wscat2

Unix-style WebSocket cat (or netcat for websockets).

Installation

npm install -g wscat2

Usage

$ wscat -h
usage: wscat [-h] [-v] [-l PORT] [-b] [-H HEADER] [-n] [-k] [-d] [-s SUBP] [address]

Positional arguments:
  address

Optional arguments:
  -h, --help            Show this help message and exit.
  -v, --version         Show program's version number and exit.
  -l PORT, --listen PORT
                        Start a websocket server on PORT.
  -b, --binary          Use binary WebSockets.
  -H HEADER, --header HEADER
                        Specify a custom HTTP request header. May be given
                        multiple times.
  -n, --no-check        Do not check for unauthorized certificates.
  -k, --keep-open       Do not close the socket after EOF.
  -d, --deflate         Use per-message deflate.
  -s SUBP, --subprotocol SUBP
                        WebSocket subprotocol

Examples

If you ever used nc, wscat works pretty much the same.

Connect to a server

$ wscat echo.websocket.org
Hello
Hello
Who's there?
Who's there?
^D

Chat

Server:

$ wscat -l 12345
Hi there!
Hi!
It's nice to speak to someone who just dosn't repeat everything I say back at me.
Yeah! Isn't it?!
Sorry, gotta run...
^D

Client:

$ wscat localhost:12345
Hi there!
Hi!
It's nice to speak to someone who just dosn't repeat everything I say back at me.
Yeah! Isn't it?!
Sorry, gotta run...

Transfer a file

Server:

$ wscat -b -l 12345 < ~/Desktop/mycat.jpg

Client:

$ wscat -b localhost:12345 > igotacat.jpg

Note that you can have the client send the file as well, after the connection has been setup wscat does not differentiate between server/client.

Get your bitcoin on

$ echo '{"op":"unconfirmed_sub"}' | wscat -k wss://ws.blockchain.info/inv

The -k option is used to keep the socket open after the command has been sent, allowing us to read the continuous stream of Bitcoin transactions.

Developing

This node.js program is written in TypeScript and has a compile step that you can run with make lib. For developing it is convenient to install the ts-node and typescript modules globally (npm i -g ..), this will allow you to directly execute the programs entry-point: ./src/cli.ts.

Use make test to run the tests and lint check and make lint to run the linter in formatter mode.

License

BSD 3-Clause

       /\_/\                    /\_/\
      / 0 0 \                  / o o \
     ====v====                ====C====          __   __
      \  W  /                  \  V  /         _(  )_(  )_
      |     |     _            |     |     .-=(_   WEB  _)
      / ___ \    /             / ___ \    /     (__   __)
     / /   \ \  |             / /   \ \  |        (__)
    (((-----)))-'            (((-----)))-'
     /                        /
    (      ___      ___      /
     \__.=|___|E    3__|=.__/
            /       ^