# grpcui — Interactive Web UI for gRPC Services

> A command-line tool that launches an interactive web-based client for any gRPC server, providing a browser UI for exploring services and invoking RPCs.

## Install

Save as a script file and run:

# grpcui — Interactive Web UI for gRPC Services

## Quick Use
```bash
go install github.com/fullstorydev/grpcui/cmd/grpcui@latest
grpcui -plaintext localhost:50051
```
This opens a browser tab with a form-based UI for exploring and calling your gRPC service.

## Introduction
grpcui is an open-source command-line tool by FullStory that provides a web-based graphical interface for interacting with gRPC servers. It is the UI counterpart to grpcurl, offering a point-and-click experience for exploring services, composing requests, and inspecting responses without writing client code.

## What grpcui Does
- Discovers all services and methods on a gRPC server via reflection
- Presents a web form UI for composing and sending unary and streaming RPCs
- Displays response messages, headers, trailers, and status codes in the browser
- Supports TLS, mTLS, and plaintext connections with configurable credentials
- Loads proto files directly when server reflection is not available

## Architecture Overview
grpcui connects to the target gRPC server using the standard gRPC health and reflection protocols to enumerate available services and message types. It then starts a local HTTP server that serves a single-page web application. The browser UI renders dynamic forms based on the protobuf schemas and proxies each RPC call through the local server to the gRPC backend.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install via go install or download a prebuilt binary from GitHub releases
- Point at any gRPC server with grpcui hostname:port
- Use -plaintext for servers without TLS or -cacert for custom CA bundles
- Pass -proto flags to load service definitions from .proto files directly
- Set -bind and -port to control the local web server address

## Key Features
- Zero-config discovery of services, methods, and message types
- Dynamic form generation from protobuf schemas with nested message support
- Metadata editor for setting request headers and deadlines
- Support for server streaming, client streaming, and bidirectional RPCs
- Companion to grpcurl for teams that need both CLI and GUI workflows

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **grpcurl** — CLI-only gRPC client from the same team, no web UI
- **Postman** — supports gRPC but requires importing proto files manually
- **BloomRPC** — desktop GUI for gRPC, now archived and unmaintained
- **Kreya** — commercial gRPC and REST client with a richer UI
- **Evans** — terminal-based interactive gRPC client with REPL mode

## FAQ
**Q: Does the server need to have reflection enabled?**
A: Reflection makes discovery automatic. Without it, you can pass .proto files via the -proto flag and grpcui will parse them directly.

**Q: Can I use it with TLS?**
A: Yes. Pass -cacert for server CA verification and -cert/-key for mutual TLS. Use -plaintext only for development servers.

**Q: Does it support streaming RPCs?**
A: Yes. The web UI supports all four gRPC call types, including server streaming and bidirectional streaming.

**Q: Is it just for development?**
A: It is designed for development and debugging. For production monitoring, dedicated gRPC observability tools are more appropriate.

## Sources
- https://github.com/fullstorydev/grpcui
- https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/fullstorydev/grpcui

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/asset-c3db9efd
Author: Script Depot