Consider deprecating old routes API

**Feature request**
It would be great to have compression for middleware.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_compression` with default `false`.

The issue names no files or tests; start by locating the middleware configuration and existing middleware-related entry points in the Shell project. Confirm whether the requested work is compression for middleware, since the title refers to deprecating the old routes API. Done means the intended configuration behavior is implemented and verified by the relevant tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.