     pub fn is_process_shutting_down(&self) -> bool {
         self.shutdown_flag.load(Ordering::Acquire)
@@ -1483,3 +1504,21 @@ where
         Service::new(name, proxy)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod h1_same_connection_tests {
+    use super::{RequestHeader, Session};
+    use http::Method;
+    use pingora_core::protocols::Stream;
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn followup_skips_intermediate_response_downstream() {
+        let input = b"GET /a HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: t\r\n\r\n";
+        let io = tokio_test::io::Builder::new().read(&input[..]).build();
+        let mut session = Session::new_h1(Box::new(io) as Stream);
+        assert!(session.read_request().await.unwrap());
+        let next = RequestHeader::build(Method::GET, b"/b", None).unwrap();
+        session.h1_set_same_connection_followup(next);
+        assert!(session.h1_skip_downstream_for_upstream_response());
+    }
+}

pingora-proxy/src/proxy_h1.rs

@@ -167,14 +167,28 @@ where
             return (false, false, Some(e));
         }
 
-        let (server_session_reuse, client_session_reuse, error) =
-            self.proxy_1to1(session, client_session, peer, ctx).await;
+        let mut server_session_reuse;
+        let mut client_session_reuse;
+        let mut error: Option<Box<Error>>;
+
+        loop {
+            if let Some(next_req) = session.h1_same_connection_followup.take() {
+                *session.req_header_mut() = next_req;
+                session.h1_skip_downstream_response = false;
+            }
+
+            (server_session_reuse, client_session_reuse, error) =
+                self.proxy_1to1(session, client_session, peer, ctx).await;
+
+            if error.is_none() && session.h1_same_connection_followup.is_some() {
+                continue;
+            }
+            break;
+        }
 
-        // Record upstream response body bytes received (payload only) for logging consumers.
         let upstream_bytes_total = client_session.body_bytes_received();
         session.set_upstream_body_bytes_received(upstream_bytes_total);
 
-        // Record upstream write pending time for this session only (delta from baseline).
         let current_write_pending = client_session.stream().get_write_pending_time();
         let upstream_write_pending = current_write_pending.saturating_sub(initial_write_pending);
         session.set_upstream_write_pending_time(upstream_write_pending);
@@ -324,15 +338,19 @@ where
             }
             // check error and abort
             // otherwise the error is surfaced via write_response_tasks()
-            if !serve_from_cache.should_send_to_downstream() {
+            if !serve_from_cache.should_send_to_downstream()
+                || session.h1_skip_downstream_for_upstream_response()
+            {
                 if let HttpTask::Failed(e) = task {
                     return Err(e);
                 }
             }
             filtered_tasks.push(task);
         }
 
-        if !serve_from_cache.should_send_to_downstream() {
+        if !serve_from_cache.should_send_to_downstream()
+            || session.h1_skip_downstream_for_upstream_response()
+        {
             // TODO: need to derive response_done from filtered_tasks in case downstream failed already
             return Ok(None);
         }

pingora-proxy/src/proxy_trait.rs

@@ -349,6 +349,9 @@ pub trait ProxyHttp {
     ///
     /// The modification is after caching. This filter is called for all responses including
     /// responses served from cache.
+    ///
+    /// To follow a redirect on the same HTTP/1.1 upstream connection (without using the outer
+    /// proxy retry path), use [`crate::Session::h1_set_same_connection_followup`].
     async fn response_filter(
         &self,
         _session: &mut Session,