--- title: Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry description: A practical architecture pattern for creating a network boundary around AI agents using NGINX as both a reverse and forward proxy, combined with OpenTelemetry... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry | daily.dev og:description: A practical architecture pattern for creating a network boundary around AI agents using NGINX as both a reverse and forward proxy, combined with OpenTelemetry... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/xGu2ub3Q7.png og:image:alt: Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry **[CNCF](https://daily.dev/sources/cncf)** · 5 min read · 3 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A practical architecture pattern for creating a network boundary around AI agents using NGINX as both a reverse and forward proxy, combined with OpenTelemetry for observability. NGINX enforces egress traffic control via iptables rules, ensuring all agent outbound requests pass through a single controlled path. The NGINX native OpenTelemetry module emits OTEL spans for every request, enabling audit logging and integration with tools like Jaeger, Grafana, or a SIEM. The design was validated on a single-node Kubernetes cluster running NGINX, Ollama, OpenClaw, and an OpenTelemetry Collector. The approach is positioned as one layer in a defense-in-depth strategy, complementing identity, policy, and runtime security controls. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I restrict and monitor the network traffic an AI agent like OpenClaw is allowed to make? Deploy NGINX as both a reverse proxy for inbound requests and a forward proxy for all outbound agent traffic, then use iptables rules to drop any egress that bypasses it, so the boundary is architectural rather than policy-based. Pair this with NGINX's native OpenTelemetry module to emit a span per request, feeding an audit log or tools like Jaeger, Grafana, or a SIEM for correlation. _Teams securing autonomous agent workloads can follow real-world NGINX and OpenTelemetry patterns like this on daily.dev._ ### Will NGINX Ingress Controller or NGINX Gateway Fabric get forward proxy support for AI agent egress control? Forward proxy capability released in the core NGINX proxy is expected to be inherited by NGINX Ingress Controller (NIC) and NGINX Gateway Fabric (NGF) over time, since both projects track and adopt core NGINX feature updates and are actively closing the gaps. No specific version or date is confirmed for full parity. _Engineers planning Kubernetes ingress or gateway upgrades can track proxy feature parity like this via daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@kartiknvj** · 1 upvotes > Putting the boundary at NGINX egress with iptables is a nice fit because it enforces at the network layer where the agent cannot talk its way past, unlike a prompt rule. Emitting an OTel span per outbound request is the part I like most, since it gives you an audit trail of exactly what the agent tried to reach, not just what you allowed. On the single-node setup, did the per-request span add measurable latency, and how would the allowlist scale once you are past one node? ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [AI Agent Observability: Logging, Tracing, and Debugging Explained](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-agent-observability-logging-tracing-and-debugging-explained-95izimukh) · Machine Learning Mastery · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Why Your AI Agent is a Black Box and How to fix it With OpenTelemetry](https://daily.dev/posts/why-your-ai-agent-is-a-black-box-and-how-to-fix-it-with-opentelemetry-oakutrahj) · DevOps.com · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How we run Tuist with AI agents, Kubernetes, and Elixir](https://daily.dev/posts/how-we-run-tuist-with-ai-agents-kubernetes-and-elixir-ak6meydt4) · Tuist · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Jaeger adopts OpenTelemetry at its core to solve the AI agent observability gap](https://daily.dev/posts/jaeger-adopts-opentelemetry-at-its-core-to-solve-the-ai-agent-observability-gap-7ufkqbnb5) · The New Stack · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#kubernetes](https://daily.dev/tags/kubernetes), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#opentelemetry](https://daily.dev/tags/opentelemetry), [#nginx](https://daily.dev/tags/nginx) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7"},"datePublished":"2026-07-08T11:01:14.599Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:38:38.905Z","description":"A practical architecture pattern for creating a network boundary around AI agents using NGINX as both a reverse and forward proxy, combined with OpenTelemetry...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3b54ae2417f37b18bbcfb4deee4e9e45?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/3b54ae2417f37b18bbcfb4deee4e9e45?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"CNCF","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"CNCF","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/55536a03390741eebd96d2f9b74d2d8d","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/cncf"},"commentCount":1,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}],"keywords":"security,kubernetes,ai-agents,opentelemetry,nginx","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CNCF","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/cncf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Network boundary for AI agents using NGINX and OpenTelemetry"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Putting the boundary at NGINX egress with iptables is a nice fit because it enforces at the network layer where the agent cannot talk its way past, unlike a prompt rule. Emitting an OTel span per outbound request is the part I like most, since it gives you an audit trail of exactly what the agent tried to reach, not just what you allowed. On the single-node setup, did the per-request span add measurable latency, and how would the allowlist scale once you are past one node?","datePublished":"2026-07-08T17:14:08.453Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xGu2ub3Q7#c-7B09Y4akK","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"kartik-nvjk","url":"https://daily.dev/kartiknvj","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--3gGgsVCw--/f_auto/v1781456774/avatars/avatar_TvTVeiMdkRCqWUDullFmy?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/network-boundary-for-ai-agents-using-nginx-and-opentelemetry-xgu2ub3q7#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I restrict and monitor the network traffic an AI agent like OpenClaw is allowed to make?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Deploy NGINX as both a reverse proxy for inbound requests and a forward proxy for all outbound agent traffic, then use iptables rules to drop any egress that bypasses it, so the boundary is architectural rather than policy-based. Pair this with NGINX's native OpenTelemetry module to emit a span per request, feeding an audit log or tools like Jaeger, Grafana, or a SIEM for correlation. Teams securing autonomous agent workloads can follow real-world NGINX and OpenTelemetry patterns like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Will NGINX Ingress Controller or NGINX Gateway Fabric get forward proxy support for AI agent egress control?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Forward proxy capability released in the core NGINX proxy is expected to be inherited by NGINX Ingress Controller (NIC) and NGINX Gateway Fabric (NGF) over time, since both projects track and adopt core NGINX feature updates and are actively closing the gaps. No specific version or date is confirmed for full parity. Engineers planning Kubernetes ingress or gateway upgrades can track proxy feature parity like this via daily.dev."}}]} ```