In January 2026, Michael Sommerville developed cluster-wide defaults for EnvoyProxy configuration in the envoyproxy/gateway repository. He introduced a new envoyProxy field to the EnvoyGateway specification, enabling a three-level configuration hierarchy across Gateway, GatewayClass, and EnvoyProxy defaults. Using Go and Kubernetes, Michael implemented deterministic replace semantics to ensure consistent and predictable configuration behavior, while laying the groundwork for future merge capabilities. His work included updating CRD definitions, documentation, and tests to support these enhancements. This feature improved scalability and consistency for EnvoyProxy management, reducing manual customization and streamlining onboarding across multiple namespaces and clusters within Kubernetes environments.