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# HTTP Traffic Monitor
A Windows desktop app that acts as a local HTTP/HTTPS man-in-the-middle proxy, giving you a Fiddler/Charles-style traffic inspector with modern WPF Fluent UI — plus an **MCP server** so AI assistants (Claude, etc.) can drive it directly.
## What it does
`HttpTrafficMonitor` sits between your machine and the internet as a local proxy (via [Titanium.Web.Proxy](https://github.com/justcoding121/Titanium-Web-Proxy)), decrypts HTTPS on the fly with a locally-generated root CA, and shows every request/response as it happens — searchable, filterable, and exportable.
## Features
### Capture & inspect
- Start/Stop system-wide HTTP/HTTPS capture with one click (installs a root CA for TLS interception, restored automatically on Stop)
- Live request grid: method, URL, status, size, duration, colored badges, and a red highlight for slow requests
- Quick search plus dedicated Process / Domain / Method / Status filters
- Per-request detail tabs: **Request**, **Response**, **Timing** (DNS/TCP/TLS/TTFB/download breakdown), **Certificate** (chain, issuer, validity, thumbprint), **Decoded** (gzip/brotli/base64 aware), and **Exclusions**
### Filtering
Build multi-condition filters (field / operator / value, AND-ed or OR-ed) and save them as named presets for reuse.
### Replay & compose
Edit and resend any captured request, or compose a brand-new one from scratch, with side-by-side original vs. new response.
### Compare
Pick two requests and get a line-by-line diff (via [DiffPlex](https://github.com/mmanela/diffplex)) across headers and bodies.
### Alerts
Rule-based alerting on status codes, response time thresholds, or custom patterns, with a live event feed.
### Auto-Responder (mocking)
Intercept matching requests (by URL/regex + method) and return a canned status code, headers, and body — or serve a file — with an optional artificial delay. Great for mocking flaky or unavailable backends during development.
### Graphs
Live requests-per-second and bandwidth charts, plus top-domains and top-processes breakdowns (via [LiveCharts2](https://livecharts.dev/)).
### Sessions & export
Save/load full capture sessions, bookmark interesting requests, and export selections as **CSV**, **HAR**, **JSON**, **cURL**, or **Postman collection**.
### Light & dark themes
Full Fluent Design theming via [WPF-UI](https://github.com/lepoco/wpfui).
## MCP Server
`HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer` exposes the running app to AI assistants over the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) (stdio transport). The main app hosts a small local REST API (`http://localhost:18081/api/...`) via `IpcApiService`; the MCP server is a thin process that talks to that API and surfaces it as MCP tools — so an assistant can start/stop capture, inspect and filter requests, manage alerts and auto-responder rules, replay/compose requests, and export data, all without touching the UI.
Tool groups (see `HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer/Tools/`):
| File | Covers |
|---|---|
| `ProxyTools` | Start/stop capture, proxy status, pause/resume |
| `TrafficTools` | List/get requests, domains, traffic stats |
| `FilterTools` | Filter requests, save/load/delete filter presets |
| `AlertTools` | Manage alert rules, read alert events, toggle sound |
| `AutoResponderTools` | Manage mock/auto-responder rules and status |
| `ReplayTools` | Replay a captured request |
| `SessionTools` | Save/load capture sessions |
| `ExportTools` | Export as CSV / HAR / JSON / cURL / Postman |
| `BookmarkTools` | Toggle/list bookmarks |
| `ContentTools` | Encode/decode request or response bodies |
| `StatsTools` | Traffic statistics, TLS info |
Add it to an MCP-capable client (e.g. Claude Code / Claude Desktop) pointing at the built `HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe`; the main `HttpTrafficMonitor.exe` must already be running and capturing for most tools to return data.
### Configuring the MCP server
Build it first:
```
dotnet build HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer/HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.csproj -c Debug
```
This produces `HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer/bin/Debug/net8.0/HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe`. Adjust paths below if you build in `Release` or from a different clone location.
**Claude Code** — the repo ships a project-scoped `.mcp.json` in its root that starts the server with `dotnet run --project HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer`, so opening the clone in Claude Code is enough (approve the `httptrafficmonitor` server when prompted) — no absolute paths to adjust. To register a built exe instead, use the CLI:
```
claude mcp add httptrafficmonitor -- "C:\Projects\httptrafficmonitr\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer\bin\Debug\net8.0\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe"
```
which writes (or edit `.mcp.json` directly):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"httptrafficmonitor": {
"command": "C:\\Projects\\httptrafficmonitr\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer\\bin\\Debug\\net8.0\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe",
"args": []
}
}
}
```
**Claude Desktop** — add the same block to `claude_desktop_config.json` (`%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"httptrafficmonitor": {
"command": "C:\\Projects\\httptrafficmonitr\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer\\bin\\Debug\\net8.0\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe",
"args": []
}
}
}
```
**Running via `dotnet` instead of the exe** (e.g. cross-platform host, or you'd rather not hardcode a self-contained exe path) — point `command` at `dotnet` and pass the DLL as the first arg:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"httptrafficmonitor": {
"command": "dotnet",
"args": [
"C:\\Projects\\httptrafficmonitr\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer\\bin\\Debug\\net8.0\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.dll"
]
}
}
}
```
Optional environment variable (only needed if the main app's IPC API isn't on its default port):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"httptrafficmonitor": {
"command": "C:\\Projects\\httptrafficmonitr\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer\\bin\\Debug\\net8.0\\HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.exe",
"args": [],
"env": {
"HTM_API_URL": "http://localhost:18081"
}
}
}
}
```
After editing the config, restart Claude Code / Claude Desktop, launch `HttpTrafficMonitor.exe` (as Administrator) and click **Start**, then the `httptrafficmonitor` tools become available to the assistant.
## Requirements
- Windows 10/11
- [.NET 8 SDK](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download) (`net8.0-windows`, WPF)
- **Administrator privileges** — the app requests elevation via its manifest (`app.manifest`, `requireAdministrator`), needed to register itself as the system proxy and install the local root CA
> ⚠️ HTTPS interception installs a root CA into your system trust store and lets the app read HTTPS traffic in plaintext. Use it only for development/debugging on machines you control — the app shows a warning dialog on first launch and restores your original proxy settings when you stop monitoring or close it.
## Build & run
```
dotnet build HttpTrafficMonitor.csproj -c Debug
```
Run `bin/Debug/net8.0-windows/HttpTrafficMonitor.exe` (elevation prompt expected), or open `HttpTrafficMonitor.sln` in Visual Studio and hit F5.
To build the MCP server:
```
dotnet build HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer/HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer.csproj
```
## Tech stack
- WPF on .NET 8, [WPF-UI](https://github.com/lepoco/wpfui) for Fluent Design
- [Titanium.Web.Proxy](https://github.com/justcoding121/Titanium-Web-Proxy) for MITM proxying
- [LiveChartsCore (SkiaSharp)](https://livecharts.dev/) for charts
- [DiffPlex](https://github.com/mmanela/diffplex) for the Compare view
- `ModelContextProtocol` .NET SDK for the MCP server
## Project structure
```
Models/ Request/session/alert/auto-responder/TLS data models
Services/ Proxy, alerts, export, replay, session, content decoding, IPC API, theming
ViewModels/ MVVM view models per view/panel
Views/ MainWindow + dialogs (Advanced Filter, Replay/Compose, Comparison)
HttpTrafficMonitor.McpServer/ Standalone MCP server (stdio) bridging to the running app's IPC API
```
## UI automation
Interactive controls across the main window and dialogs carry `AutomationProperties.AutomationId` (e.g. `Toolbar.StartButton`, `FilterBar.SearchTextBox`, `MainWindow.RequestsGrid`, `AdvancedFilter.ApplyFilterButton`, `AutoResponder.AddRuleButton`) so the app can be driven and tested via UI Automation / test tooling without relying on fragile name- or coordinate-based lookups.
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