This page describes how to set up App and API Protection for Kubernetes to automatically configure supported Kubernetes ingress proxies and gateways to run API discovery, threat detection, and inline blocking at the edge of the infrastructure.

Overview

App and API Protection for Kubernetes automatically configures supported ingress proxies and gateways in your Kubernetes cluster to enable Application Security monitoring. This eliminates the need for manual proxy configuration and provides API-wide security coverage without modifying individual services or deploying tracers across your application fleet.

What performs the automatic configuration?

App and API Protection for Kubernetes uses a Kubernetes controller (running in the Datadog Cluster Agent) that:

• Automatically detects supported proxies in your cluster (Envoy Gateway, Istio)
• Configures proxies to route traffic through an external Application Security processor
• Enables threat detection for all traffic passing through your ingress layer
• Simplifies operations through centralized configuration with Helm

Supported proxies

• Envoy Gateway: Automatically creates EnvoyExtensionPolicy resources
• Istio: Automatically creates EnvoyFilter resources in the Istio system namespace for Istio-managed Kubernetes Gateway API GatewayClasses
• Istio (native Gateway): Automatically configures native Istio Gateway resources

More proxies are available through manual installation on the global setup page.

Limitations

External mode

• Requires Datadog Cluster Agent 7.73.0 or later
• Security processor must be manually deployed and scaled
• Deployed service may require an appropriate network policy:
  • From the proxy pods on the service port
  • To the Datadog Agent for traces

Sidecar mode

• Requires Datadog Cluster Agent 7.76.0 or later
• Each gateway pod runs its own processor instance, which increases per-pod resource usage
• Datadog Operator does not support sidecar mode configuration

Proxy compatibility

• For specific proxy version compatibility, see:
  • Envoy Gateway compatibility
  • Istio compatibility

Prerequisites

Before enabling App and API Protection for Kubernetes, verify that you have:

• A running Kubernetes cluster (version 1.20 or later)
• Datadog Cluster Agent 7.73.0+ installed and configured in your cluster
• One or more supported proxies installed:
  • Envoy Gateway
  • Istio
• Remote Configuration enabled to allow blocking attackers through the Datadog UI

How it works

App and API Protection for Kubernetes supports two deployment modes:

• External mode (recommended): A single, centralized Application Security processor deployment serves all gateway traffic in your cluster. This is the preferred approach for most environments.
• Sidecar mode: The Application Security processor runs as a sidecar container injected directly into each gateway pod. No separate processor deployment is needed. See Set up sidecar mode for setup details.

The following sections describe the external mode architecture and setup. For sidecar mode, skip to Set up sidecar mode.

Architecture (external mode)

• Security Processor Deployment: You deploy a centralized Application Security processor as a Kubernetes Deployment with an associated Service.
• Automatic Proxy Detection: The controller watches for supported proxy resources in your cluster using Kubernetes informers.
• Automatic Configuration: When proxies are detected, the controller creates the necessary configuration:
  • For Envoy Gateway: Creates EnvoyExtensionPolicy resources that reference the security processor service
  • For Istio: Creates EnvoyFilter resources in the Istio system namespace
• Traffic Processing: Gateways route traffic to the security processor through the Kubernetes service for security analysis.

Benefits

• Resource Efficient: A single shared processor handles traffic from all gateways
• Centralized Management: One deployment to monitor, scale, and configure
• Infrastructure-as-Code: Manage configuration through Helm values
• Non-Invasive: No application code changes required
• Scalable: Add new gateways without additional configuration

Setup

Step 1: Deploy the security processor

Deploy the security processor service, which analyzes traffic forwarded from your gateways. For proxy-specific deployment details, see the Envoy Gateway or Istio documentation.

Example deployment:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: datadog-aap-extproc-deployment
  namespace: datadog
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: datadog-aap-extproc
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: datadog-aap-extproc
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: datadog-aap-extproc-container
        image: ghcr.io/datadog/dd-trace-go/service-extensions-callout:v2.4.0
        ports:
        - name: grpc
          containerPort: 443
        - name: health
          containerPort: 80
        env:
        # Use the address of the datadog agent service in your cluster
        - name: DD_AGENT_HOST
          value: "datadog-agent.datadog.svc.cluster.local"

        - name: DD_SERVICE_EXTENSION_TLS
          value: "false"
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /
            port: health
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 10
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /
            port: health
          initialDelaySeconds: 15
          periodSeconds: 20
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: datadog-aap-extproc-service
  namespace: datadog
spec:
  ports:
  - name: grpc
    port: 443
    targetPort: grpc
  selector:
    app: datadog-aap-extproc
  type: ClusterIP

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f datadog-aap-extproc-service.yaml

Step 2: Enable automatic configuration

Point the Datadog Cluster Agent at your security processor service using Helm or the Datadog Operator.

Note: The processor service name (datadog-aap-extproc-service) must match the service you deployed in Step 1.

apiVersion: datadoghq.com/v2alpha1
kind: DatadogAgent
metadata:
  name: datadog
  annotations:
    agent.datadoghq.com/appsec.injector.enabled: "true"
    agent.datadoghq.com/appsec.injector.processor.service.name: "datadog-aap-extproc-service"  # Required: must match your security processor service name
    agent.datadoghq.com/appsec.injector.processor.service.namespace: "datadog"
spec:
  override:
    clusterAgent:
      env:
        - name: DD_CLUSTER_AGENT_APPSEC_INJECTOR_MODE
          value: "external"

kubectl apply -f datadog-agent.yaml

datadog:
  appsec:
    injector:
      enabled: true
      mode: "external"
      processor:
        service:
          name: datadog-aap-extproc-service  # Required: must match your security processor service name
          namespace: datadog                 # Must match the namespace where the service is deployed

helm upgrade -i datadog-agent datadog/datadog -f values.yaml

Step 3: Verify the installation

Check that the Cluster Agent detected your proxies:

kubectl logs -n datadog deployment/datadog-cluster-agent | grep appsec

Verify proxy configuration

For Envoy Gateway, check that EnvoyExtensionPolicy resources were created:

kubectl get envoyextensionpolicy -A

For Istio, check that EnvoyFilter resources were created:

kubectl get envoyfilter -n istio-system

The Datadog Cluster Agent produces events for each operation that results in failure or success done in the cluster.

Test traffic processing

Send requests through your gateway and verify they appear in the Datadog App and API Protection UI:

1. Navigate to Security > Application Security in Datadog.
2. Look for security signals from your gateway traffic.
3. Verify that threat detection is active.

Configuration reference

Automatic configuration options

Upgrading from external mode

If you are upgrading from a previous version that used external mode, the default mode has changed to sidecar. To continue using external mode, explicitly set mode: "external" in your Helm values:

datadog:
  appsec:
    injector:
      enabled: true
      mode: "external"
      processor:
        service:
          name: datadog-aap-extproc-service
          namespace: datadog

Proxy types

• envoy-gateway: Configures Envoy Gateway using EnvoyExtensionPolicy resources
• istio: Configures Istio using global EnvoyFilter resources in the Istio system namespace for Istio-managed Kubernetes Gateway API GatewayClasses
• istio-gateway: Configures native Istio Gateway using EnvoyFilter resources

Opting out specific resources

You can exclude specific Gateway or GatewayClass resources from automatic configuration by adding a label:

apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Gateway
metadata:
  name: my-gateway
  namespace: my-namespace
  labels:
    appsec.datadoghq.com/enabled: "false"  # Exclude this gateway from automatic configuration
spec:
  # ... gateway configuration

Resources with the appsec.datadoghq.com/enabled: "false" label are ignored. This is useful when you want to:

• Manually configure specific gateways
• Temporarily disable App and API Protection for testing
• Exclude certain gateways from security monitoring

Note: By default, all resources are included. Only resources with the label explicitly set to "false" are excluded.

Troubleshooting

All errors are logged as Kubernetes events. Check for events on the Gateway or GatewayClass you want to instrument.

Automatic configuration not detecting proxies

Symptom: No EnvoyExtensionPolicy or EnvoyFilter resources are created.

Solutions:

• Check that autoDetect is set to true or proxies are manually specified
• Verify the Cluster Agent logs for proxy detection messages
• Verify that your proxies are installed and have the expected Kubernetes resources (Gateway, GatewayClass)
• Try manually specifying proxy types using the proxies parameter

EnvoyExtensionPolicy or EnvoyFilter not created

Symptom: The controller is running but configuration resources are missing.

Solutions:

• Check Cluster Agent logs for RBAC permission errors
• Verify the Cluster Agent service account has permissions to create EnvoyExtensionPolicy or EnvoyFilter resources
• Verify that the processor service exists and is accessible
• Check for conflicting existing policies or filters

Traffic not being processed

Symptom: No security events appear in the Datadog UI.

Solutions:

• Verify the security processor deployment is running: kubectl get pods -n datadog -l app=datadog-aap-extproc
• Look for warning logs in your reverse proxies concerning this part of the configuration.
• Check processor logs for connection errors: kubectl logs -n datadog -l app=datadog-aap-extproc
• Verify the processor service is correctly configured and resolvable
• Test connectivity from gateway pods to the processor service
• Verify that Remote Configuration is enabled in your Datadog Agent

Security processor connection issues

Symptom: Gateways cannot reach the security processor.

Solutions:

• Verify the processor service name and namespace match your configuration
• Check for NetworkPolicy rules blocking cross-namespace traffic
• For Envoy Gateway: Verify that ReferenceGrant resources exist for cross-namespace service references
• Test DNS resolution from gateway pods: nslookup datadog-aap-extproc-service.datadog.svc.cluster.local
• Verify the processor port configuration matches the service definition

RBAC permission errors

Symptom: Cluster Agent logs show permission denied errors.

Solutions:

• Verify the Cluster Agent ClusterRole includes permissions for:
  • gateway.envoyproxy.io/envoyextensionpolicies
  • networking.istio.io/envoyfilters
  • gateway.networking.k8s.io/gateways
  • gateway.networking.k8s.io/gatewayclasses
• Check that the ClusterRoleBinding references the correct service account
• Make sure you are using the newest version of the Datadog Helm Chart or Operator.

Set up sidecar mode

In sidecar mode, the security processor runs as a container injected directly into each gateway pod. The Cluster Agent handles injection automatically, so you don’t need a separate processor deployment or service.

When to use sidecar mode

• You prefer not to manage a separate processor deployment and service
• You want the processor co-located with each gateway pod
• You are using Istio with the automated configuration (see Enabling App and API Protection for Istio)

Setup

Add the following to your Helm values.yaml. No processor.service.* values are needed because the injector handles processor deployment automatically.

datadog:
  appsec:
    injector:
      enabled: true
      # mode defaults to "sidecar" when omitted

Install or upgrade the Datadog Helm chart (v3.153+):

helm upgrade -i datadog-agent datadog/datadog -f values.yaml

Sidecar configuration reference

All sidecar parameters are nested under datadog.appsec.injector.sidecar in your Helm values.yaml:

Further Reading

Additional helpful documentation, links, and articles:

Collect your application tracesDOCUMENTATION Collect your application logsDOCUMENTATION App and API Protection for Envoy GatewayDOCUMENTATION App and API Protection for IstioDOCUMENTATION OOTB App and API Protection RulesDOCUMENTATION Troubleshooting App and API ProtectionDOCUMENTATION