How to verify your AI tool makes zero network calls (Wireshark guide)

If you run a "local AI" tool and want to prove it's actually offline, here's the definitive verification method using Wireshark (Windows/macOS/Linux).

Why this matters

Many tools claim to be "private" or "local" but still phone home for:

• Telemetry and crash reporting
• License validation
• Analytics (Gradio does this by default)
• Model updates or sync

The only way to know for certain is to watch the network.

Step 1: Install Wireshark

Download from wireshark.org. Free, open source.

Step 2: Start a capture

1. Open Wireshark
2. Select your active network interface (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)
3. Click the blue shark fin icon to start capturing

Step 3: Apply the filter that matters

In the display filter bar, type:

not (ip.dst == 127.0.0.1 or ip.dst == ::1 or ip.src == 127.0.0.1 or ip.src == ::1)

This filters OUT localhost traffic and shows ONLY external network calls.

Step 4: Run your AI tool and process a document

Now open your "local AI" tool and process something — a PDF, an image, a text file. Let it run to completion.

What you should see

Truly offline tool: zero packets in the filtered view.

Tool that phones home: you'll see packets to external IPs. Right-click any → "Follow TCP Stream" to see what data was sent.

Applying this to Ollama + Gradio

When running an Ollama-based app, you'll typically see:

• 127.0.0.1:11434 — Ollama API calls (localhost, expected)
• 127.0.0.1:7860 — Gradio UI (localhost, expected)

If you see anything else, the app has external dependencies.

Disabling Gradio's default analytics

Gradio sends analytics to HuggingFace by default. To disable:

app.launch(
    server_name="127.0.0.1",  # bind to localhost only
    share=False,               # disable Gradio tunnel
    analytics_enabled=False    # disable phone-home
)

Without these settings, you'll see outbound traffic to huggingface.co during app startup.

Windows alternative: Resource Monitor

If you don't want to install Wireshark:

1. Open Task Manager → Performance tab → "Open Resource Monitor"
2. Go to the Network tab
3. Expand "Network Activity"
4. Filter for your Python/Ollama process

This shows active connections per process — easier than Wireshark for a quick check.

The verification script

I built a small Python script that automates this check and generates a report:

import subprocess
import re

def check_external_connections(duration_seconds=30):
    """Monitor network connections during AI processing."""
    import psutil
    import socket

    external_connections = []
    for conn in psutil.net_connections(kind='inet'):
        if conn.raddr and conn.status == 'ESTABLISHED':
            remote_ip = conn.raddr.ip
            if not remote_ip.startswith('127.') and remote_ip != '::1':
                external_connections.append({
                    'remote_ip': remote_ip,
                    'remote_port': conn.raddr.port,
                    'pid': conn.pid
                })
    return external_connections

This is included in the Offline PDF Summarizer product — you can run your own network audit any time.

Summary

Method	Setup time	Detail level
Wireshark	5 min	Full packet capture
Resource Monitor	0 min (built-in)	Per-process connections
Python psutil script	2 min	Scriptable, automated

The Wireshark method is definitive. Use it to verify any tool that claims to be "offline" before trusting it with confidential documents.

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Building privacy-first tools for professionals who can't use cloud AI.