websocat mit Homebrew, apk, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, scoop installieren

Projektlinks

• Homepage
• Upstream-Dokumentation
• Paketmanager-Seite

Befehle und Aliase

• websocat

Projektgeschichte

The GitHub repository and crates.io package both date from November 2016, placing websocat in the wave of developer tools that treated RFC 6455 WebSockets as a normal Unix-stream target rather than only a browser API. The project grew around a compact idea: make `ws://` and `wss://` endpoints scriptable from a shell while still supporting more advanced socat-style addressing and overlays.

The reference manual documents three enduring modes: simple client mode, simple server mode, and an advanced mode that connects two address specifications. Later releases kept that model while adding a large address/overlay vocabulary, binary and text handling, subprocess bridging, proxying, TLS/WebSocket options, and server-side use cases.

Adoptionsgeschichte

websocat became a common package-manager tool because it filled the same niche for WebSockets that `curl` fills for HTTP and `nc` fills for TCP: quick inspection, smoke testing, and shell automation. By July 2026, the GitHub repository had more than eight thousand stars, and the crates.io package metadata showed publication continuity from 2016 through the 1.14.x line.

Its README explicitly lists sibling tools such as wscat, websocketd, wstunnel, and wsd, which situates websocat in a small ecosystem of command-line WebSocket utilities. Compared with simpler clients, its package-nerd appeal is the socat-like address system that lets it act as a connector, relay, or miniature protocol adapter.

Wie es verwendet wird

Typical use starts with `websocat wss://example/path` to send terminal lines as WebSocket messages and print replies. The same binary can listen as a WebSocket server, forward between WebSocket and TCP or Unix sockets, or run an external program and connect that process to a WebSocket stream.

Because it is useful in pipelines, CI smoke tests, reverse-proxy debugging, and ad hoc protocol work, websocat is often installed alongside curl, netcat, socat, and jq on developer machines rather than deployed as an application dependency.

Warum Paket-Nerds sich dafür interessieren

websocat matters to package-manager users because it turns WebSockets into a first-class shell transport. It is the boring, dependable diagnostic binary people reach for when a browser console, custom script, or full application client would be too much machinery.

Zeitleiste

• 2016-11: GitHub repository and crates.io package created.
• 2019: Public issues and examples show users applying websocat to JSON requests, recording output, and WebSocket testing workflows.
• 2024-11: v1.14.0 release described as the 1.x line nearing sunset while Websocat4 previews began.
• 2025-12: v1.14.1 maintenance release and v4.0.0 alpha releases published.

Related projects

• The README points users toward wstunnel, wscat, websocketd, and wsd as related WebSocket command-line tools. websocat is closest in spirit to socat and netcat because it focuses on connecting endpoints rather than embedding a WebSocket library in an application.

Quellen

• https://api.github.com/repos/vi/websocat
• https://api.github.com/repos/vi/websocat/releases?per_page=5
• https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/websocat
• https://github.com/vi/websocat
• https://github.com/vi/websocat/blob/master/doc.md