Everything a KubeMQ server or kmq, the KubeMQ command-line tool, sends to KubeMQ is on this page, field by field. A server with an offline license file sends nothing. Use this page to review KubeMQ's outbound traffic and data handling.

Summary

Call	Sent by	When	Destination	Can it be turned off?
Start an evaluation	Server	First start of a new single Docker server that has no license	`POST https://license.kubemq.io/v1/evaluation/start`	Yes: start with a trial key or license key instead
Activate a trial key or license key	Server	A start whose key has no usable saved license: the first start, a changed key, an evaluation that gets a key, or a saved license that has expired or no longer matches	`POST https://license.kubemq.io/v1/license/activate`	No, with a trial key or license key
Renew	Server	Regularly while an evaluation, trial key or license key is running	`POST https://license.kubemq.io/v1/license/refresh`	No, with a trial key or license key
Usage report	Server	At start, every 15 minutes, and at shutdown	`POST https://license.kubemq.io/v1/usage/report`	No, with a trial key or license key
Trial request	kmq, or the trial page	Only when you request, verify, claim or recover a trial key	`https://onboarding.kubemq.io/api/onboarding/v1/requests` and paths under it	Sent only when you run it
Update check	kmq	Only when you run `kmq version --check` or `kmq update`	`HEAD https://github.com/kubemq-io/kmq/releases/latest`	Yes: it is sent only when you run them

Every server request carries User-Agent: kubemq-server/<version> and standard JSON content headers. Renewals and usage reports also carry, as their credential, the latest signed license KubeMQ returned to the server. The server contacts no other KubeMQ address, and the web dashboard makes no calls to KubeMQ: it only links to KubeMQ pages.

Downloading KubeMQ images, the Helm chart or kmq is an ordinary download that carries no data about you. Requirements and supported setups lists every host.

Fields sent by the server

Field	Evaluation	Activate	Renew	What it is
`key`	—	Yes	—	The trial key or license key, or the key an evaluation saved at its first start. Sent only to activation.
`fingerprint`	Yes	Yes	Yes	The installation's identity. On Kubernetes, the ID of the `kube-system` namespace; on Docker, a random ID the server saves on its volume.
`source`	Yes	Yes	Yes	Where the server runs: see the next table.
`trusted_kids`	Yes	Yes	Yes	The IDs of the KubeMQ signing keys this server version trusts.
`nonce`	—	—	Yes	A random one-time value. It carries no information about you.

Source fields

Every server call, and every usage report, carries this source object.

Field	Docker	Kubernetes	What it is
`type`	`docker`	`kubernetes`	How the server runs. `standalone` appears only from a server binary run directly on a host, which is not supported.
`host_id`	Yes	Yes	The container's hostname. On Kubernetes, the name of the node the pod runs on; some clouds put the node's private IP address in that name.
`cluster_id`	—	Yes	The ID of the `kube-system` namespace, or empty if the server cannot read it.
`namespace`	—	Yes	The pod's namespace.
`pod`	—	Yes	The pod's name.
`version`	Yes	Yes	The KubeMQ server version.
`image_digest`	Yes	Yes	The digest of the running image. On Kubernetes the operator fills it when the image is pinned by digest; otherwise, and on Docker, it is empty unless the container sets `KUBEMQ_IMAGE_DIGEST`.

Usage reports

A usage report goes out when the server starts, every 15 minutes while it runs, and when it shuts down. An example:

Usage report

{
  "license_id": "6f1c2a3e-9b4d-4c5e-8a7f-1d2e3f4a5b6c",
  "fingerprint": "3f2a9c1e-7b6d-4e5f-9a8b-0c1d2e3f4a5b",
  "boot_id": "0b3d5f7a-9c1e-4a2b-8d6f-1e3c5a7b9d0f",
  "source": {
    "type": "kubernetes",
    "host_id": "node-a",
    "cluster_id": "3f2a9c1e-7b6d-4e5f-9a8b-0c1d2e3f4a5b",
    "namespace": "kubemq",
    "pod": "messaging-0",
    "version": "x.y.z",
    "image_digest": "sha256:EXAMPLE_DIGEST"
  },
  "cursor": { "from": "2026-09-19T12:00:00Z", "to": "2026-09-19T12:15:00Z" },
  "totals": { "messages": 123456789, "volume_bytes": 987654321 },
  "activity": null
}

Field	What it is
`license_id`	Your license's public ID.
`fingerprint`	The installation's identity, as above.
`boot_id`	A random ID created when the server process starts. It tells a restart from a continuing run.
`source`	The source fields above.
`cursor.from`, `cursor.to`	The time window the report covers, in UTC.
`totals.messages`	Messages the server has handled since the last confirmed report.
`totals.volume_bytes`	Bytes of message traffic the server has handled since the last confirmed report.
`activity`	`"start"` on the first report of a run, `"stop"` when the server shuts down or a license stop ends, `null` otherwise.

Totals are running counts for the whole run, not counts per window, so a missed report loses nothing: the next one carries the full count. Traffic that a run handled but never reported goes into the next run's reports under the same license. Reporting runs in the background and never slows or blocks message traffic.

Usage reports cannot be turned off with a trial key or license key. To send nothing, use an offline license file.

Trial requests

kmq and the trial page send the same fields to the same service. kmq's requests carry User-Agent: kmq-onboarding/1 and, after the first one, the session token the service returned.

Field	Sent when	What it is
`email`	You request or recover a trial key	Where the verification code and the key go.
`name`, `company`	You request a trial key	Your name and company.
`platform`	You request or recover a trial key	`docker` (1 server) or `kubernetes` (3 servers); a recover call always sends `docker`.
`server_count`	You request a trial key for Kubernetes	The number of servers.
`consent`	You request or recover a trial key	`true`: you accept the trial terms and the privacy notice (`--accept-terms` in kmq); a recover call always sends `false`.
`code`	You verify	The eight-digit code from the email.
`key_version`	You claim the key	Which key version kmq saved, so the service knows delivery succeeded.

KubeMQ stores the issued key encrypted, so that the owner of the email address can recover the same key through the trial page or kmq. KubeMQ staff can recover keys for converted or manually issued licenses.

What is never sent

Never sent	Detail
Message content	No payloads, headers, metadata or tags.
Names	No channel, queue, client or subscription names.
Configuration	No configuration values or credentials of yours. A key goes only to activation; renewals and usage reports send back only the signed license KubeMQ issued.
Breakdowns	No per-channel or per-client counts, only the two totals.
IP addresses	No request adds an IP address field. On Kubernetes, `host_id` is the node name, which on some clouds contains the node's private IP address.

KubeMQ's service sees the public address each connection comes from. For evaluations it keeps a keyed hash of that address for up to 90 days.

If usage reports are blocked

Usage reporting is required for an evaluation, a trial key or a license key. If reports stay blocked, the server logs a warning that links to Troubleshooting, KubeMQ emails the license contact, and eventually KubeMQ stops renewing the license. The server then stops at the time kmq license shows under RUNS UNTIL. KubeMQ pauses this whenever the cause is an outage at KubeMQ.

Send nothing: use an offline license file

A server with an offline license file makes no calls to KubeMQ. Offline license files are for Kubernetes clusters: see Install air-gapped, and buy one through Plans compared. For one Docker server with no internet access, contact support.

Check what your server reports

kmq license --details -o json prints the server's full license status and needs the management sign-in. These fields show whether reports get through:

Field	Healthy value
`enabled`, in the `usage` block	`true` with a trial key or license key; `false` with an offline license file.
`last_report_at`, in the `usage` block	Less than 20 minutes ago.
`last_outcome`, in the `usage` block	`accepted`, or `duplicate` right after a restart. `error` means the report was not accepted; it is retried. `rejected` means KubeMQ refused it, and `never` that none has been sent since the server started.
`silent`	`false`. `true` means KubeMQ has received no usage reports from this license.

The field tables on this page are the full list: there is no other payload to inspect.

Retention and privacy

Data	Kept for
Raw usage reports	90 days
Daily totals per license and installation	Kept as the billing record
Evaluation address hash	Up to 90 days
Trial request details	As the privacy notice states

An evaluation runs under the evaluation terms. KubeMQ handles personal data as its privacy notice states. To ask where KubeMQ stores this data, who can recover a trial key, or to request deletion, email support@kubemq.io.

Data sent to KubeMQ