What is ponydebugger?

square/ponydebugger — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-26

★ 5,853Objective-CAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · moderate

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((PonyDebugger))
    Network Inspection
      Live HTTP requests
      Full request response data
      HTTPS traffic support
    Core Data Browser
      Browse local database
      Query while app runs
    Remote Logging
      App to browser console
      Real time messages
    Architecture
      iOS client library
      Gateway server
      Chrome DevTools bridge
    Compatibility
      Standard iOS APIs
      Device and simulator

mindmap root((PonyDebugger)) Network Inspection Live HTTP requests Full request response data HTTPS traffic support Core Data Browser Browse local database Query while app runs Remote Logging App to browser console Real time messages Architecture iOS client library Gateway server Chrome DevTools bridge Compatibility Standard iOS APIs Device and simulator

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Inspect live network requests and responses from an iOS app using Chrome DevTools without a separate tool.

USE CASE 2

Browse and query Core Data stores in a running iOS app directly from the browser.

USE CASE 3

Send remote log messages from an iOS app to the Chrome console during debugging.

USE CASE 4

Debug HTTPS traffic in an iOS app without needing a proxy or certificate interception setup.

What is it built with?

Objective-CiOSChrome DevToolsCore DataPythonWebSocket

How does it compare?

	square/ponydebugger	hexfiend/hexfiend	gsdios/sdautolayout
Stars	5,853	5,844	5,873
Language	Objective-C	Objective-C	Objective-C
Setup difficulty	moderate	easy	easy
Complexity	3/5	2/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires adding the iOS library via CocoaPods and running the ponyd gateway server locally. Project is unmaintained since 2014 and may have compatibility issues with modern iOS and Xcode versions.

Apache 2.0, free to use, modify, and distribute, including in commercial projects, with attribution required.

So what is it?

PonyDebugger is a debugging tool from Square that lets iOS developers inspect what their app is doing using the developer tools built into the Google Chrome browser. Rather than building a separate interface, it reuses the network inspection panel that web developers already use in Chrome, and connects that panel to a live iOS app running on a device or simulator. The tool has two parts: a small library you add to your iOS app, and a gateway server that runs on your computer and bridges the app to the browser. Once connected, you can see every network request your app makes in real time, including the full request and response data. This works even for encrypted HTTPS traffic, because the tool forwards the data rather than intercepting it from the outside. Beyond network traffic, PonyDebugger can also show you the contents of Core Data stores, which is the built-in database system that many iOS apps use to save information locally. You can browse and query that data from the browser panel while the app is running. The tool also supports remote logging, letting you send messages from your app to the browser console. PonyDebugger works with the standard iOS networking APIs, so it automatically picks up requests made through libraries that use those APIs without extra configuration. The last changelog entry is from 2014 and the project appears to be no longer actively maintained. It is released under the Apache 2.0 license.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I've added PonyDebugger to my iOS app. Walk me through connecting it to the gateway server and verifying that network requests appear in Chrome DevTools.

Prompt 2

Show me how to expose my Core Data managed object context to PonyDebugger so I can browse my local database from the browser while the app runs.

Prompt 3

My iOS app uses URLSession for networking. Explain how PonyDebugger automatically intercepts those requests and what, if anything, I need to configure.

Prompt 4

PonyDebugger hasn't been updated since 2014. What are the modern alternatives for inspecting iOS network traffic and Core Data in Chrome or a similar tool?

Prompt 5

Help me set up the PonyDebugger gateway server on macOS and configure my iOS app target to connect to it at launch in debug builds only.

Frequently asked questions