Live Traffic Inspection & Diagnostics

The Live Traffic module is the central nervous system of hexbuffer. It provides real-time visibility into all HTTP, HTTPS, and WebSocket communication passing between your client applications and remote backend servers.

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Key Features & Capabilities

Real-Time Request Grid

The main traffic grid displays incoming and outgoing network events as they happen. Each entry includes critical request metrics:

• Status & Method: HTTP status code (200, 302, 401, 500) and request method (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE).
• Host & URL Path: Full endpoint URL with domain resolution.
• Latency & Timing: Total response round-trip time in milliseconds.
• Content Size: Exact byte sizes for request and response headers/bodies.
• MIME & Content-Type: Automatic identification of JSON, HTML, XML, binary, and media formats.

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Powerful Search & Scope Filtering

When debugging complex web applications or microservices, filtering noise is essential. hexbuffer provides multi-layered filtering controls:

1. Scope Filtering

Define Target Scopes to focus exclusively on relevant hostnames. Traffic outside your target scope can be hidden with a single toggle.

2. Full-Text Search & Regex Filtering

Search through URLs, request headers, POST parameters, or response body text in real time. Supports regex pattern matching for advanced pattern detection (e.g., finding specific API tokens or error codes).

3. Tagging & Status Ranges

Assign custom color tags (e.g., Authentication, Error, Checkout) to traffic items. Filter by HTTP status ranges (e.g., 4xx, 5xx) to quickly identify server errors or authorization failures.

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Session Management & Exporting

Never lose your testing history. hexbuffer stores session data in an optimized database with compression.

• Save Sessions: Save active captures to disk for later review or collaboration.
• Export Formats: Export selected requests or full capture logs to standard formats:
  • HAR (HTTP Archive): Compatible with web performance tools and browser DevTools.
  • CSV / JSON: Ideal for spreadsheets, analytics, or automated reporting.
  • cURL Command: Right-click any request to copy it as a ready-to-run curl shell command.

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Customer Experience Best Practices

[!TIP] Keep Sessions Clean: Use the Clear Noise button to remove 304 Not Modified cache hits or static image assets when auditing API behavior. This ensures your view focuses strictly on dynamic application data!