Mule ESB is an open source enterprise service bus (ESB) that allows for lightweight and flexible integration. It uses a loosely coupled architecture and supports major protocols and technologies. Mule ESB uses a staged event-driven (SEDA) architecture that decomposes services into stages for modularity and code reuse. It processes messages using universal message objects (UMOs) and endpoints, with transports handling specific protocols and connectors sending/receiving messages. Transformation and routing are done through transformers, routers, and an exception strategy handles errors.