Getting Started with DevTools

Get DevTools running and see your first HTTP/S traffic in under 5 minutes.

DevTools is a browser-based interface for real-time HTTP/S traffic inspection. Think Chrome DevTools Network tab, but for your Linux server.

• See inside HTTPS without proxies or certificates

• Know which process/container/pod made each request

• Full request/response details including headers and bodies

• No application restarts or code changes required

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Prerequisites

• Linux host with kernel 5.10+

• Root/sudo access

• A browser to access the DevTools UI

Verify compatibility: Run the preflight check to confirm your system supports eBPF:

curl -sSL https://github.com/qpoint-io/preflight/releases/latest/download/preflight.sh | sudo bash

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Step 1: Install Qtap

Linux Binary

curl -s https://get.qpoint.io/install | sudo sh

This installs the qtap binary to your system path.

For manual installation, see Linux Binary Installation.

Docker

Kubernetes

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Step 2: Run with DevTools Enabled

Linux Binary

sudo qtap --enable-dev-tools

Qtap starts capturing traffic immediately. DevTools is now accessible.

Docker

Kubernetes

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Step 3: Access DevTools

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:10001/devtools

You should see the DevTools interface with three tabs: Processes, Connections, and Requests.

For remote servers, use SSH port forwarding:

# From your local machine
ssh -L 10001:localhost:10001 user@remote-server

# Then open in your local browser
open http://localhost:10001/devtools

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Step 4: Verify It Works

Generate some test traffic to confirm DevTools is capturing:

# In a separate terminal on the same host
curl https://httpbin.org/get
curl -X POST https://httpbin.org/post -d "test=data"

Switch to the Requests tab in DevTools. You should see:

• The GET and POST requests to httpbin.org

• Status codes (200)

• The process that made the request (curl)

• Request timing

Click on any request to see:

• Full request headers

• Response body

• A copy-pasteable cURL command

Success! If you see the requests appear in DevTools, everything is working. You're now capturing HTTP/S traffic with full visibility.

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Quick Tour

DevTools has three tabs:

Tab	What It Shows
Processes	Real-time inventory of all processes on the host
Connections	Network connections with process attribution
Requests	Individual HTTP transactions with full details

For a detailed walkthrough of the interface, see the DevTools Interface Guide.

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Next Steps

• DevTools Interface Guide - Learn all the features of the DevTools UI

• Storage Configuration - Save captured traffic to S3 for permanent storage

• Traffic Capture Settings - Filter and customize what traffic is captured

• Qplane - Centralized management for multi-host deployments

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Troubleshooting

DevTools Not Loading

1. Check Qtap is running:

   • Binary: ps aux | grep qtap

   • Docker: docker ps | grep qtap

2. Verify DevTools is enabled:

   • Binary: Must include --enable-dev-tools flag

   • Docker: Must include -e ENABLE_DEV_TOOLS=true

3. Check the port:

   • Ensure nothing else is using port 10001

   • Verify with curl http://localhost:10001/devtools

No Traffic Appearing

1. Qtap must be running BEFORE traffic is generated - Restart qtap, then make requests

2. Check traffic direction - Default captures egress (outbound) traffic

3. Verify the event stream is working - Check the raw API to confirm events are flowing:

curl -sN http://localhost:10001/devtools/api/events | head -20

You should see SSE events like event: process.started and event: connection.opened. If events are streaming but the UI is empty, try refreshing your browser.