Commands 

sendit generate [--targets-file <path>] [--url <url>] [--from-history chrome|firefox|safari] [--from-bookmarks chrome|firefox] [--output <file>]
sendit start    [-c <path>] [--foreground] [--log-level debug|info|warn|error] [--dry-run] [--capture <file>] [--tui]
sendit probe    <target>    [--type http|dns|websocket] [--interval 1s] [--timeout 5s] [--send <msg>]
sendit pinch    <host:port> [--type tcp|udp] [--interval 1s] [--timeout 5s]
sendit export   --pcap <results.jsonl> [--output <results.pcap>]
sendit stop     [--pid-file <path>]
sendit reload   [--pid-file <path>]
sendit status   [--pid-file <path>]
sendit validate [-c <path>]
sendit version
sendit completion <shell>
CommandDescription
generateGenerate a ready-to-use config.yaml from a targets file, a seed URL with in-domain crawling, or your local browser history/bookmarks.
startStart the engine. Writes a PID file by default so stop/status can find the process; use --foreground to skip.
probeTest a single HTTP, DNS, or WebSocket endpoint in a loop (like ping). No config file needed.
pinchCheck whether a TCP or UDP port is open on a remote host, repeating on an interval. No config file needed.
exportConvert a JSONL results file to PCAP format for analysis in Wireshark or tshark.
stopSend SIGTERM to the running instance via its PID file. Waits for in-flight requests to finish.
reloadSend SIGHUP to the running instance via its PID file to hot-reload config atomically.
statusReport whether the process in the PID file is still alive.
validateParse and validate a config file. Exits 0 on success, non-zero with a message on error.
versionPrint version, commit hash, and build date.
completionGenerate shell autocompletion scripts for bash, zsh, fish, or powershell.

generate flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--targets-file""Generate from an existing targets file (url type [weight] per line)
--url""Seed URL for crawl-based generation (implies --crawl)
--crawlfalseEnable in-domain page discovery (used with --url)
--depth2Maximum crawl depth
--max-pages50Maximum number of pages to discover
--ignore-robotsfalseSkip robots.txt enforcement during crawl
--from-history""Harvest visited URLs from browser history: chrome | firefox | safari
--from-bookmarks""Harvest bookmarked URLs: chrome | firefox | safari
--history-limit100Maximum URLs to import from history, ordered by visit count
--output(stdout)Write config to a file instead of stdout; prompts before overwriting

Generate from a targets file 

sendit generate --targets-file config/targets.txt
sendit generate --targets-file config/targets.txt --output config/generated.yaml

Generate from a seed URL 

# Crawl example.com, follow in-domain links up to depth 2, discover up to 50 pages
sendit generate --url https://example.com --depth 2 --output config/generated.yaml

# Skip robots.txt enforcement
sendit generate --url https://example.com --ignore-robots --output config/generated.yaml

Generate from browser history / bookmarks 

# Top 50 most-visited Chrome URLs
sendit generate --from-history chrome --history-limit 50 --output config/generated.yaml

# Firefox bookmarks
sendit generate --from-bookmarks firefox --output config/generated.yaml

# Safari bookmarks (macOS only)
sendit generate --from-bookmarks safari --output config/generated.yaml

# Combine sources (duplicates removed automatically)
sendit generate --url https://example.com --from-history chrome --output config/gen.yaml

Browser history weights are derived from visit count (capped at 10) so frequently visited pages appear proportionally more often without dominating the traffic distribution. The generated YAML includes the full pacing / limits / backoff skeleton with sensible defaults — edit those sections to tune behaviour before running.

Browser support: Chrome/Chromium and Firefox are supported on Linux and macOS. Safari history and bookmarks are macOS-only. Safari bookmarks are read from ~/Library/Safari/Bookmarks.plist (binary and XML plist formats supported).

start flags

FlagShortDefaultDescription
--config-cconfig/example.yamlPath to YAML config file
--foregroundfalseSkip writing the PID file
--log-level(from config)Override log level: debug | info | warn | error
--dry-runfalsePrint config summary and exit without sending traffic
--capture""Write a synthetic PCAP file while running; file is finalised on clean shutdown
--duration0 (unlimited)Auto-stop after this wall-clock duration (e.g. 5m, 30s, 1h); required when pacing.mode is burst
--tuifalseEnable the live terminal UI (requires a TTY; silently ignored when stdout is piped or redirected)

Terminal UI (–tui)

When run on a TTY, --tui replaces the default log output with a live dashboard:

sendit start --config config/example.yaml --tui
sendit — q or ctrl-c to stop

Mode      rate_limited · 60 rpm · 4 workers
Running   1m 23s

Requests  312 total · 308 ok · 4 errors (1.3%)
Latency   avg 45ms · p95 118ms

          ▁▂▂▃▄▄▅▆▇▆▅▄▃▃▂▃▄▅▆▇▆▅▄▅▆▇█▇▆▅▄▃▂▁▂▃▄

The sparkline shows the last 128 successful request latencies, scaled from ▁ (fastest) to █ (slowest). Press q or ctrl-c to stop — the engine shuts down gracefully, waiting for in-flight requests to complete.

When stdout is not a TTY (pipe, redirect, Docker, CI), --tui is silently ignored and plain zerolog output continues unchanged.

Dry-run output example 

./sendit start --config config/example.yaml --dry-run
Config: config/example.yaml  ✓ valid

Targets (4):
  URL                                      TYPE       WEIGHT     SHARE
  https://httpbin.org/get                  http       10         47.6%
  https://httpbin.org/status/200           http       5          23.8%
  https://news.ycombinator.com             browser    3          14.3%
  example.com                              dns        3          14.3%
  Total weight: 21

Pacing:
  mode: human | delay: 800ms–8000ms (random uniform)

Limits:
  workers: 4 (browser: 1) | cpu: 60% | memory: 512 MB

probe flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--type(auto-detected)Driver type: http | dns | websocket
--interval1sDelay between requests
--timeout5sPer-request timeout
--resolver8.8.8.8:53DNS resolver (dns targets only)
--record-typeADNS record type (dns targets only)
--send""Message to send after connecting (websocket only); waits for one reply and reports round-trip latency

Auto-detection rules:

Target formatDetected type
https://example.comhttp
http://example.comhttp
wss://example.comwebsocket
ws://example.comwebsocket
example.comdns

HTTP probe example

Non-standard ports work by including the port in the URL:

./sendit probe https://example.com
./sendit probe http://localhost:8080/health
./sendit probe https://staging.example.com:8443/api
Probing https://example.com (http) — Ctrl-C to stop

  200   142ms  1.2 KB
  200    38ms  1.2 KB
^C

--- https://example.com ---
2 sent, 2 ok, 0 error(s)
min/avg/max latency: 38ms / 90ms / 142ms

DNS probe example 

./sendit probe example.com --record-type A --resolver 1.1.1.1:53
Probing example.com (dns, A @ 1.1.1.1:53) — Ctrl-C to stop

  NOERROR    12ms
  NOERROR     8ms
^C

--- example.com ---
2 sent, 2 ok, 0 error(s)
min/avg/max latency: 8ms / 10ms / 12ms

WebSocket probe example (connect only) 

./sendit probe wss://echo.websocket.org
Probing wss://echo.websocket.org (websocket, connect only) — Ctrl-C to stop

  101    38ms
  101    41ms
^C

--- wss://echo.websocket.org ---
2 sent, 2 ok, 0 error(s)
min/avg/max latency: 38ms / 39ms / 41ms

WebSocket probe example (send + receive round-trip) 

./sendit probe wss://echo.websocket.org --send 'ping'
Probing wss://echo.websocket.org (websocket, send+recv) — Ctrl-C to stop

  101    42ms
  101    39ms
^C

--- wss://echo.websocket.org ---
2 sent, 2 ok, 0 error(s)
min/avg/max latency: 39ms / 40ms / 42ms

pinch flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--typetcpProtocol type: tcp | udp
--interval1sDelay between checks
--timeout5sPer-check timeout

Status labels:

LabelProtocolMeaning
openTCPConnection accepted
closedTCPConnection refused
filteredTCPNo response (deadline exceeded)
openUDPResponse data received
closedUDPICMP port unreachable received
open|filteredUDPTimeout — UDP is inherently ambiguous

TCP pinch example 

./sendit pinch example.com:80
Pinching example.com:80 (tcp) — Ctrl-C to stop

  open            142ms
  open             38ms
  closed            0ms  connection refused
^C

--- example.com:80 ---
3 sent, 2 open, 1 closed/filtered
min/avg/max latency: 38ms / 90ms / 142ms

UDP pinch example 

./sendit pinch 8.8.8.8:53 --type udp
Pinching 8.8.8.8:53 (udp) — Ctrl-C to stop

  open              4ms
  open|filtered     5s   (no response within timeout)
^C

--- 8.8.8.8:53 ---
2 sent, 1 open, 1 closed/filtered
min/avg/max latency: 4ms / 4ms / 4ms

export flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--pcap(required)JSONL results file to convert to PCAP
--output(input with .pcap extension)Output PCAP file path

PCAP export example 

sendit export --pcap results.jsonl
# Exported 312 packets → results.pcap

sendit export --pcap results.jsonl --output /tmp/session.pcap
# Exported 312 packets → /tmp/session.pcap

The generated PCAP uses LINKTYPE_USER0 (147) — no IP/TCP framing. Each packet payload is a text record:

ts=2024-01-01T12:00:00Z url=https://example.com type=http status=200 duration_ms=142 bytes=1256 error=

Open in Wireshark; packets appear as raw data under the USER0 dissector. Use the raw packet bytes view or Follow → TCP Stream to read individual records.

stop / reload / status flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--pid-file/tmp/sendit.pidPath to PID file written by start

Windows: SIGHUP is not available on Windows. sendit reload will not work — use a full restart to pick up config changes.

validate flags

FlagShortDefaultDescription
--config-cconfig/example.yamlPath to YAML config file

Shell completion

Homebrew

Completions are installed automatically as part of the formula — no extra steps needed.

Linux packages (.deb / .rpm)

Completions are bundled in the package and installed to the system completion directories — no extra steps needed.

Binary download 

# bash — add to ~/.bashrc
source <(sendit completion bash)

# zsh — add to ~/.zshrc
source <(sendit completion zsh)

# fish
sendit completion fish | source