mitmproxy Cheat Sheet

Interactive TLS-capable HTTP proxy for intercepting, replaying, and scripting web traffic.

Web Application SecurityinterceptionproxytlsUpdated 2026-06-02

Overview

mitmproxy (and mitmweb/mitmdump) intercepts HTTP/HTTPS for manual analysis or scripted modification. Alternative to Burp for CLI-first workflows, automation, and Python addons on authorized assessments.

Authorized testing only. Use only on systems, networks, and accounts you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorized access is illegal.

Install

sudo apt install -y mitmproxy

pip install mitmproxy

Essential commands

Interactive TUI proxy (default port 8080)

mitmproxy

Web UI

mitmweb --web-host 127.0.0.1

Non-interactive dump to file

mitmdump -w traffic.flow

Common workflows

Browser through proxy —

mitmproxy --listen-port 8080

Replay and filter flows —

mitmdump -nr traffic.flow "~u target.example" -s replay_script.py

rewrite.py

def request(flow):

if "target.example" in flow.request.pretty_host:

flow.request.headers["X-Forwarded-For"] = "127.0.0.1"

mitmproxy -s rewrite.py

Reverse proxy to local app —

mitmproxy --mode reverse:https://target.example --listen-port 8081

Export for reporting —

mitmdump -nr traffic.flow -w filtered.flow "~d target.example"

mitmdump -nr traffic.flow --set flow_detail=2 > requests.txt

Flags reference

`--listen-port`	Proxy port (default 8080)
`--mode`	regular, transparent, reverse, upstream
`-w FILE`	Write flows to file
`-nr FILE`	Read flows (no replay)
`-s SCRIPT`	Run addon script
`~u regex`	Filter URL (mitmdump)
`~d host`	Filter domain
`--set`	Set option (e.g. ssl_insecure=true)
`mitmweb`	Web interface
`mitmdump`	CLI dump / scripting

Tips

Use mitmweb when learning; mitmdump for CI and capture pipelines.
Addon API replaces legacy inline scripts—see mitmproxy docs for mitmproxy.http.
For mobile apps, install mitm CA on device and enable user trust (Android 7+ may need network config).
Combine with curl --proxy http://127.0.0.1:8080 for scripted traffic through capture.