brew tap beyondlex/tap && brew install ocular

cargo install ocular-cli

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/beyondlex/ocular/main/install.sh | sh

git clone https://github.com/beyondlex/ocular.git
cd ocular
cargo build --release
./target/release/ocular

ocular --demo

This generates simulated traffic so you can explore the TUI immediately.

Create ocular.toml in your project directory (or ~/.config/ocular/ocular.toml):

[[proxy]]
name = "redis"
protocol = "redis"
listen = "127.0.0.1:16379"
remote = "127.0.0.1:6379"
[[proxy]]
name = "mysql"
protocol = "mysql"
listen = "127.0.0.1:13306"
remote = "127.0.0.1:3306"

ocular

Ocular launches a TUI dashboard. On first run, you'll see a group selector — press Enter on "default" to load your proxies.

Instead of connecting directly to Redis on 6379, connect to 16379. Instead of MySQL on 3306, connect to 13306.

# Example: redis-cli through Ocular
redis-cli -h 127.0.0.1 -p 16379
# Example: mysql through Ocular
mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -P 13306 -u root -p

Note: For MySQL, always use -h 127.0.0.1 (not localhost) to ensure TCP connection through the proxy.

Every command your app sends now appears in the Ocular TUI in real-time, with human-readable formatting and latency tracking.

If you can't change your app's connection settings, use capture mode:

sudo ocular capture redis 127.0.0.1

This passively sniffs traffic on the network interface. Your app doesn't need to know Ocular exists. See Proxy Mode vs Capture Mode for details.

For scripting, CI, or quick checks:

ocular proxy redis --json

Outputs events as JSON, one per line. See CLI Reference.

• Configuration Reference — customize display, filtering, event logging
• Usage Scenarios — Docker, production, CI setups
• Keybindings — master the Vim-style navigation
• Supported Protocols — what's supported and any gotchas