Launched this week
Protocol Explorer
Interactive Network Protocol Visualizer
2 followers
Interactive Network Protocol Visualizer
2 followers
Packet captures you can watch. Pick one of 33 protocols — DNS, TCP, TLS, QUIC, BGP, WireGuard — and it animates the exchange packet by packet between client, router, resolver and server, then decodes every header field byte by byte. Click any packet to see the raw bytes. HTTP, HTTPS, TCP and UDP are free; a one-time $4.99 pass unlocks the other 29. Ships in 21 languages.
Launch Team
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Hi everyone — I'm Nick, maker of Protocol Explorer.
I kept re-reading RFC message-flow diagrams to explain handshakes to teammates, and they never answered the questions that actually come up: what's inside each packet, why the acknowledgement number is off by one, and what it looks like when a step silently fails. So I built the thing I wanted: 33 protocols animated packet by packet, with every header field decoded byte by byte.
A few things worth knowing:
- HTTP, HTTPS, TCP and UDP are free — no account needed, just open the site and play
- The other 29 (QUIC, BGP, WireGuard, DNSSEC and friends) are behind a one-time $4.99 pass, no subscription
- It ships in 21 languages, and works on mobile
- Click any packet in an animation to see the raw bytes on the wire
I'd love feedback on two things especially: which protocol should get the deepest treatment next (QUIC's post-quantum handshake is currently winning), and whether the pacing of the animations works for people who are brand new to networking.
Thanks for checking it out — I'll be in the comments all day.