Tap into Your HTTP Traffic: A Closer Look with httptap
Ever wondered what really happens under the hood when your application makes an HTTP request? We see the final response, but the journey involves DNS lookups, TCP handshakes, TLS negotiations, and data transfer - all hidden from plain view. Understanding these phases becomes crucial when debugging slow APIs or optimizing performance.
That's where httptap comes in. It's a clever CLI tool that breaks down HTTP requests into their fundamental components, giving you unprecedented visibility into what's actually happening during each request.
What It Does
httptap is a command-line tool that analyzes HTTP requests by breaking them down into distinct timing phases: DNS resolution, connection establishment, TLS handshake, server processing time (wait), and data transfer. It presents this information in multiple formats - as a waterfall diagram showing the sequence and duration of each phase, as a summary with total timings, or as raw metrics for further analysis.
Think of it as a more detailed curl -v that actually quantifies how much time is spent in each part of the request lifecycle.
Why It's Cool
The real power of httptap lies in its ability to make invisible bottlenecks visible. Instead of just knowing that "the request is slow," you can immediately see whether the issue is DNS resolution taking too long, a slow TLS handshake, or the server itself being sluggish.
What makes httptap particularly clever is its multiple output formats. The waterfall view gives you an intuitive visual timeline, perfect for quick debugging sessions. The summary format is great for sharing findings with teammates, while the metrics output can be piped to other tools for automated monitoring or analysis.
It's also incredibly focused - it does one thing and does it well. The tool doesn't try to be a full-featured HTTP client or a complex monitoring solution. It's a specialized diagnostic tool that fills a specific gap in most developers' toolkits.
How to Try It
Getting started with httptap is straightforward. You can install it via Go:
go install github.com/ozeranskii/httptap@latest
Then start tapping into your HTTP requests:
# Basic usage
httptap get https://api.example.com/data
# Waterfall view
httptap get https://api.example.com/data --waterfall
# Just the metrics
httptap get https://api.example.com/data --metrics
The tool supports various HTTP methods and options, making it flexible enough for testing different scenarios and endpoints.
Final Thoughts
httptap is one of those tools that you might not need every day, but when you do need it, it's incredibly valuable. It's perfect for debugging mysterious latency issues, validating infrastructure changes, or just satisfying your curiosity about what's really happening when your code makes network calls.
For developers working with microservices, APIs, or any distributed system, having this level of visibility can save hours of guesswork and troubleshooting. It's the kind of simple, focused tool that earns a permanent spot in your development toolkit.
Check out the project on GitHub and consider giving it a star if you find it useful for your workflow.
@githubprojects