Paqtra
Read-only Cilium and Hubble network observability and flow investigation for Kubernetes.
Runs on your machine from its package; the steps are below.
What it does
- Reads
- Writes
- High impact
Not assessed yet.
What it costs
FreeOdel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.
Runs locally over stdio
This server isn't hosted — your MCP client launches it from a package registry. Use one of the commands below, or drop the config into your client (e.g. Claude Desktop).
Run
docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-mcp:2.2.3
MCP client config
{
"mcpServers": {
"paqtra": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-mcp:2.2.3"
]
}
}
}Paqtra
Why can't A reach B? Paqtra traces every flow and shows Cilium's verdict.
Cilium-native network observability and operations for Kubernetes. Every Hubble flow stored and searchable, drops explained by Cilium reason, CiliumNetworkPolicy changes simulated before you apply them, and enforcement left with Cilium.
Web dashboard · REST API · Terminal TUI · Why denied? on any flow · Read-only toward the datapath · Free, Apache 2.0
📖 Read the full docs: quickstart, architecture, the Cilium boundary, and a product tour.
What's new
| Per-second metrics platform (Unreleased) | Every agent streams host, network, disk, pod, process-group and app metrics each second; the API keeps them in 1 s / 1 min / 1 h tiers, adds Hubble flow, verdict, drop, HTTP and DNS series, flags anomalies per dimension, runs 45 built-in metric alerts and exports to Prometheus remote write, OTLP or Graphite. docs/metrics.md |
| MCP server (2.2.3) | paqtra-mcp, a read-only stdio MCP server with 39 tools, lets an AI agent query a Paqtra deployment with the caller's own credentials. Published from the v2.2.3 release as ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-mcp:2.2.3 and to the MCP Registry as io.github.zyvorai/paqtra. docs/mcp-integration.md |
Installs like cilium-cli (2.2.0) | The Helm chart is compiled into the paqtra binary: install, upgrade, status --wait, --with-cilium, prerequisite checks, doctor. |
| Signed releases (2.2.0) | Static musl Linux and macOS binaries with sha256sums.txt, a cosign keyless signature, an SBOM and a Homebrew formula. |
| Rule-level policy editing (2.2.0) | Add, replace or delete one rule of a CiliumNetworkPolicy, with ?dry_run=true, conflict detection and audit entries. |
| Cilium Insights (2.2.0) | Read-only views of Cilium features, Hubble nodes, BGP, LB-IPAM, L2, pod IP pools, CIDR groups and Gateway API resources. |
| Change impact and shareable investigations (2.2.0) | Before/after flow correlation for a change, and investigation bundles with a time-limited, redacted share link. |
| Why denied? (2.1.0) | From any dropped flow: identities, candidate CNP/CCNP, the drop reason and a draft allow. |
| Large flow stores stay fast (2.2.1, 2.2.2) | Reads never block ingest, every read has a deadline, and recent-window queries go through the time index. |
Full history: CHANGELOG.md.
Why Paqtra
| When this happens… | Paqtra gives you… |
|---|---|
| A request fails and nobody knows why | Path explain and Why denied? on any flow, with confidence-tagged evidence |
| Cilium drops packets and the reason is buried | Drop analytics by Cilium reason, plus a per-packet explanation |
| You want to change policy without breaking things | Simulate a CiliumNetworkPolicy against indexed flows before you apply it |
| The flow you need scrolled out of Hubble minutes ago | A continuous Hubble follow-stream into a local SQLite flow store, queried by time window |
| Network tooling that touches the datapath is a non-starter | Read-only toward Cilium: no BPF map writes, no program attach, not a second CNI |
| Every Cilium add-on needs its own install story | paqtra install with the Helm chart built in, paqtra status --wait, paqtra doctor |
Paqtra is observe-first. Flows come from Hubble; node-local enrichment may read the BPF map inventory. Enforcement stays with Cilium: policy changes go through CiliumNetworkPolicy (CNP), never through Paqtra's own datapath.
Paqtra vs Hubble UI
Paqtra does not replace Hubble; it reads Hubble's flows through Hubble Relay and builds on them.
| Paqtra | Hubble UI (ships with Cilium) | |
|---|---|---|
| Flow source | Hubble Observer gRPC follow-stream | Hubble Relay |
| Flow history | Local SQLite flow store, queried by time window | Live flows from Hubble's in-memory buffers |
| Service map | Service map and observed-traffic topology | Service map per namespace |
| "Why can't A reach B?" | Path explain with observed / inferred / unavailable evidence | Inspect the flows yourself |
| Drops | Drop analytics by Cilium reason, Why denied? per flow | Verdict and drop reason on each flow |
| Policy | Rule builder, YAML editor, AutoPolicy, simulate, apply as CNP | Not a policy editor |
| Interfaces | Web dashboard, REST API, terminal UI, CLI | Web UI (plus the hubble CLI) |
| Choose Hubble UI when | Live flows and a service map are all you need and you want only what ships with Cilium |
See it live
Captured against a live lab cluster with Cilium and Hubble. Full tour on the docs site gallery.
Observe
Live Hubble flows with verdict coloring and WebSocket streaming, a service map and an observed-traffic topology built from real flows. Real L7 DNS query/rcode/latency when Cilium DNS visibility is on; L4-only never invents SERVFAIL. Capabilities →
Per-second node metrics next to the flows: CPU, memory, disks, interfaces, TCP, conntrack, pod cgroups, process groups (by comm only) and annotated apps (nginx, Redis, Envoy, CoreDNS, etcd, any Prometheus endpoint), with live canvas charts, per-dimension anomaly detection, "what changed here?" correlation and Netdata-style metric alerts that notify but never apply policy. paqtra metrics … covers the same from the terminal. Metrics → · Alerts → · Anomalies → · Apps →
Investigate
Ask "why can't A reach B?" and get an answer with observed, inferred or unavailable evidence labels. Click Why denied? on any dropped flow. Investigate → · Root cause →
The dashboard also includes real kernel eBPF data views powered by bpftool: conntrack tables, policy maps, IP cache, LB maps and drop analytics. All read-only. eBPF integration →
Secure
A visual rule builder, a YAML editor, ML-powered AutoPolicy and an evidence-backed simulator, all applied as CiliumNetworkPolicy through the Kubernetes API. Cilium enforces. AutoPolicy → · Simulator →
Also included: compliance audits (CIS, NIST, SOC 2), anomaly detection, chaos engineering, canary deployments and multi-cluster views. Everything Paqtra does →
MCP
paqtra-mcp is a stdio Model Context Protocol server that lets an AI agent (Claude Desktop, Hermes Agent, any MCP client) read a running Paqtra deployment. It exposes 39 tools, all read-only with respect to the cluster: no policy apply, edit or delete, no chaos, no healer fix, no cluster sync, no flow-store purge. The two investigate tools store an evidence bundle in the API and nothing else. Every call is made with your own API credentials, so RBAC and namespace scoping apply.
- Registry name:
io.github.zyvorai/paqtra(published from the v2.2.3 release) - Image:
ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-mcp:2.2.3 - Configuration:
PAQTRA_URL, plusPAQTRA_TOKENorPAQTRA_USERNAME/PAQTRA_PASSWORD; use a viewer-role account.
Setup, tool scope and the protocol: docs/mcp-integration.md.
How it fits together
| Component | Port | Role |
|---|---|---|
API (ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-api) | 9191 | Rust + Axum REST API: Hubble ingest into the flow store, investigate, drops, policy, JWT auth |
UI (ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra-ui) | 8443 | React dashboard, served over TLS by default |
Node agent (ghcr.io/zyvorai/paqtra) | 9192 | DaemonSet on every node: health and read-only map and program inventory |
paqtra CLI | — | Install, upgrade, status, doctor, ui, hubble enable; the Helm chart is built in |
Ports are the Helm chart defaults in chart/values.yaml. Architecture in depth: docs/architecture.md · docs/web-architecture.md.
What Paqtra never does
Hard boundaries, enforced by review and repeated in AGENTS.md:
- Never writes Cilium BPF maps or pins over
cil_*programs. - Never attaches, detaches or replaces Cilium (or Netra) programs. Attachment inventory is read-only classification (
cil_*/netra_*/ other). - The agent observes, reports health and inventories. Policy apply goes through Cilium CRDs.
- Does not collect application payloads, argv/cmdline, or Secret contents.
- Does not introduce a second CNI or compete with Cilium's datapath.
- Prefers Hubble for flows; uses maps for node-local enrichment only.
Details: docs/cilium-brotherhood.md and docs/ebpf-integration.md.
Quickstart
Prerequisites: a Kubernetes cluster and a kube-context. Cilium with Hubble Relay is required too; paqtra install --with-cilium sets it up if it is missing.
# Install the CLI (downloads, verifies and installs the latest release)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zyvorai/paqtra/main/install.sh | sh # or: brew install zyvorai/tap/paqtra
# Install Paqtra into the current kube-context (the Helm chart is built in)
paqtra install # add --with-cilium if the cluster has no Cilium yet
paqtra status --wait
paqtra ui # open the console
# Something wrong?
paqtra doctor
Build from source, Docker, Helm, environment variables and testing: Install guide · CLI reference: docs/cli.md.
Paqtra vs PacketWolf
Paqtra is the free, Apache-2.0 community edition. PacketWolf is Zyvor's commercial platform on the same Cilium-native foundation, for teams that need to go from seeing the network to securing and operating it.
| Paqtra (Apache 2.0) | PacketWolf (commercial) | |
|---|---|---|
| Flows, verdicts, service map, drops, root cause | ✅ | ✅ |
| AutoPolicy, simulator, healer, chaos, canary, replay, multi-cluster | ✅ | ✅ |
Which process opened each socket (kernel attribution, syscall tracing, netpred explain) | — | ✅ |
| Custom eBPF probes with honest attach status | — (read-only by design) | ✅ opt-in |
| Threat detection: learned baselines, DGA and beaconing, attack graph, GeoThreat, Tetragon correlation | — | ✅ |
| Containment: six profiles, gated auto-response with rollback, forensic pack | — | ✅ |
| Zero-Trust Pilot, policy insight scorecard, blast radius, drift scan, KubePosture | — | ✅ |
| Ask Zyra network copilot (58 read-only tools, gated write actions) | — | ✅ |
| Compliance Lens (SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA), CVE posture, cost-aware egress, risk forecast | Basic audits (CIS, NIST, SOC 2) | ✅ |
Kubernetes operator and CRDs, netpred CLI | — | ✅ |
| OIDC, SAML, LDAP sign-in, tenant views, SIEM export | JWT | ✅ |
| KubeVirt VM console and VNC, in-browser shell, podman/docker visibility | — | ✅ |
| Support | Community | ZyvorAI Labs |
Full breakdown: docs/paqtra-vs-packetwolf.md. For a demo, a trial or pricing, book a demo, start a 30-day PoC or contact sales@zyvor.dev or visit zyvor.dev.
Paqtra or Netra?
Netra is the independent eBPF sibling: its own programs and maps under /sys/fs/bpf/netra, with leased emergency control. The two must not fight.
| Choose Paqtra when… | Choose Netra when… |
|---|---|
| Cilium is already the CNI of record | You need CNI-independent observe on cgroup v2 alone |
| You want Hubble flows, path investigation and policy preview in one place | You want a leased emergency deny with automatic return to observe |
| Policy changes should stay in Cilium CNPs | You need kernel drop attribution and packet capture without a CNI |
Who owns what: Suite placement · Cilium boundaries.
Security
JWT authentication (HS256, 32+ char secret) with no default credentials, RBAC-ready middleware, input validation on all kubectl-bound fields, an explicit CORS origin allowlist, rate limiting and confirmation dialogs on destructive operations.
Report vulnerabilities through SECURITY.md. Deeper reading: docs/client/security-whitepaper.html.
Documentation map
| I want to… | Read |
|---|---|
| See everything Paqtra does | Capabilities and stack · Features · Overview |
| Understand the architecture | Architecture · Web architecture |
| Install, build and deploy | Install guide · QUICKSTART.md · Deploy options |
| Call the API | REST API · OpenAPI · API reference |
| Use the terminal UI | TUI |
| Watch node and app metrics | Metrics platform · Metric alerts · Anomaly detection · App collectors |
| Browse the repository | Repository layout |
| Compare with PacketWolf | Paqtra vs PacketWolf |
| Contribute | CONTRIBUTING.md · AGENTS.md · CHANGELOG.md |
Maturity
Paqtra is at 2.2.3 (CHANGELOG.md). Its boundary is fixed by design: it observes, investigates and authors CiliumNetworkPolicy; Cilium enforces. Kernel attribution, custom eBPF probes, threat detection and containment are not part of Paqtra; they are in PacketWolf (see above).
Part of the Zyvor stack
| Product | Role next to Paqtra |
|---|---|
| Paqtra | Cilium-native flow tracing, drop explanations and policy preview |
| PacketWolf | Zyvor's commercial superset of Paqtra: kernel attribution, threat detection, containment, operator |
| Netra | CNI-independent eBPF observe and leased emergency control; Paqtra never touches its programs |
| Rivora | eBPF L4 load balancer for Kubernetes type: LoadBalancer, next to any CNI |
Support
Free under Apache-2.0. If it helps you, you can donate any amount you like: https://rzp.io/rzp/utwdYh3. A donation is voluntary and supports development and maintenance. It is not a purchase: it buys no support, SLA, features, priority or license, and it is not tax-deductible (Zyvor AI Labs Private Limited is a company, not a charity). Zyvor Enterprise (supported releases, SLAs, a named contact and enterprise features) is separate: sales@zyvor.dev.
License
Paqtra is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0 (see NOTICE). Contributions are accepted under the same license.
Zyvor Enterprise adds what production teams ask for: supported releases, deployment and upgrade guidance, priority incident triage, a named technical contact and 24x7 critical intake. Plans and terms: docs/SUBSCRIPTION-MODEL.md · Pricing · sales@zyvor.dev.
Report vulnerabilities privately per SECURITY.md. Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md.
Built on Cilium, Hubble, Ratatui, Axum, React and Tailwind CSS.
