• STATE
  • LABELS
  • POLICY
  • HUMAN

How to troubleshoot network endpoints with your AI

Connect Cilium to your AI client to inspect endpoint states. Your agent pulls real-time data so you can find exactly why traffic is dropping.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I use AI to troubleshoot Cilium endpoints?

Your AI uses the get_endpoint tool to pull specific endpoint states and labels. It identifies mismatches between pod identities and security policies to show you why connections fail. You get a clear picture of the network state without manual CLI work.

Troubleshooting outcomes.

Where your findings land.

The AI sorts its analysis into these specific categories.

STATE

Endpoint health status

The AI checks if an endpoint is ready or failing. You get a direct report on the current status of specific network identities.

LABELS

Label mismatch detection

The agent compares endpoint labels against your security policies. It flags when a label mismatch is blocking traffic.

POLICY

Policy violation alerts

The AI interprets why an endpoint is being isolated. You receive a plain explanation of the policy conflict.

HUMAN

Manual intervention needed

The AI flags complex routing issues that require you to adjust the underlying CNI configuration. It tells you exactly what to look at.

The workflow

What your AI does when a connectivity issue arrives.

The AI handles the data retrieval so you can focus on the fix.

  1. Fetch endpoint data

    The agent pulls the current state and metadata for the specific pod you are investigating.

    get_endpoint

  2. Analyze labels

    It looks at the labels attached to the endpoint to see if they match your security requirements.

    get_endpoint

  3. Verify connectivity

    The AI checks the endpoint state to see if it is being actively dropped by the data plane.

    get_endpoint

  4. Summarize issues

    The agent translates the technical endpoint state into a summary of why the connection is failing.

    get_endpoint

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to begin your investigation.

Starting points

Swap out the pod names and namespaces for your actual cluster identifiers.

Cilium Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_432xtymCWe1pK7DbQwnhsZXalUqw1Aj8vS8lOEMj/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Cilium capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cilium-ebpf-networking-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_432xtymCWe1pK7DbQwnhsZXalUqw1Aj8vS8lOEMj/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Check the state of the endpoint in the 'frontend-api' namespace.

  • Why is the endpoint with label 'app=database' failing its connectivity check?

  • List the labels for the endpoint in pod 'nginx-7f8db' to see if they match my policy.

  • Find any endpoints in the 'production' namespace that are currently in a non-ready state.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Cilium once, then ask.

Link your Cilium environment to Vinkius with one click. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can immediately start asking your AI about your network state.

Connect Cilium to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI change my Cilium network policies?

    No. The AI can only read endpoint data and labels. You must manually apply any policy changes in your cluster.

  • 02

    Does the AI have permission to delete pods?

    No. The tool only allows the AI to inspect endpoint states. It cannot perform any destructive actions on your cluster.

  • 03

    How does the AI know which endpoint to check?

    You tell the AI which pod, label, or namespace to look at, and it uses the get_endpoint tool to find that data.

  • 04

    Can I use this with any Kubernetes cluster?

    Yes, as long as you have Cilium installed and the MCP is connected to your environment.

  • 05

    Will the AI fix the connectivity issue for me?

    No. The AI identifies the cause of the failure, but you are responsible for implementing the fix.

  • More questions about Cilium? The Connector page answers them. See everything the Cilium Connector can do

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