As you may have seen in our recent blog post, the Kubernetes project is retiring the Ingress NGINX Controller on March 31, 2026. This affects Okteto’s networking layer, and we want to be transparent about what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what (if anything) you need to do.
What’s NOT Changing
Let’s start with the good news: core functionality you depend on remains intact:
-
Your endpoints keep working. Development environment URLs, preview environment URLs all continue to function.
-
TLS certificates continue to provision automatically. No changes to how HTTPS works.
-
Routing behaves the same way. Traffic gets to the right place.
-
Private endpoints remain fully functional. Access restrictions work as expected.
If you’re using Okteto today and these are your primary concerns, you can stop worrying.
What IS Changing
Behind the scenes, we’re migrating our networking implementation from Ingress NGINX to Gateway API. Here’s a detailed breakdown of specific Okteto features and how they’re impacted::
| Feature | Status | What It Means for You |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying networking implementation |  Transparent |
No action required; migration is handled by Okteto |
| Default TLS Certificates | Preserved |
HTTPS endpoints continue to work exactly as before |
| Private Endpoints | Preserved |
Access-restricted endpoints remain fully functional |
| Endpoint Routing | Preserved |
All routing behavior maintained; no changes to URLs |
Error Pages (contextual hints when users access endpoints that encounter errors) |
 Partial Change |
Basic error handling preserved; Okteto maintainers will no longer be able to customize error page content or styling via NGINX-specific configuration |
| Custom NGINX Annotations |  Breaking Change |
Must migrate to Gateway API equivalents or standard annotations |
| Auto-Wake | Under Review |
No changes for now until our review is complete |
| Default Controller in Helm Chart | Breaking Change |
Self-hosted customers will need to bring their own controller |
Legend: No action needed | Minor changes | Action required
Impact by Deployment Model
BYOC Customers
-
Minimal action required
-
If you use the Compose implementation exclusively, there’s nothing you need to do
-
We’ll manage Gateway controller installation in your environment
-
Okteto will automatically translate Ingress objects to Gateway API (HTTPRoute) objects—if you anticipate this causing friction in your environment, please let us know
-
If you use custom NGINX annotations, you’ll need to plan for migrating those - Please let us know!
-
We’ll provide documentation and support for annotation migration
Self-Hosted Customers
-
Most flexibility, but also most responsibility
-
The Helm chart will no longer include a default ingress controller: you’ll bring your own (we’ll provide recommendations of course)
-
All current features (including private endpoints and error pages) will continue to work during the transition period regardless of which controller you use
-
Long-term, full feature access will require a Gateway API-compatible controller, but you have time to plan this migration
-
Basic Ingress functionality continues to work with any Ingress controller you choose
Timeline
We’re currently in the planning and investigation phase. Here’s what we know:
-
January 2026: Feature investigation and feasibility analysis
-
February 2026: Gateway API implementation begins
-
March 2026: Validation and initial BYOC rollout
-
Chart 2.0 (date TBD): Okteto Helm chart will no longer include the NGINX Ingress Controller by default. We will provide documentation for customers who need to continue running NGINX Ingress Controller with Okteto 2.0 while they adapt. Default behavior changes (NGINX feature flag disabled by default)
NGINX Ingress Controller support will remain available via feature flag. We’re not forcing anyone to migrate immediately.
Action item: If you’re a BYOC or Self-Hosted customer using custom NGINX annotations, please let us know in the comments or reach out to support. Understanding the scope of annotation usage helps us prioritize documentation and tooling.
Questions or Concerns?
We want to hear from you. If you have:
-
Specific concerns about how this affects your environment
-
Questions about timeline or migration paths
-
Custom NGINX annotations or other configurations you’re worried about
-
Custom configurations you’re worried about
-
Feedback on our approach
Please reply to this thread or contact our support team directly. We’re committed to making this transition as smooth as possible, and your input helps us understand where to focus.
Related Resources: