Hammer vs Herdwick

Hammer is a professional HTTP and HTTPS debugging toolkit for developers, QA engineers, mobile teams, and technical users who need a clear way to inspect, analyze, and troubleshoot network traffic on iPhone and iPad. Whether you are testing an API, debugging a mobile app, checking request headers, reviewing response data, or exporting sessions for deeper analysis, Hammer helps you understand what is happening between your app, website, and backend services. Designed for local-first network inspection, Hammer keeps captured data on your device by default. Requests, responses, headers, cookies, and session history remain local unless you choose to export or share them. How Hammer Works: Hammer uses Apple's public Network Extension framework and a Packet Tunnel Provider to enable on-device traffic capture. When you tap Start and approve the iOS system configuration prompt, Hammer creates a local Packet Tunnel. Traffic included in the active capture session is routed through Hammer's local proxy process on the same device, where requests and responses can be inspected and displayed. The Packet Tunnel does not connect your traffic to a remote VPN server. Hammer does not provide anonymous browsing, change your virtual location, or hide your public IP address. iOS displays VPN-related permission text and may show a VPN status indicator because Apple manages Packet Tunnel Provider configurations through its VPN configuration infrastructure. Key Features: Live Traffic Capture Capture HTTP and HTTPS requests in real time. Review method, host, path, status code, protocol, timing, size, and request details in a clean debugging interface. Detailed Request Inspector Inspect URL parameters, request and response headers, message bodies, status codes, timing metrics, and content types. HTTPS Debugging Use optional certificate-based HTTPS inspection in development, testing, or other authorized environments. Certificate installation and trust are controlled by the user through iOS Settings. Request History Keep capture sessions organized locally so you can revisit traffic, compare results, and investigate issues after testing. Rules and Filters Manage rules for bypassing hosts, blocking traffic, rewriting requests, mapping responses, and controlling traffic during debugging. HAR Export Export captured sessions as HAR files for desktop analysis, bug reports, team collaboration, or long-term debugging records. Local Proxy Workflow Use Hammer's on-device Packet Tunnel and local proxy workflow to inspect traffic from apps, browsers, and services you are authorized to analyze. Clean Debugging Interface Work with readable request lists, structured detail views, protocol statistics, favorites, and practical tools for repeated debugging. Local-First Privacy Captured network content is processed and stored locally by default. Hammer does not require an account, and the Packet Tunnel does not upload captured traffic to a remote VPN server. Data leaves your device only when you explicitly export, share, or submit it through a user-initiated action. Hammer is useful for: • Debugging mobile app API requests • Inspecting HTTP and HTTPS traffic • Reviewing headers, cookies, and response bodies • Testing backend services and REST APIs • Checking status codes, redirects, and timing • Exporting HAR files for issue reports • Managing traffic rules during development • Investigating network behavior during QA testing Hammer is intended for legitimate development, testing, and debugging workflows. Use it only with apps, websites, services, and network traffic that you own or have permission to inspect.

Answer your coding agents from your phone. Herdwick connects to herdr on your own Mac or Linux machines over SSH. See what your agents did and reply from iPhone or iPad. ONE INBOX Every agent on your saved hosts, in one list. The ones waiting on you come first. READ THE CONVERSATION Conversations from omp, Claude Code and Codex show as a chat. Tool steps fold into one line; open it for detail. Edits show as diffs, line by line. Other agents, and transcripts that aren't available, open in the terminal. A line marks what's new since you last looked. ANSWER Tap an option on a supported question or permission prompt, or type a reply. The terminal is always there. USE THE TERMINAL Live output, a message box and keys for Esc, Tab, arrows, Enter and Ctrl-C. Typing mode is optional; it takes control and resizes the pane on your host. CONNECT YOUR MACHINES Use SSH with a key made on your device, or a password. Tailscale sign-in and a machine picker are built in; Tailscale SSH needs setup on your host and tailnet. Nothing to install for Herdwick on your host beyond herdr. KEEP YOUR PLACE While Herdwick reconnects, your last view stays on screen. Pick from seven terminal themes, set separately for light and dark. TRY THE DEMO Look around a scripted demo host before you connect your own. No Herdwick account needed. PRIVACY Your SSH private key stays in the device Keychain. Messages and attachments go to your host, not to a Herdwick server. No analytics. If you use Tailscale, its privacy policy applies. REQUIREMENTS iOS 26 or later, and a Mac or Linux host running herdr that you can reach. Your agents run on the host, not on your phone. Herdwick is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the herdr project or Tailscale Inc. Tailscale is a registered trademark of Tailscale Inc.