Rewrite

Add, remove or replace headers and query parameters, change the method, host, path or status, or replace a body on matching traffic.

Mac iPhone and iPad

Rewrite changes real traffic on its way through. Unlike Map Local, the request still reaches the server; WireLens edits what goes out, what comes back, or both.

Create a rule#

Open Tools ▸ Rewrite and add a rule, or select a flow and choose Create Rewrite Rule… (⇧⌘R on the Mac), which starts from that flow's URL.

What a rule can change#

Side	Changes
Request	Set or remove headers · set or remove query parameters · change the method · change the host · change the path · replace the body
Response	Change the status · set or remove headers · replace the body

A body replacement swaps the whole body for the text you give it. When WireLens replaces a body that arrived compressed, it also fixes the framing headers, removing Content-Encoding and setting Content-Length, so the app parses the new body correctly.

To change one field inside a JSON body rather than the whole thing, use Scripting: res.body.json(), edit the value, write it back.

Matching#

URL pattern. Wildcards or a regular expression. A blank pattern is refused, because it would match every request.
Scope. Narrow a rule further by method, response status class, content type, a header or a GraphQL operation name, so a rule for POST errors leaves successful calls alone.
Test this rule checks the pattern against sample URLs before you save it.

For HTTPS, the host must be decrypted, since WireLens can only change what it can read. A rule aimed at a host that is not on the SSL Proxying Include list says so in the Tools pane.

Rewrite, Map Remote or Scripting?#

Change the destination of a request: Map Remote.
Change fixed parts of a request or response: Rewrite.
Change something that depends on the request itself, or edit a single JSON field: Scripting.

Settings exports#

Rewrite rules often carry tokens in a header value or a body. When you export your settings, WireLens redacts secrets inside rule bodies as well as headers unless you explicitly include them.

Free and Pro#

The free plan includes one Rewrite rule. Pro removes the limit.

From the command line#

wirelens rules rewrite takes one flag per change and can be repeated:

bash

wirelens rules rewrite --pattern 'https://api.example.com/*' \
  --set-header 'X-Debug: 1' \
  --remove-header Cookie \
  --status 503 \
  --response-body '{"error":"maintenance"}' \
  --note 'Maintenance drill'

Run wirelens help for the full flag list, including --set-query, --remove-query and --request-body. The MCP tool is add_rewrite.

Something here is unclear, or wrong for your setup? Contact support or write to support@wirelens.app.