reqtrace 🔍

A Simple command-line tool for real-time network activity monitoring, connection tracing, and network access control of any process or command.

🚀 Features

• Universal Command Monitoring: Monitor any command or process (curl, wget, npm, python, etc.)
• Real-time Connection Tracking: Live visualization of all network connections
• Domain Resolution: Automatic DNS resolution for IP addresses
• Network Control Modes:
  • Monitor Only: Watch and log connections
  • Block & Exit: Terminate on first connection attempt
  • Block & Continue: Prevent network access while allowing execution
• Detailed Statistics: Connection counts, unique domains, and IPs
• Beautiful CLI Interface: Clear, colorful, and informative output

📦 Installation

cargo install reqtrace

🎯 Use Cases

Development & Testing

• Test applications for unexpected network calls
• Debug API integrations
• Monitor dependency downloads
• Verify offline-first functionality

Security & Compliance

• Audit network behavior of third-party tools
• Enforce network access policies
• Detect unwanted analytics or tracking
• Validate security requirements

System Administration

• Monitor service network activity
• Debug connection issues
• Profile network usage
• Control application network access

📚 Examples

Monitor Package Manager Activity

# Track npm installation network activity
reqtrace npm install express

# Monitor pip package downloads
reqtrace pip install requests

# Watch cargo dependencies
reqtrace cargo build

Security Testing

# Ensure a script doesn't make unauthorized connections
reqtrace -e python script.py

# Block all network access but allow execution
reqtrace -b node app.js

# Monitor Docker container network activity
reqtrace docker run nginx

API Development

# Debug API client connections
reqtrace curl api.example.com

# Monitor GraphQL queries
reqtrace npm run graphql-app

# Track WebSocket connections
reqtrace node websocket-server.js

🛠️ Command-Line Options

reqtrace [OPTIONS] <COMMAND> [ARGS]...

Options:
  -e, --exit-first     Exit on first network connection
  -b, --block         Block all network connections
  -t, --timeout       DNS lookup timeout (default: 1000ms)
  -v, --verbose       Show detailed debug information
  -h, --help          Show help information
  -V, --version       Show version information

🔧 Technical Details

Platform Support

• ✅ Linux: Native /proc filesystem monitoring
• ✅ macOS: Integration with lsof

Monitoring Capabilities

• TCP connections (IPv4 and IPv6)
• Domain name resolution
• Connection timestamps
• Process hierarchy

Performance Impact

• Minimal overhead
• Non-blocking DNS resolution
• Efficient connection caching

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

MIT License - feel free to use in personal and commercial projects.

🌟 Star History