A terminal API client for requests, streams, and network debugging.
fetch combines formatted HTTP responses, terminal image rendering,
WebSockets, gRPC reflection and calls, DNS inspection, TLS certificate
inspection, and request timing in one CLI.
- Response formatting - Automatic formatting and syntax highlighting for JSON, XML, YAML, HTML, CSS, CSV, Markdown, MessagePack, Protocol Buffers, and more
- Image rendering - Display images directly in your terminal
- WebSocket support - Bidirectional WebSocket connections with automatic JSON formatting
- gRPC support - Make gRPC calls with automatic reflection, discovery, and JSON-to-protobuf conversion
- Authentication - Built-in support for Basic Auth, Bearer Token, AWS Signature V4, and mTLS
- Compression - Automatic gzip, brotli, and zstd response body decompression
- TLS inspection - Inspect TLS certificate chains, expiry, SANs, and OCSP status
- DNS inspection - Inspect hostname resolution, record families, TTLs, and resolver timing
- Timing waterfall - Visualize request timing phases (DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, transfer) with a waterfall chart
- Configuration - Global and per-host configuration file support
# Install fetch from the shell script (macOS or Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ryanfowler/fetch/main/install.sh | bash
# Or install fetch with homebrew (macOS or Linux)
brew install ryanfowler/tap/fetch
# Or build fetch from source with Cargo
cargo install --git https://github.com/ryanfowler/fetch --locked# Make a request for JSON
fetch httpbin.org/json
# Make a request for an image
fetch picsum.photos/1024/1024fetch keeps response bodies and metadata separate: the body is written to
stdout, while status lines, headers, progress, timing, warnings, and errors are
written to stderr. This makes commands like fetch example.com/api | jq . work
without mixing diagnostics into the pipe.
When stdout is a terminal, supported response bodies are formatted and may open
in less -FIRX; use --pager off to write directly. When stdout is redirected
or piped, formatting turns off by default; use --format on to force formatted
output in a pipe. Binary-looking responses are not printed to a terminal unless
you explicitly choose an output path with -o file, force raw stdout with
-o - > file, or disable terminal image rendering with --image off.
# POST JSON and format the response automatically
fetch -j '{"name":"Ada"}' https://httpbin.org/post
# Reuse cookies across requests with a named session
fetch --session api -j '{"user":"me"}' https://example.com/login
fetch --session api https://example.com/dashboard
# Convert a curl command into a fetch request
fetch --from-curl 'curl -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" https://api.example.com'
# Show response headers, request+response headers, or full connection details
fetch -v https://example.com
fetch -vv https://example.com
fetch -vvv https://example.com# Inspect DNS records, TTLs, resolver backend, and lookup duration
fetch --inspect-dns example.com
# Run the same DNS inspection through DNS-over-HTTPS
fetch --inspect-dns --dns-server https://1.1.1.1/dns-query example.com
# Inspect the TLS certificate chain, expiry, SANs, OCSP, ALPN, and cipher suite
fetch --inspect-tls https://example.com
# Inspect the HTTP/3 QUIC/TLS path
fetch --inspect-tls --http 3 https://cloudflare.com
# Show a request timing waterfall for DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, and body transfer
fetch --timing https://example.com# Connect to a WebSocket and send an initial JSON message
fetch wss://echo.websocket.events -j '{"type":"ping"}'
# Discover gRPC services using reflection
fetch --grpc-list https://localhost:50051
# Describe a gRPC service, method, or message
fetch --grpc-describe grpc.health.v1.Health http://127.0.0.1:50051
# Make a gRPC call with JSON-to-protobuf conversion
fetch --grpc -j '{"service":""}' \
http://127.0.0.1:50051/grpc.health.v1.Health/Check# Render images directly in supported terminals
fetch https://httpbin.org/image/png
# Disable the pager for scripts or small responses
fetch --pager off https://httpbin.org/json
# Save a response and copy the decoded body to the clipboard
fetch --copy -o response.json https://httpbin.org/json- Getting Started - Installation, first steps, and basic concepts
- CLI Reference - Complete reference for all command-line options
- Configuration - Configuration file format and options
- Authentication - Basic, Bearer, AWS SigV4, and mTLS
- Request Bodies - JSON, XML, forms, multipart, and file uploads
- Output Formatting - Supported content types and formatting options
- Image Rendering - Terminal image protocols and formats
- WebSocket - Bidirectional WebSocket connections
- gRPC - Making gRPC requests with Protocol Buffers
- Advanced Features - DNS, proxies, TLS, HTTP versions, and more
- Troubleshooting - Common issues, debugging, and exit codes
fetch is released under the MIT License.