A Prettier Way to Inspect Network Connections

Ever needed to check what's happening on your network, but found the default tools a bit... ugly? Or maybe you just wanted something that gives you a clearer, more immediate picture without sifting through dense terminal output. If you've ever run netstat or lsof and wished for a cleaner interface, you're not alone.

That's exactly the itch that Snitch scratches. It's a terminal-based network connection monitor that takes the essential information and presents it in a way that's actually pleasant to look at. Think of it as giving your network inspection a much-needed UI upgrade, right in the comfort of your shell.

What It Does

Snitch is a command-line tool that lists your system's active network connections. It shows you the familiar details—local and remote addresses, process IDs, process names, and connection states—but it does so with a focus on readability and visual clarity. It's a direct, prettier alternative to traditional utilities.

Why It's Cool

The cool factor here is all about the presentation. Snitch uses color and formatting effectively to differentiate between information types, making it much easier to scan quickly. Instead of a monolithic wall of text, you get a structured, colored layout that helps your eyes find what they need.

It's also written in Go, which means it compiles down to a single binary. No external dependencies, no runtime headaches—just download it and run it. This makes it incredibly portable and easy to drop into any environment. It's a focused tool that does one job and does it with style, which is always a win in the world of developer utilities.

How to Try It

Getting started with Snitch is straightforward. Head over to the GitHub repository and grab the latest release for your platform.

If you have Go installed, you can also install it directly with:

go install github.com/karol-broda/snitch@latest

Once installed, simply run snitch in your terminal. That's it. You'll immediately see your active connections presented in its clean, formatted style.

Final Thoughts

Snitch is a great example of a quality-of-life improvement tool. It doesn't introduce radically new functionality, but it significantly improves the experience of a common task. For developers who frequently need to check which process is holding a port or monitor network activity, having a cleaner, more scannable output is a small but genuine productivity boost.

It's the kind of tool you install once and then forget about—because it just works and makes the output nicer. If you live in the terminal, it's definitely worth a look.

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