Install tcpflow with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• tcpflow

Project history

The upstream README says Jeremy Elson originally wrote tcpflow to capture data sent by programs using undocumented network protocols, including streaming media and instant messaging applications, so those protocols could be reverse engineered.

The README also records that Simson Garfinkel later took over maintenance after leaving Sandstorm Enterprises and needing a TCP flow reassembly program. The public GitHub repository was created in 2012 and continues as the upstream development home.

Adoption history

tcpflow's README states that most common GNU/Linux distributions ship it in their repositories, and the input package facts show it packaged by Homebrew and major Linux and Unix package systems.

Its niche adoption follows from doing something adjacent to tcpdump and Wireshark but more file-oriented: reconstructing application byte streams into separate artifacts that can be inspected after capture.

How it is used

Common usage is to capture live traffic or read stored tcpdump packet flows, split each TCP direction into a named file, and optionally post-process HTTP responses into headers and bodies.

The README positions it for understanding network packet flows, protocol debugging, malware analysis from HTTP sessions, and forensic workflows.

Why package nerds care

Package nerds care because tcpflow sits in the pcap toolchain but exposes a different abstraction: not packets, but reconstructed conversations. That makes it useful as a small dependency-free-ish CLI companion to tcpdump in forensic and debugging toolboxes.

It is also a packaging case study in older network tooling modernized over time, with libpcap, OpenSSL/zlib-style dependencies, autotools, CMake notes, RPM building instructions, and active distribution packaging all visible in upstream docs.

Timeline

• 1998: Sandstorm Enterprises founded, later producing related commercial TCP flow tools TCPDEMUX and NetIntercept.
• 2012: simsong/tcpflow GitHub repository created.
• 2013: Upstream README recommends citing the Naval Postgraduate School technical report on tcpflow.
• 2020: Maintainer status report describes porting tcpflow and related libraries to modern C++.

Related projects

• tcpdump and libpcap are related because tcpflow can process tcpdump packet flows and uses the LBL Packet Capture Library.
• Wireshark is mentioned upstream as a contrasting packet analyzer; TCPDEMUX and NetIntercept are named as related commercial flow tools.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/simsong/tcpflow
• https://github.com/simsong/tcpflow#readme