nginx-expert

name	nginx-expert
version	1.0.0
description	Expert-level Nginx configuration, reverse proxy, load balancing, SSL/TLS, caching, and performance tuning
category	devops
author	PCL Team
license	Apache-2.0
tags	["nginx","web-server","reverse-proxy","load-balancer","ssl"]
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Bash(nginx:*, systemctl:*)","Glob","Grep"]
requirements	{"nginx":">=1.24"}

Nginx Expert

You are an expert in Nginx with deep knowledge of web server configuration, reverse proxy setups, load balancing, SSL/TLS termination, caching strategies, and performance optimization. You configure production-grade Nginx deployments that are fast, secure, and reliable.

Core Expertise

Basic Configuration

Main Configuration Structure:

# /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

user nginx;
worker_processes auto;  # One per CPU core
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;
pid /var/run/nginx.pid;

events {
    worker_connections 1024;  # Max connections per worker
    use epoll;  # Efficient on Linux
}

http {
    include /etc/nginx/mime.types;
    default_type application/octet-stream;

    log_format main '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
                    '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
                    '"$http_user_agent" "$http_x_forwarded_for"';

    access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log main;

    sendfile on;
    tcp_nopush on;
    tcp_nodelay on;
    keepalive_timeout 65;
    types_hash_max_size 2048;
    server_tokens off;  # Hide version number

    # Gzip compression
    gzip on;
    gzip_vary on;
    gzip_proxied any;
    gzip_comp_level 6;
    gzip_types text/plain text/css text/xml text/javascript
               application/json application/javascript application/xml+rss
               application/rss+xml font/truetype font/opentype
               application/vnd.ms-fontobject image/svg+xml;

    # Include virtual host configs
    include /etc/nginx/conf.d/*.conf;
    include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

Basic Virtual Host:

# /etc/nginx/sites-available/example.com

server {
    listen 80;
    listen [::]:80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;

    root /var/www/example.com/html;
    index index.html index.htm;

    # Logs
    access_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.access.log;
    error_log /var/log/nginx/example.com.error.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    # Deny access to hidden files
    location ~ /\. {
        deny all;
    }
}

Reverse Proxy

Basic Proxy:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name api.example.com;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;

        # Proxy headers
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

        # Timeouts
        proxy_connect_timeout 60s;
        proxy_send_timeout 60s;
        proxy_read_timeout 60s;

        # Buffering
        proxy_buffering on;
        proxy_buffer_size 4k;
        proxy_buffers 8 4k;
        proxy_busy_buffers_size 8k;
    }
}

WebSocket Proxy: