Install WireLens for Mac

Requirements#

• A Mac with Apple silicon.
• macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
• An administrator account, once, to trust the certificate and approve the capture helper.

Download and install#

1. Download WireLens from the download page.
2. Open the disk image and drag WireLens into Applications.
3. Open WireLens from Applications.

WireLens for Mac is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. It is distributed directly rather than through the Mac App Store, because a debugging proxy needs system access that the App Store sandbox does not allow.

First launch: the certificate#

WireLens opens with the one decision it needs from you: how to install its root certificate, which is what lets it decrypt HTTPS.

• Install Automatically… macOS asks for your administrator password, installs the root into the System keychain and trusts it for HTTPS. Recommended.
• Install for This User… Installs into your login keychain instead.
• Continue without decrypting. Capture works, HTTPS shows as tunnels, and you can install the certificate later from the Certificate menu.

The WireLens root certificate explains what the root is and how Firefox, Node, Python and the rest are set up.

Start capturing#

Press ⌘R, or click Start Capture in the sidebar. What that does depends on the capture scope in Settings ▸ Capture:

The first time you capture with This Mac, WireLens asks you to set up its capture helper. macOS lists it in System Settings ▸ General ▸ Login Items & Extensions, where you allow it once. From then on WireLens starts and stops system capture without asking for a password.

When you stop capture or quit, WireLens puts your previous proxy settings back. If anything ever leaves the Mac pointing at a proxy that is not running, for example after a crash, choose Capture ▸ Restore System Proxy.

Decrypt your first host#

Requests appear as soon as capture starts, but HTTPS hosts are tunnels until you ask WireLens to decrypt them. Right-click a flow or a domain in the sidebar and choose Enable SSL Proxying for This Host, then repeat the request. See SSL Proxying.

Your 14-day Pro trial#

WireLens for Mac starts a 14-day Pro trial the first time it reaches the license service. There is no card and no account. When the trial ends, WireLens returns to the free plan: rules beyond the free limits are switched off, not deleted, and come back as soon as you activate a license. See Licenses, trial and activation.

Command line tools#

The wirelens command line tool and the wirelens-mcp server ship inside the app, so they always match the app's version. To put wirelens on your PATH:

/Applications/WireLens.app/Contents/Helpers/wirelens install-symlink

See Command line and MCP for AI agents.

Updates#

Settings ▸ Updates checks for a newer version and installs it. Your captures, settings and license carry over.

Uninstall#

1. Stop capture and quit WireLens, which restores your proxy settings.
2. Remove the certificate first: Certificate ▸ Remove Certificate from Keychain…
3. Drag WireLens from Applications to the Trash. macOS removes the capture helper's entry in Login Items & Extensions once the app is gone.
4. To remove captures and settings as well, delete ~/Library/Application Support/WireLens.