Requestly: An Essential Open-Source Tool for debugging web applications faster

Debugging web apps is tricky, especially when bugs that show up live won’t recreate on your local setup. Frontend devs have their own set of hurdles when fixing these issues.

To make life easier, follow good practices like detailed bug reports, use debugging and browser tools, and keep the lines open between frontend and backend teams.

A web debugging proxy can be a game-changer here. It captures network traffic between your browser and server, giving you insights into HTTP/HTTPS exchanges. It’s a go-to for understanding interactions with external resources and diagnosing issues.

Improving Web App Debugging with Requestly

Requestly is an open-source browser extension and desktop tool with a strong following on Github and over 200K users. It’s a Swiss army knife for devs, letting you tweak network requests and web pages. It’s got your back whether you’re on Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

With Requestly, devs can do a bunch of cool stuff—redirect URLs, tweak headers, add custom scripts, block requests, and even record sessions for bug hunting. It plays nice with major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, making it a go-to for devs, testers, and QA folks.

Quick Features:

1. Request Mods: Change headers, redirect URLs, and mess with API responses. Great for testing and simulating stuff.
2. Session Replay: Record API and console logs along with your actions. Makes bug reporting and debugging way easier.
3. Open-Source: Tweak it to your liking and contribute back. Community-driven and always improving.
4. Cross-Browser: Works on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. No headaches there.
5. User-Friendly: The UI is easy to navigate, so even your non-dev teammates can use it.

In short, Requestly makes web app debugging a breeze, streamlines your dev workflow, and opens up a lot of customization options.

Intercepting and modifying network requests

Requestly makes web debugging a cinch, and you don’t have to mess with proxy settings or route traffic through remote servers. Plus, it’s built on Chrome APIs, making it both user-friendly and secure.

Quick Run-Down:

1. Header Mods: Tweak HTTP headers in real time to test different scenarios or requirements. Super useful for debugging.
2. URL Redirects: Need to test different environments? Easily swap out URLs to switch between prod and dev.
3. Override APIs: Replace actual API responses with custom ones to test how your app handles errors or unique situations.

Basically, Requestly gives you a ton of control without the usual VPN headaches or security concerns.

Faster Bug Reporting & Debugging 🔥

Requestly’s session replay feature allows users to capture and record all the relevant information related to a user’s interaction with a web application in a time-based manner. It is a powerful tool for developers and support teams to diagnose and debug issues reported by users effectively.

1. Sessions: Session Replay involves capturing various events and activities that occur during a user’s visit to a web application. This includes API logs, console logs, user clicks, form submissions, page navigations, and other interactions.
2. Sharing/Downloading Sessions: Requestly allows users to share or download recorded sessions, making it a convenient way to collaborate and communicate between technical and non-technical team members.
3. Easy for Customer Support and Non-Tech People to report bugs Session recording is not limited to technical users; it is designed to be user-friendly and accessible to everyone, including customer support representatives and non-technical team members.
4. Inspecting & Analyzing Bugs Becomes Easy: Session recording simplifies the process of inspecting and analyzing user sessions. Developers can play back recorded sessions and step through the timeline to pinpoint areas of interest, track user behavior, and trace the sequence of events leading to a particular issue.

At Requestly, we are passionate about open-source software and believe in empowering developers with the freedom to innovate and customize their tools. That’s why we have chosen to make Requestly an open-source product. By embracing open-source principles, we aim to give developers greater control and flexibility, enabling them to contribute, modify, and extend Requestly according to their unique needs. We are dedicated to continuously improving Requestly with the collective efforts of developers, making it a more robust and feature-rich web debugging tool for everyone.