proxy-view

A CLI-first API debugging proxy — intercept, inspect, replay, and debug HTTP traffic in real-time from your terminal or browser dashboard.

pip install proxy-view
proxy-view --target http://localhost:3000 --port 9090

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Quick Start

# Start the proxy
proxy-view --target https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com --port 9090

# In another terminal, make requests through the proxy
curl http://localhost:9090/posts
curl http://localhost:9090/posts/1
curl http://localhost:9090/posts/1/comments

# Press Ctrl+C to stop

The terminal shows a live-updating table with colored method/status/latency for every request.

Open the Dashboard

Add -d to open the React dashboard in your browser:

proxy-view --target http://localhost:3000 --port 9090 -d

Replay a Request

# Replay from the command line
proxy-view replay <request-id> --port 9090

# With diff mode (compare original vs replayed response)
proxy-view replay <request-id> --port 9090 --diff

# Or click the ↻ replay button in the dashboard

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Features

Feature	Description
Reverse proxy	Forwards HTTP requests to any target URL — no system proxy config needed
Real-time streaming	Live CLI table + WebSocket event stream to the dashboard
Request history	All requests stored in SQLite with WAL mode (auto-purged after 7 days)
Replay engine	Re-send any captured request through the proxy, with --diff support
Browser dashboard	Full DevTools-style UI: request list, detail panel with Headers/Body/Timing tabs
No config required	Works out of the box — no config files, no SSL certs

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CLI Reference

# Global options (passed before any command)
proxy-view --target URL --port PORT [--db PATH] [--dashboard]

# Commands
proxy-view replay REQUEST_ID --port PORT [--diff]

Option	Short	Default	Description
--target	-t	http://localhost:3000	Target URL to forward requests to
--port	-p	9090	Port to run the proxy on
--db		~/.proxy-view/db.sqlite	Path to SQLite database
--dashboard	-d	false	Open the React dashboard in browser

Replay Command

Argument	Description
REQUEST_ID	The ID of a previously captured request (required)
--port	Port of the running proxy server (default: 9090)
--diff	Show a diff between the original and replayed response

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Architecture

┌─────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│  Your App   │ ──► │  proxy-view      │ ──► │  Target API  │
│  (client)   │     │  :9090           │     │  (server)    │
└─────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └──────────────┘
                         │        ▲
                         │        │
                    ┌────▼────────┴────┐
                    │  WebSocket Hub   │
                    │  /ws             │
                    └────────┬─────────┘
                             │
              ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
              ▼              ▼              ▼
        ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌────────────┐
        │  CLI     │  │Dashboard │  │  SQLite    │
        │  Viewer  │  │ (React)  │  │  Storage   │
        └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └────────────┘

Layers

1. Proxy Core (httpx) — Forwards requests, handles 502/504 errors, connection pooling
2. Event Hub (WebSocket) — ConnectionManager broadcasts request.started, request.completed, request.error events
3. Storage (SQLite/aiosqlite) — WAL mode, CRUD with pagination, 7-day session auto-cleanup
4. CLI (Typer + Rich) — Live-updating table with colored method/status/latency, stats bar
5. Dashboard (React + Vite) — DevTools-style UI with WebSocket auto-reconnect, 3-tab detail panel, replay button

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Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Works on macOS, Linux, Windows

License

MIT