BGP Monitoring APIs

  • Updated on Jul 25, 2025
  • Published on Jul 15, 2025
  • 6 minute(s) read
  • Ben F
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This article covers how to get started with the BGP Monitoring APIs.

Notes:

  • The API Tester in the v4 Portal enables you to securely call the methods of these APIs using your organization's Kentik data.

  • BGP monitoring is supported in the Kentik portal via BGP Monitor tests, which report on BGP reachability, path changes, and events. For more information, see BGP Monitor Details Page.

  • Protobuf and OpenAPI specifications for Kentik’s v6 APIs are available in our api-schema-public repository.

BGP Monitoring Usage

The topics below provide important background information for the use of these APIs.

Overview

The BGP Monitoring API provides programmatic access to Kentik's BGP monitoring system. The APIs handle two distinct functions:

  • Admin service: manages monitoring of advertised BGP prefixes as collected from global vantage points.

  • Data service: handles retrieval of two classes of data for any IP prefix:

    • metrics for reachability and path changes, which provide a time series for a specified interval;

    • routes, which provide a snapshot of routing information for particular timestamp.

The services described above use the following endpoints:

Endpoint

Purpose

BgpMonitoringAdminService

CRUD operations for BGP monitors

BgpMonitoringDataService

Retrieval of BGP monitoring data

Both REST endpoints and gRPC RPCs are provided.

Known Limitations

The API currently does not support retrieval of BGP event history.

BGP Monitoring Data

Kentik's BGP monitoring API provides the following information about network prefixes:

  • Reachability: expressed as the percentage of vantage points reporting the prefix

  • Path changes: the number of changes in a given time range

  • Routes: AS Path, next hop

Data Retrieval Limitations

The following considerations apply to data retrieval using these APIs:

  • BGP metrics and routes can be retrieved for any prefix with prefix length greater than 14 and any time interval. Prefixes with smaller length must be split into subnets (sub-prefixes) and requested individually.

  • Requests for BGP metrics can can specify one or more metric types to be retrieved for a single prefix. Observed data are returned as a sequence of messages, one for each metric type and observation time.

  • Route requests retrieve snapshot of information for specified prefix and time. Responses contain also mapping of ASNs to AS names for convenience.

Working with BGP Monitoring

The topics below cover important information related to using Kentik's BGP monitoring APIs.

BGP Prefixes

These APIs represent BGP prefixes using NLRI (Network Layer Reachability Information) objects. While NLRI objects allow representation of any type of network address, the system currently supports only IPv4 and IPv6 unicast in standard textual representation:

  • IPv4: dotted-decimal notation

  • IPv6: RFC 5952 syntax

BGP Monitor Tests

BGP Monitors enable the generation of alerts for group network prefixes (IPv4 or IPv6) based on the following factors:

  • Visibility/reachability of prefixes

  • Mismatch of originating ASNs with a specified list of valid originators

  • Validity of advertisements with respect to RPKI (Resource Public Key Infrastructure)

Configuration Limitations

The following considerations apply when configuring a BGP monitor test:

  • Each BGP monitor instance can monitor up to 10 prefixes.

  • The length of each monitored (IPv4 or IPv6) prefix must be greater than 14. Prefixes with smaller length must be split into subnets (sub-prefixes).

BGP Monitoring RPCs

The tables below provide a quick reference to key information about each Remote Procedure Call in these APIs. Use the links in the tables to see schemas for the request and/or response body (if any).

Note: To test methods using your own Kentik data, use the portal's API Tester.

ListMonitors

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

GET

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors

Returns list of all BGP monitors present in the account.

Request body:
None

Parameters:
None

Response body:

v202210ListMonitorsResponse

CreateMonitor

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

POST

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors

Creates new BGP Monitor and if successful returns its configuration.

Request body:
v202210CreateMonitorRequest

Parameters:

None

Response body:
v202210CreateMonitorResponse

GetMonitor

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

GET

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors/{id}

Returns configuration of existing BGP monitor with specific ID.

Request body:
None

Response body:
v202210GetMonitorResponse


Parameters:

Name

Description

Required

Type

id

ID of the BGP monitor to be retrieved

true

string

DeleteMonitor

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

DELETE

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors/{id}

Delete BGP monitor with with specific ID.

Request body:
None

Response body:
v202210DeleteMonitorResponse


Parameters:

Name

Description

Required

Type

id

ID of the BGP monitor to be deleted

true

string

UpdateMonitor

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

PUT

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors/{id}

Updates configuration of BGP monitor with specific ID and returns updated configuration.


Parameters:

Name

Description

Required

Type

id

System generated unique identifier

true

string

SetMonitorStatus

API: BgpMonitoringAdminService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

PUT

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/monitors/{id}/status

Sets administrative status of BGP monitor with specific ID.


Parameters:

Name

Description

Required

Type

id

ID of the BGP monitor whose status is to be modified

true

string

GetMetricsForTarget

API: BgpMonitoringDataService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

POST

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/metrics

Retrieve metric data for single BGP prefix and time interval.

GetRoutesForTarget

API: BgpMonitoringDataService

REST Method

REST Endpoint

Description

POST

/bgp_monitoring/v202210
/routes

Retrieve snapshot of route information for single BGP prefix at specific time.

BGP Monitoring Schemas

This API uses the following schemas.

protobufAny

Schema: protobufAny

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

typeUrl

type: string

value

type: string

format: byte

rpcStatus

Schema: rpcStatus

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

code

type: integer

format: int32

message

type: string

details

type: array

items: $ref: protobufAny

Afi

Schema: v202104Afi

Type: string

Attributes:

Key

Value

enum

AFI_UNSPECIFIED, AFI_IP4, AFI_IP6

default

AFI_UNSPECIFIED

RpkiStatus

Schema: v202104RpkiStatus

Type: string

Attributes:

Key

Value

enum

RPKI_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED, RPKI_STATUS_NOT_FOUND, RPKI_STATUS_EXPLICIT_INVALID, RPKI_STATUS_INVALID_PREFIX, RPKI_STATUS_INVALID, RPKI_STATUS_VALID, RPKI_STATUS_ERROR

default

RPKI_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED

description

  • RPKI_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED: Invalid value.

  • RPKI_STATUS_NOT_FOUND: No matching ROAs found for the prefix.

  • RPKI_STATUS_EXPLICIT_INVALID: Explicitly invalid prefix matching ROA

  • RPKI_STATUS_INVALID_PREFIX: Prefix format not suitable for validation

  • RPKI_STATUS_INVALID: Prefix origin does not match any matching ROA

  • RPKI_STATUS_VALID: Prefix origin matches an ROA

  • RPKI_STATUS_ERROR: Error during validation

Safi

Schema: v202104Safi

Type: string

Key

Value

enum

SAFI_UNSPECIFIED, SAFI_UNICAST, SAFI_MPLS, SAFI_L3VPN

default

SAFI_UNSPECIFIED

VantagePoint

Schema: v202104VantagePoint

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

dataset

type: string

description: Name of the collector data set

readOnly: true

collector

type: string

description: Name of the collector

readOnly: true

peerAsn

type: integer

format: int64

description: ASN of the peer from which the collector receives BGP data

readOnly: true

peerIp

type: string

description: IP address of the peer from which the collector receives BGP data

readOnly: true

UserInfo

Schema: v202202UserInfo

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

id

type: string

description: Unique ID of the user

readOnly: true

email

type: string

description: E-mail address of the user

readOnly: true

fullName

type: string

description: Full name of the user

readOnly: true

BgpHealthSettings

Schema: v202210BgpHealthSettings

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

reachabilityWarning

type: number

format: float

description: Threshold (in percents) for triggering warning level alert

reachabilityCritical

type: number

format: float

description: Threshold (in percents) for triggering critical level alert

BgpMetric

Schema: v202210BgpMetric

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

timestamp

type: string

format: date-time

description: UTC time of the observation

readOnly: true

nlri

$ref: v202210Nlri

reachability

type: number

format: float

description: Percentage of vantage points reporting the prefix reachable

readOnly: true

pathChanges

type: integer

format: int64

description: Number of AS path changes for the prefix across all vantage points in the queried time interval

readOnly: true

BgpMetricType

Schema: v202210BgpMetricType

Type: string

Attributes:

Key

Value

enum

BGP_METRIC_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED, BGP_METRIC_TYPE_REACHABILITY, BGP_METRIC_TYPE_PATH_CHANGES

default

BGP_METRIC_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED

description

  • BGP_METRIC_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED: Invalid value.

  • BGP_METRIC_TYPE_REACHABILITY: Reachability metric in percents

  • BGP_METRIC_TYPE_PATH_CHANGES: Number of path changes over time interval

BgpMonitor

Schema: v202210BgpMonitor

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

id

type: string

description: System generated unique identifier

readOnly: true

name *

type: string

description: User selected name of the monitor

status

$ref: v202210BgpMonitorStatus

settings

$ref: v202210BgpMonitorSettings

cdate

type: string

format: date-time

description: Creation timestamp (UTC)

readOnly: true

edate

type: string

format: date-time

description: Last modification timestamp (UTC)

readOnly: true

createdBy

$ref: v202202UserInfo

lastUpdatedBy

$ref: v202202UserInfo

labels

type: array

items: type: string

BgpMonitorSettings

Schema: v202210BgpMonitorSettings

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

allowedAsns

type: array

items: type: integer

format: int64

description: List of ASNs that are valid originators of monitored prefixes

targets *

type: array

items: $ref: v202210Nlri

description: List of prefixes to monitor

checkRpki

type: boolean

description: Enable verification of validity of advertisements of monitored prefixes with respect to RPKI

includeCoveredPrefixes

type: boolean

description: Include advertised subnets (sub-prefixes) of monitored prefixes

healthSettings

$ref: v202210BgpHealthSettings

notificationChannels

type: array

items: type: string

description: List of IDs of notification channels for delivery of alerts

notes

type: string

description: Free form notes documenting the monitor

allowedUpstreams

type: array

items: type: integer

format: int64

description: List of ASNs that are expected to propagate monitored prefixes

BgpMonitorStatus

Schema: v202210BgpMonitorStatus

Type: string

Attributes:

Key

Value

enum

BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED, BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_ACTIVE, BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_PAUSED, BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_DELETED

default

BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED

description

• BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED: Invalid value.
• BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_ACTIVE: Monitor is active.
• BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_PAUSED: Monitor is paused.
• BGP_MONITOR_STATUS_DELETED: Monitor is deleted. Not user settable

CreateMonitorRequest

Schema: v202210CreateMonitorRequest

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitor

$ref: v202210BgpMonitor

CreateMonitorResponse

Schema: v202210CreateMonitorResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitor

$ref: v202210BgpMonitor

DeleteMonitorResponse

Schema: v202210DeleteMonitorResponse

Type: object

Properties: None.

GetMetricsForTargetRequest

Schema: v202210GetMetricsForTargetRequest

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

startTime *

type: string

format: date-time

description: UTC timestamp of the beginning of queried interval

endTime *

type: string

format: date-time

description: UTC timestamp of the end of queried interval

target

$ref: v202210Nlri

includeCovered

type: boolean

description: Return metrics for subnets (sub-prefixes) of the target prefix (default: false)

metrics *

type: array

items: $ref: v202210BgpMetricType

description: List of one or more BGP metric types to return

GetMetricsForTargetResponse

Schema: v202210GetMetricsForTargetResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

metrics

type: array

items: $ref: v202210BgpMetric

description: List of observations (metric values)

readOnly: true

GetMonitorResponse

Schema: v202210GetMonitorResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitor

$ref: v202210BgpMonitor

GetRoutesForTargetRequest

Schema: v202210GetRoutesForTargetRequest

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

time *

type: string

format: date-time

description: Reference UTC time for the route information snapshot

target

$ref: v202210Nlri

includeCovered

type: boolean

description: Return routes for subnets (sub-prefixes) of the target prefix (default: false)

checkRpki

type: boolean

description: Return information about validity of prefix advertisements with respect to RPKI (default: false)

GetRoutesForTargetResponse

Schema: v202210GetRoutesForTargetResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

routes

type: array

items: $ref: v202210RouteInfo

description: List of routes

readOnly: true

asNames

type: object

additionalProperties: type: string

description: look-aside map AS names keyed by ASNs

readOnly: true

ListMonitorsResponse

Schema: v202210ListMonitorsResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitors

type: array

items: $ref: v202210BgpMonitor

description: List of BGP monitors configured in the account

readOnly: true

invalidCount

type: integer

format: int64

description: Number of invalid objects (should be always zero)

readOnly: true

Nlri

Schema: v202210Nlri

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

afi

$ref: v202104Afi

safi

$ref: v202104Safi

prefix *

type: string

description: Actual prefix data (format depends on AFI)

RouteInfo

Schema: v202210RouteInfo

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

nlri

$ref: v202210Nlri

originAsn

type: integer

format: int64

description: The autonomous system number originating the NLRI

readOnly: true

asPath

type: array

items: type: string

description: AS path observed at the vantage point for the NLRI

vantagePoint

$ref: v202104VantagePoint

rpkiStatus

$ref: v202104RpkiStatus

nexthop

type: string

description: IP address of the first route hop from the vantage point toward the target

readOnly: true

SetMonitorStatusRequest

Schema: v202210SetMonitorStatusRequest

Type: object

Properties (* = required)

Name

Value

id *

type: string

description: ID of the BGP monitor whose status is to be modified

status

$ref: v202210BgpMonitorStatus

SetMonitorStatusResponse

Schema: v202210SetMonitorStatusResponse

Type: object

Properties: None.

UpdateMonitorRequest

Schema: v202210UpdateMonitorRequest

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitor

$ref: v202210BgpMonitor

UpdateMonitorResponse

Schema: v202210UpdateMonitorResponse

Type: object

Properties:

Name

Value

monitor

$ref: v202210BgpMonitor

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