Stories with Tag sockets

• Show HN: Dish: A lightweight HTTP and TCP socket monitoring tool written in Go

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  Posted: 2025-03-27 20:27:55

  Verbose tl;dr

  Dish is a lightweight command-line tool written in Go for monitoring HTTP and TCP sockets. It aims to be a simpler alternative to tools like netstat and ss by providing a clear, real-time view of active connections, including details like the process using the socket, remote addresses, and connection state. Dish focuses on ease of use and minimal dependencies, making it a quick and convenient option for troubleshooting network issues or inspecting socket activity on a system.

  A new open-source tool called "Dish," written in the Go programming language, has been introduced as a lightweight solution for monitoring HTTP and TCP sockets. Designed for simplicity and ease of use, Dish aims to provide developers with a quick and efficient way to inspect network traffic flowing through their applications. It achieves this by acting as a proxy, sitting between the client and server, and displaying the intercepted data in a user-friendly format. The tool's lightweight nature stems from its minimalistic design and focus on core functionalities, avoiding unnecessary bloat and dependencies.

  Dish supports both HTTP and raw TCP connections, allowing users to monitor a wider range of network interactions. For HTTP traffic, Dish can display detailed information such as request headers, request bodies, response headers, response bodies, and timing metrics. This granular level of detail can be invaluable for debugging web applications, identifying performance bottlenecks, and understanding the flow of data. For raw TCP connections, Dish displays the raw byte streams exchanged between the client and server, enabling users to analyze lower-level network protocols and troubleshoot connectivity issues.

  The project is hosted on GitHub and is readily available for anyone to download, use, and contribute to. The Go implementation likely contributes to its cross-platform compatibility and efficient performance. While the precise installation and usage instructions are detailed in the GitHub repository, the overall aim of the project is to provide a readily accessible and easy-to-use tool for developers needing a straightforward way to gain visibility into their network communications without complex setup or heavy resource consumption. This makes it a potentially valuable addition to the toolkit of any developer working with network-based applications.

  • Go
  • Golang
  • networking
  • Monitoring
  • HTTP
  • TCP
  • sockets
  • Tool
  • cli
  • command-line
  • open-source
  • GitHub
  • lightweight
  • performance
  • Network Monitoring
  • socket monitoring
  • dish

  Summary of Comments ( 0 )
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497792

  Verbose tl;dr

  Hacker News users generally praised dish for its simplicity, speed, and ease of use compared to more complex tools like netcat or socat. Several commenters appreciated the clear documentation and examples provided. Some suggested potential improvements, such as adding features like TLS support, input redirection, and the ability to specify source ports. A few users pointed out existing similar tools like ncat, but acknowledged dish's lightweight nature as a potential advantage. The project was well-received overall, with many expressing interest in trying it out.

  The Hacker News post for "Show HN: Dish: A lightweight HTTP and TCP socket monitoring tool written in Go" has a moderate number of comments, sparking a discussion around the tool's utility, comparisons to existing solutions, and potential improvements.

  Several commenters express appreciation for the project, finding its simplicity and ease of use appealing. One user highlights the value of a lightweight tool like dish for quick checks, contrasting it with more complex solutions that might be overkill for simple monitoring tasks. They specifically mention the ease of use compared to tools like netcat. Another commenter echoes this sentiment, praising the clear and concise output dish provides.

  The discussion also delves into comparing dish with other similar tools. One commenter mentions socat, a versatile networking tool, suggesting it might offer overlapping functionality. This prompts further discussion about the specific niches each tool fills, with some arguing that dish focuses on simplicity and ease of setup for basic monitoring, while socat caters to more advanced use cases. Another user brings up ncat, a modern reimplementation of netcat, as another potential alternative.

  Several comments focus on potential enhancements for dish. One suggestion involves adding support for UDP, expanding the tool's capabilities beyond TCP. Another commenter proposes integrating TLS functionality for secure connections. The idea of displaying response times is also raised, which could provide valuable performance insights. A suggestion is made to consider a web UI, which could make the tool more accessible and user-friendly, especially for those less comfortable with command-line interfaces. Finally, the discussion touches upon adding a feature to follow redirects, which would be helpful for debugging HTTP requests.

  Overall, the comments reflect a generally positive reception to dish, acknowledging its usefulness as a simple, lightweight monitoring tool. The discussion also provides valuable feedback for the developer, highlighting potential areas for improvement and comparing dish to existing solutions in the networking toolkit landscape.