Features Overview
A release-ready overview of Bifurc capabilities across the app and extension.
Features Overview
Bifurc is a local API development toolkit that combines routing, capture, mocking, authored requests, protocol tooling, extension-assisted browser workflows, and git-backed workspace management in one desktop app.
Release-ready highlights
The current release line includes:
- better keyboard and focus behavior across core screens
- common tab shortcuts:
Ctrl/Cmd+S,Ctrl/Cmd+T,Ctrl/Cmd+W - persisted panel, sidebar, search, and tab-related state
- stronger workspace, settings, and shell ergonomics
- fuller documentation and protocol coverage
Feature matrix
| Area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Service discovery | Detect listening localhost services and create mappings quickly |
| Localhost mappings | Bind *.localhost domains to local targets |
| Proxy rules | Redirect and transform traffic with request/response scripts |
| Mocking | REST, GraphQL, SOAP, and gRPC mock workflows |
| Capture | Inspect proxied traffic with request/response detail |
| Requests | Save and replay REST, GraphQL, SOAP, and gRPC requests |
| WebSockets | Connect, send, receive, and inspect messages |
| Webhooks | Receive incoming webhook payloads on localhost |
| Environments | Reuse variables and randomizer tokens across workflows |
| TLS interception | Inspect and modify HTTPS traffic using a trusted local CA |
| Health checks | Monitor service endpoints from within the workspace |
| Git-backed workspaces | Publish, diff, restore, push, and pull configuration state |
| Browser extension | Browser proxy control and DevTools-to-workspace workflows |
Core capabilities
Service discovery
- detects listening localhost ports
- shows process name and PID
- indicates whether a service is already mapped
- supports one-click mapping creation
*.localhost mappings
- route friendly subdomains to local services
- avoid manual hosts-file edits
- keep mappings workspace-scoped
- use with browser proxying or explicit ports as needed
Proxy rules
- match exact URLs or regex patterns
- redirect to mappings or other targets
- mutate requests before forwarding
- mutate responses before returning
Mocking
- REST mocks for method and URL matching
- GraphQL mocks for operation-aware matching
- SOAP mocks for endpoint, SOAPAction, and operation matching
- gRPC mock server workflows for proto-defined services
- response delays, streaming, binary payloads, and variable substitution where supported
Traffic capture
- inspect full request and response metadata
- filter by method, URL, status, and route path
- create mocks from captured traffic
- save captured requests for replay
Requests and replay
- REST authoring with cURL import
- GraphQL schema introspection and operation generation
- SOAP WSDL-assisted request generation
- gRPC proto and reflection workflows
- pre-request and post-response scripting
Browser extension workflows
- toggle browser proxy routing
- connect to a localhost companion bridge
- capture live browser traffic in DevTools
- create mocks and saved requests from real pages
- batch-capture filtered traffic into folders
Workspace durability
- git-backed publish and restore
- per-entity history and diff views
- remote push and pull
- better support for small-team collaboration
Protocol support
| Feature | REST | GraphQL | SOAP | gRPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saved requests | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mocking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Environment variables | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pre/post scripts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Schema or contract helpers | OpenAPI import paths | Introspection + SDL | WSDL | Proto + reflection |
| Streaming support | SSE + chunked | Limited by HTTP workflow | N/A | Unary + streaming modes |
See the protocol-specific docs for implementation and workflow details.