Bowline

<div align="center"> # Bowline [](https://github.com/Kuestenlogik/Bowline/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](https://www.nuget.org/packages/KL.Bowline) [](LICENSE) **A multi-protocol API workbench for .NET — gRPC, REST, GraphQL, MQTT, SignalR, WebSocket, SSE, MCP, OData, Socket.IO, DIS, UDP — runs against any service URL with zero code changes.** [Quickstart](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/quickstart.html) · [Features](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/features.html) · [Why Bowline](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/why-bowline.html) · [Docs](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/) · [Downloads](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/downloads.html) [](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/) </div> ## What it is Bowline is the workbench API engineers reach for when they need to **explore, invoke, record, mock, and replay** real network traffic — locally, embedded next to an ASP.NET service, or as a sidecar in CI. No cloud account, no SaaS, no proxy: it speaks the live wire across more than ten protocols and saves what it sees in a single, replayable format. ## Install ```bash # Windows (Winget) winget install KuestenLogik.Bowline # macOS / Linux (Homebrew) brew tap kuestenlogik/bowline && brew install bowline # Cross-platform (.NET tool) dotnet tool install -g KL.Bowline.Tool # Container docker run --rm -p 5080:5080 ghcr.io/kuestenlogik/bowline:latest ``` → **[Read the 5-minute Quickstart](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/quickstart.html)** — covers the standalone CLI path *and* embedded ASP.NET integration. ## Embedded mode Mount Bowline inside an existing ASP.NET app — discovery picks up your services from the live `IServiceProvider`: ```bash dotnet add package KL.Bowline ``` ```csharp var app = WebApplication.Create(args); app.MapBowline(); // visit /bowline app.Run(); ``` → See [Setup → Embedded](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/setup/embedded.html) for the per-protocol wiring. ## What's in it - **Multi-protocol discovery** — gRPC Reflection, OpenAPI, GraphQL introspection, SignalR hub metadata, MCP `initialize`, MQTT topic scan, OData `$metadata`. One tool, one mental model. - **All call types** — unary, server-streaming, client-streaming, duplex. Wireshark-style streaming UI with append-only frame list and per-frame detail. - **Recordings + replay** — capture sessions, replay against any URL, export as HAR or self-contained HTML CI report. - **Mock server** — `bowline mock --recording <file>` replays a recording as a local API endpoint. Chaos injection, schema-only mocks (OpenAPI / proto / GraphQL SDL), and capture-on-miss for spec-by-example. - **AI bridge (MCP)** — Bowline exposes its own discover / invoke / record operations as MCP tools so agents (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Copilot) can drive it directly. - **Standalone or embedded** — `bowline` CLI tool, OCI container, or `app.MapBowline()` next to your services. Same engine. - **Plugins** — extend with `IBowlineProtocol`. First-party plugins ship as separate NuGet packages so the host stays light (DIS, UDP, Socket.IO, OData, …). ## Why this and not Postman / grpcurl / Insomnia | | Bowline | Postman | grpcurl | |---|---|---|---| | Multi-protocol (gRPC + REST + WS + MQTT + …) | yes | partial | gRPC only | | Embedded into your service | yes | no | no | | Local-first, no cloud account | yes | no | yes | | Recordings → mocks → replay end-to-end | yes | no | no | | Open source, plugin architecture | yes (Apache 2.0) | no | yes | → Full feature-by-feature breakdown in the [Why Bowline](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/why-bowline.html) tour. ## Documentation - [Quickstart](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/quickstart.html) — zero to first call in five minutes - [Features](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/features.html) — guided tour of every workbench surface - [Setup](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/setup/) — embedded, standalone, Docker, sidecar - [Protocols](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/protocols/) — per-protocol setup, conventions, gotchas - [Architecture](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/architecture/) — plugin model, host packages, ALC isolation - [API reference](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/docs/api/) — DocFX-generated reference for every public type ## Roadmap & Community - [ROADMAP.md](ROADMAP.md) — what shipped, what's planned, what's deliberately out of scope - [Community](https://kuestenlogik.github.io/Bowline/community.html) — Discord, Discussions, Issues, Contributions - [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) — how to write a plugin, run the smoke tests, prepare a PR ## License [Apache 2.0](LICENSE)