I built a CLI to stop explaining what /etc/hosts is

Vulcan Shen — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:49:16 +0000

Last month, a PM asked me to point api.staging.local to a new IP. I spent 15 minutes explaining what /etc/hosts is. Then I did it for them anyway.

This happens a lot. So I built hostfile — a CLI that turns hosts file management into copy-pasteable one-liners.

What's wrong with existing tools

Manual editing is risky. One wrong move and DNS resolution breaks. Non-technical users shouldn't be anywhere near vim /etc/hosts.

GUI tools like SwitchHosts exist, but they're overkill when you just need someone to run one command. You can't paste a GUI into Slack.

Other CLIs exist and work fine for developers who know what they're doing. But when you need a non-technical person to run one command without supervision, most fall apart.

What hostfile does differently

Managed block isolation. hostfile only touches entries between its own markers. Your hand-written entries are never modified:

# Your stuff — safe
127.0.0.1  localhost

#### hostfile >>>>>
192.168.1.100  web.local api.local
#### hostfile <<<<<

Enable/disable without deleting. Need to temporarily turn off an entry? hostfile disable api.local. Turn it back on with hostfile enable api.local. No re-typing IPs.

JSON I/O and pipelines. Export your config as JSON, pipe it to another machine, or feed it into scripts:

# Export
hostfile show --json
# {"192.168.1.100": ["web.local", "api.local"]}

# Import via pipeline
echo '{"10.0.0.1":["db.local"]}' | hostfile merge -

# Sync between machines
hostfile show --json | ssh prod hostfile apply -

Automatic privilege escalation. hostfile handles sudo, doas, or gsudo on Windows automatically. Users never need to remember.

Input validation. Bad JSON, invalid IPs, or garbage text gets rejected before touching your hosts file.

Quick start

# Install (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vulcanshen/hostfile/main/install.sh | sh

# Add entries
hostfile add 192.168.1.100 web.local api.local

# Save a snapshot before making changes
hostfile save before-migration

# Roll back if needed
hostfile load before-migration

# Done with this setup
hostfile clean

Install

# macOS / Linux
brew install vulcanshen/tap/hostfile

# Windows
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vulcanshen/hostfile/main/install.ps1 | iex

Also available as .deb, .rpm, and Scoop. See the README for all options.

This isn't a revolutionary tool. It solves one specific problem: making hosts file changes safe and accessible to anyone who can copy-paste a command. If that's a problem you have, give it a try.

GitHub: vulcanshen/hostfile

DEV Community: Vulcan Shen

I built a CLI to stop explaining what /etc/hosts is

What's wrong with existing tools

What hostfile does differently

Quick start

Install