# coreos/go-iptables

Go wrapper around iptables utility

Repository: https://github.com/coreos/go-iptables
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/go-iptables
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-10-15T10:32:59+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4228, "days_push": 687, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1218, forks 261 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:01.611654+00:00)

## What it is
A Go library that wraps the iptables command-line utility, providing functions to append and delete rules and to create, clear, and delete chains. It exists because in-kernel netfilter lacks a good userspace API, so programmatic manipulation is best done via the iptables tool.

## Use cases
- manage firewall rules from a Go application
- programmatically add and delete iptables rules
- create and clear custom iptables chains
- build a Kubernetes CNI or network policy controller
- configure Linux packet filtering in Go

## When to choose
- you need to manipulate iptables rules from Go code
- you want a maintained wrapper instead of shelling out to iptables yourself
- you are building networking software on Linux that needs firewall control

## When to avoid
- you need nftables-native or eBPF-based packet filtering
- you are not on Linux
- you need a high-level firewall management UI rather than a library

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: networking, security, developer-tools
- domain: networking, security, developer-tools
- platform: go
- tags: iptables, netfilter, firewall, go-bindings, linux

## Member repositories
- coreos/go-iptables (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:01.611654+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:17:02.905452+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/coreos/go-iptables (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:01.611654+00:00, sha 53d86e8ce25c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.