CLI Options

Inspectr supports a wide range of CLI flags to control how it captures, proxies, and exposes traffic. These options allow you to customize Inspectr to match your workflow.

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Core Options

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--listen	string	:8080	Address where Inspectr listens for HTTP requests
--backend	string	(none)	Forward requests to this backend service (e.g. http://localhost:3000", https://api.stripe.com)
--mock-backend	string	(none)	Serve mock responses from OpenAPI spec (e.g. ./openapi.yaml, https://inspectr.dev/demo/hello.openapi.yaml)
--mirror	boolean	false	Immediately echo the original request back
--catch	boolean	false	Accept and log requests without forwarding

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App and Logging

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--app	boolean	true	Enable embedded Inspectr App UI & API
--app-port	string	4004	Port to serve the UI app
--print	boolean	true	Print color-coded log output to the terminal

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Public Exposure/Tunneling

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--expose	boolean	false	Expose Inspectr publicly via Ingress
--channel	string	(none)	Subdomain to use (e.g. my-api.in-spectr.dev)
--channel-code	string	(none)	Secret code required for remote access to the channel

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Mocking Options

Key	Type	Description
--mock-backend	string	Path or URL to OpenAPI spec for mocking (e.g. ./openapi.yaml, https://inspectr.dev/demo/hello.openapi.yaml)
--mock-dynamic	boolean	Generate dynamic mock data instead of static examples

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Authentication Guard

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--auth-enabled	boolean	false	Enable API key authentication for proxied requests
--auth-secret	string	(none)	Guard secret used to generate API keys
--auth-token-ttl	integer	24	Guard token expiration time in hours

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Security and Storage

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--api-secret	string	(none)	Protect access to Inspectr’s admin API
--backend-cors	boolean	false	Let the backend handle CORS preflight instead of Inspectr
--data-dir	string	.inspectr/	Base directory for Inspectr data (DBs, logs)
--store-path	string	.inspectr/.inspectr.db	Path to store request/response history
--store-in-memory	boolean	false	Use in-memory storage instead of persistent disk file

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Operations Storage Policy

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--operations-retention-ttl	string	0	Maximum age for stored operations (for example 24h, 168h). 0 disables TTL cleanup.
--operations-max-stored	integer	0	Maximum number of stored operations. 0 disables the cap.

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Configuration & Version

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--config	string	.inspectr.yaml	Path to YAML config file. Auto-detect .inspectr.yaml if present.
--version			Print Inspectr version and exit

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Start-up Options

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--rules-config	string	(none)	Path to a rules YAML file to load at startup
--command	string	(none)	Launch a command when Inspectr boots
--command-arg	string		Argument to pass to the managed command; repeatable
--command-log-file	string	.inspectr-command-process.log	Log file for the managed command. Defaults to .inspectr/.inspectr-command-process.log
--command-stop-on-failure	boolean	true	Exit Inspectr when the managed command exits with a non-zero status

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Export

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--export	boolean	false	Export operations to a timestamped JSON file on shutdown

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Advanced Settings

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--log-file	string	(none)	Write logs to this file instead of .inspectr/inspectr.log
--log-level	string	none	Set log verbosity (debug, info, warn, etc.)
--http-timeout	integer	30	HTTP timeout in seconds for backend requests. Expose has a maxmium http-timeout of 30 seconds for non-streaming responses.
--session-expiration	integer	24	Session expiration time in hours
--grace-period	integer	30	Grace period for session cleanup in seconds

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Examples

Basic Proxy Setup

inspectr --backend=http://localhost:3000

Catch Mode for Webhook Testing

inspectr --catch=true --expose --channel=webhook-test --channel-code=secure123

Mocking With OpenAPI

inspectr --mock-backend=./openapi.yaml --mock-dynamic=true

Keep Recent Operations Only

inspectr --operations-retention-ttl=24h --operations-max-stored=5000

Inspectr with config file

By default, Inspectr looks for a .inspectr.yaml file in the current directory, so you can run

inspectr

which will load the default configuration.

If you prefer to use a different config file, you can specify it with the --config flag:

inspectr --config=./inspectr-webhook.yaml

Start Inspectr and run a command

Inspectr can also be used to trigger a command when it starts. This can be any command to start a program or a shell script. Common use cases include running a development server or running a test suite, launch a Inspectr Connector, or run a custom script.

inspectr --command=npm --command-arg=run --command-arg=dev

Inspectr will run the command npm run dev in the background and log its output to .inspectr/inspectr-command-process.log. When Inspectr exits, the command will be terminated.

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Background services

Register and control Inspectr as a native background service on Windows, Linux, or macOS:

inspectr service install [name] --config <path>
inspectr service start [name]
inspectr service stop [name]
inspectr service restart [name]
inspectr service status [name]
inspectr service uninstall [name]

Run these commands with Administrator privileges on Windows or with sudo on Linux and macOS. See the complete Background Services guide for named instances, logs, recovery, upgrades, and migration.

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