# groundcover Expands Its eBPF Sensor With Deeper Kubernetes and Infrastructure Visibility

- Link: https://thestackobserver.com/groundcover-expands-its-ebpf-sensor-with-deeper-kubernetes-and-infrastructure-visibility/
- Published: 2026-11-09T11:27:08-05:00
- Author: Brian Ducharme

_Sensor now links slow requests to the SQL behind them and adds Kubernetes and cloud
context to third-party telemetry_

**SAN FRANCISCO and SALT LAKE CITY —** **Nov. 9, 2026** **–** [groundcover](https://groundcover.com/?utm_source=groundcover&utm_medium=press-release&utm_campaign=press_wand_announcement_q326-1602&utm_content=hyperlink),
the world’s leading bring-your-own-cloud (BYOC), eBPF and OpenTelemetry (OTel)-native
observability platform, today announced a major expansion of its eBPF sensor, the
component that runs in every Kubernetes cluster and collects telemetry without code
changes. The sensor now ties application requests to the SQL queries they execute
and adds support for ClickHouse and SIP protocols. It also stamps Kubernetes workload,
namespace, cloud region and zone onto the telemetry it collects, including metrics
and logs from third-party tools, while a new Crossplane provider lets platform teams
manage groundcover as Kubernetes custom resources.

As Kubernetes environments grow to host more services and AI workloads, every addition
brings more instrumentation work. Much of the resulting telemetry arrives without
the context needed to correlate it. A latency spike in one tool and an error log
in another may describe the same incident, but nothing connects them to the workload
that caused it. Managed platforms and locked-down networks add another obstacle 
by restricting the privileged agents that deep observability depends on.

“Most observability tools make you choose between depth and reach,” said Shahar 
Azulay, CEO and co-founder of groundcover. “Our sensor removes that tradeoff–it 
sees the query behind a slow request, runs in clusters that block most agents and
puts Kubernetes context on data from the tools teams are using. You get one connected
picture of production, without anyone writing instrumentation code.”

When a request slows down, the groundcover sensor now links its span to the exact
SQL query behind it. Engineers can see whether the database caused the delay without
adding SDKs or database client libraries.

The release also adds:

 * ClickHouse and SIP protocol parsing, extending zero-instrumentation coverage 
   to analytics databases and VoIP signaling traffic
 * Kafka in the workload APIs view
 * Azure OpenAI detection, including time to first token for AI workloads
 * A host metric that tracks processes blocked on I/O

**Kubernetes and Cloud Context on Every Signal**

The sensor tags data with workload, namespace, region and zone at the point of collection,
so correlation doesn’t depend on manual labeling after the fact. Cloud region and
zone now appear on all telemetry, and custom resource definition (CRD) workloads
can be tracked through an allowlist.

The same context now extends to telemetry that groundcover doesn’t generate itself.
Third-party metrics and Fluent Bit logs pick up workload and namespace labels as
they arrive. StatsD ingestion is on by default, DogStatsD host labels and Datadog
distribution sketches are supported, and teams running OpenTelemetry-only deployments
get full APM. Teams can consolidate onto groundcover without ripping out instrumentation
they’ve already built.

**Runs in Managed and Locked-Down Clusters**

groundcover became an approved Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Autopilot partner 
workload in September. That gives teams full eBPF observability on Google’s fully
managed Kubernetes platform, which restricts privileged workloads to those allowlisted
through Google Cloud’s partner program. The sensor now also routes outbound traffic
through an HTTP proxy for proxy-only networks. It supports CSI-mounted TLS certificates,
ships as a public container image and can reference existing Kubernetes secrets 
instead of requiring new ones.

The new groundcover Crossplane provider lets teams define groundcover configuration
as Kubernetes custom resources and manage it through the same GitOps workflows they
use for the rest of their stack. gcQL entity search lets engineers query any Kubernetes
object directly from groundcover.

**Availability**

All capabilities are available now to groundcover customers. Attendees at [KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america/register/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid-search&utm_campaign=45192315-KubeCon-NA-2026&utm_content=events-kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america-conv&utm_term=kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america-rsa&campaignid=24188338792&adgroupid=198318492454&creative=823265722967&matchtype=p&network=g&device=c&keyword=kubecon%202026&utm_term=kubecon%202026&utm_campaign=Events+%7C+KubeCon+%2B+CloudNativeCon+North+America+2026+%7C+NA+%7C+Conversions+%7C+Prospecting+%7C+Search+%7C+CNCF+%7C+BoFU&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_id=24188338792&hsa_acc=8666746580&hsa_cam=24188338792&hsa_grp=198318492454&hsa_ad=823265722967&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-2428537417658&hsa_kw=kubecon%202026&hsa_mt=p&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24188338792&gbraid=0AAAAAD2R-loDEZSzxn-kUHpbKOHnPwFTK&gclid=CjwKCAjwrP3VBhBbEiwAnaqpQ90nMG65D4Xvqpmk6VsQlEfjZvoUP371E4-ta1jY_TiEPJh9zFIwSxoCNj4QAvD_BwE)
can see the expanded sensor at groundcover booth No. 111. To book a demo, visit 
[https://www.groundcover.com/events/kubecon-na-2026#join-the-party](https://www.groundcover.com/events/kubecon-na-2026#join-the-party).

**About groundcover**

groundcover is the full-stack observability platform for engineers & agents, allowing
teams to monitor everything they run in their cloud, without compromising on data,
control, or cost. It’s deployed inside the customer’s cloud premises and provides
complete visibility into applications, infrastructure, and AI workloads without 
operational overhead. The platform offers unlimited data coverage at a fraction 
of the cost of legacy observability tools. Founded in 2021, the company is backed
by leading global investors, including One Peak, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital,
Zeev Ventures, Angular Ventures, Heavybit and Jibe. Learn more at [https://www.groundcover.com](https://www.groundcover.com).

**Media Contact**

Chris Churilo, VP of Marketing

[chris.churilo@groundcover.com](https://thestackobserver.com/groundcover-expands-its-ebpf-sensor-with-deeper-kubernetes-and-infrastructure-visibility/chris.churilo@groundcover.com)