lolcathost

Dynamic hosts file manager with interactive terminal UI

lolcathost manages your /etc/hosts file with an interactive terminal interface. It provides real-time management, automatic backups, group organization, presets, and a secure daemon-based architecture.

Features

• Interactive TUI - Terminal interface with keyboard navigation
• Live management - Add, edit, and delete host entries without restarting
• Groups - Organize hosts into logical groups
• Presets - Save and apply preset configurations with a single command
• Auto-backup - Automatic backups before every change with rollback support
• Secure daemon - Privileged daemon handles file access via Unix socket IPC
• Domain blocking - Configurable blocklist to prevent dangerous entries
• Cross-platform - Works on macOS (LaunchDaemon) and Linux (systemd)
• CLI & TUI - Both command-line and interactive modes for flexibility
• Auto-update check - Notifies you when a new version is available

Comparison with Other Tools

Feature	lolcathost	HostsMan	Gas Mask	Manual editing
Platform	macOS/Linux	Windows	macOS only	All
Interface	Terminal TUI	Desktop GUI	Desktop GUI	Text editor
Daemon architecture	Yes (secure)	No	No	N/A
Real-time sync	Yes	No	Manual	Manual
Groups	Yes	Yes	Yes	Manual
Presets	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Auto-backup	10 rolling	Manual	Manual	No
Rollback	Yes	No	No	No
CLI automation	Yes	Limited	No	Yes
Rate limiting	Yes	No	No	N/A
Domain blocking	Yes	No	No	No
Auto-update check	Yes	No	No	N/A

Installation

Homebrew (macOS)

brew install --cask lukaszraczylo/taps/lolcathost

Note

: If you previously installed via brew install lukaszraczylo/taps/lolcathost (formula), uninstall first:

brew uninstall lolcathost

After Homebrew installation, run:

sudo lolcathost --install

Quick Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lukaszraczylo/lolcathost/main/install.sh | bash

Manual Download

Download binaries from the releases page.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/lukaszraczylo/lolcathost.git
cd lolcathost
make build
sudo ./build/lolcathost --install

Post-Installation

The installer will:

• Install the binary to /usr/local/bin/lolcathost
• Create a LaunchDaemon (macOS) or systemd service (Linux)
• Start the daemon automatically
• Create the default config at /etc/lolcathost/config.yaml

Quick Start

After installation, open a new terminal and run:

lolcathost

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
↑↓ / j/k	Navigate entries
Space / Enter	Toggle entry enabled/disabled
n	Add new host entry
e	Edit selected entry
d	Delete selected entry
p	Open preset picker
g	Open group manager
/	Search
r	Refresh list
?	Show help
q	Quit

Configuration

Config File Location

The configuration is stored at /etc/lolcathost/config.yaml and managed by the daemon.

• TUI/CLI changes: All changes made through the TUI or CLI are automatically saved to this file
• Manual editing: To edit manually, use sudo nano /etc/lolcathost/config.yaml (changes are picked up automatically via hot-reload)

Example Configuration

# Groups for organizing host entries
groups:
  - name: development
    hosts:
      - domain: myapp.local
        ip: 127.0.0.1
        enabled: true
      - domain: api.myapp.local
        ip: 127.0.0.1
        enabled: true

  - name: staging
    hosts:
      - domain: staging.example.com
        ip: 192.168.1.100
        enabled: false

# Presets for quick configuration switching
presets:
  - name: work
    enable:
      - myapp-local
      - api-myapp-local
    disable:
      - staging-example-com

  - name: testing
    enable:
      - staging-example-com
    disable:
      - myapp-local

# Domain blocklist (prevent adding these domains)
blocklist:
  - google.com
  - facebook.com
  - github.com

Host Entry Fields

Field	Required	Description
domain	Yes	The hostname (e.g., myapp.local)
ip	Yes	IP address to resolve to
enabled	No	Whether entry is active (default: false)

Note: Aliases are auto-generated from domain names (e.g., myapp.local becomes myapp-local).

CLI Commands

lolcathost                  # Launch TUI
lolcathost list             # List all entries
lolcathost on <alias>       # Enable entry
lolcathost off <alias>      # Disable entry
lolcathost preset <name>    # Apply preset
lolcathost status           # Show daemon status

Version & Updates

lolcathost --version        # Show current version
lolcathost --update         # Check for updates

Installation Commands

sudo lolcathost --install   # Install daemon
sudo lolcathost --uninstall # Uninstall daemon

Status Indicators

Indicator	Description
● Active	Entry is enabled and in /etc/hosts
○ Disabled	Entry is disabled
◐ Pending	Operation in progress
✗ Error	Operation failed

Architecture

lolcathost uses a daemon-based architecture for security:

┌─────────────────┐         ┌─────────────────────┐
│   lolcathost    │  JSON   │      Daemon         │
│   CLI / TUI     │◄───────►│    (runs as root)   │
│  (runs as user) │  Unix   │                     │
└─────────────────┘  Socket └──────────┬──────────┘
                                       │
                              ┌────────▼────────┐
                              │   /etc/hosts    │
                              └─────────────────┘

Daemon (runs as root):

• Handles /etc/hosts modifications
• Creates automatic backups (10 rolling)
• Validates inputs (domain, IP)
• Rate limiting protection (100 req/min per PID)
• Flushes DNS cache automatically

Client (CLI/TUI, runs as user):

• Connects via Unix socket
• JSON protocol for commands
• No sudo required for operations
• Real-time status updates

Socket: /var/run/lolcathost.sock Backups: /var/backups/lolcathost/

Troubleshooting

"daemon not running (socket not found)"

The daemon isn't running. Install or reinstall:

sudo lolcathost --uninstall
sudo lolcathost --install

Then open a new terminal for group membership to take effect.

Check Daemon Status

# macOS
sudo launchctl list | grep lolcathost

# Linux
sudo systemctl status lolcathost

View Daemon Logs

# macOS/Linux
cat /var/log/lolcathost/daemon.log
cat /var/log/lolcathost/daemon.err

DNS Cache Not Flushing

lolcathost automatically flushes the DNS cache after changes:

• macOS: Uses dscacheutil -flushcache and killall -HUP mDNSResponder
• Linux: Uses systemd-resolve --flush-caches or nscd -i hosts

If changes don't take effect, manually flush:

# macOS
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache && sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

# Linux (systemd)
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches

Development

Prerequisites

• Go 1.24+
• macOS or Linux

Build

make build          # Build binary
make test           # Run tests
make test-coverage  # Tests with coverage
make lint           # Run linters
make dev            # Format, lint, test, build

Project Structure

cmd/lolcathost/    - Entry point, CLI commands
internal/
  protocol/        - JSON message types (Unix socket)
  config/          - YAML config parsing, hot-reload
  daemon/          - Socket server, /etc/hosts management
  client/          - Socket client library
  installer/       - --install/--uninstall logic
  tui/             - Bubble Tea TUI
  version/         - Update checker

License

MIT License - see LICENSE.

Acknowledgments

• Bubble Tea - Terminal UI framework
• Lipgloss - Terminal styling

Links

• Website
• Issues
• Releases