Httpstat — Visualize curl Response Timing Statistics

Introduction

Httpstat wraps curl to display HTTP response timing in a visually intuitive format. Instead of parsing raw curl timing output, httpstat renders a color-coded waterfall showing each phase of the request — DNS lookup, TCP connection, TLS handshake, server processing, and content transfer — making it easy to identify latency bottlenecks.

What Httpstat Does

• Breaks down HTTP request timing into named phases with millisecond precision
• Displays a color-coded visual chart of each connection phase in the terminal
• Passes through all curl arguments so you can test any HTTP scenario (POST, headers, auth)
• Shows response headers and status codes alongside timing data
• Works with HTTPS to show TLS handshake time separately from TCP connection time

Architecture Overview

Httpstat is a single Python script (or Go binary in the Go port) that invokes curl with the -w (write-out) option to capture timing variables. It parses curl's timing output (time_namelookup, time_connect, time_appconnect, time_pretransfer, time_starttransfer, time_total) and renders them as a formatted waterfall diagram with ANSI colors in the terminal.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Zero configuration needed — it is a standalone script/binary with no dependencies beyond curl
• Set HTTPSTAT_SHOW_BODY=true environment variable to display the response body
• Set HTTPSTAT_SHOW_SPEED=true to include download/upload speed in the output
• Use HTTPSTAT_SAVE_BODY=true to save response body to a temporary file for inspection
• Custom curl binary path can be set via HTTPSTAT_CURL_BIN environment variable

Key Features

• Single-glance diagnosis of where HTTP latency originates (DNS, network, or server)
• No configuration or setup beyond installation — works immediately with any URL
• Full curl compatibility means any request type, header, or authentication method works
• Available in multiple implementations: Python (original), Go, and Bash versions
• Clean terminal output suitable for including in bug reports or documentation

Comparison with Similar Tools

• curl -w — provides raw timing numbers without visualization; httpstat adds the human-readable waterfall
• HTTPie — focused on pretty request/response formatting without timing breakdown
• hey/bombardier — load testing tools that measure aggregate latency; httpstat analyzes single requests in detail
• Chrome DevTools — browser-based network timing; httpstat provides the same for CLI-based API testing

FAQ

Q: Does httpstat make its own HTTP requests? A: No. It wraps curl, so you get identical behavior to curl including all the same options and TLS handling.

Q: Can I use httpstat for POST requests or custom headers? A: Yes. All arguments after the URL are passed directly to curl, so -X POST, -H, -d, etc. all work.

Q: Why does DNS show 0ms sometimes? A: DNS resolution is cached by the OS. If you recently accessed the domain, the cached result is used instantly.

Q: Is there a Go version with no Python dependency? A: Yes. The go-httpstat and httpstat-go projects provide compiled binaries that work without Python.

Sources

• https://github.com/reorx/httpstat
• https://github.com/davecheney/httpstat