pingtrace

README

pingtrace

Get a clean, color-coded view of every reply and every hop in a single run enriched with private and public DNS, ipinfo.io and PeeringDB policies. Easily export the results in CSV and JSON format.

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Why pingtrace over the standard tools?

You usually run	pingtrace gives you in one command
ping then traceroute / tracert depending on OS then mtr	you run universally pingtrace that style the output and offer additional flags like MTR
dig +short for every hop	reverse DNS resolved automatically, with optional private DNS for internal hops
for ip in $(seq …) loops	simply pingtrace 10.0.0.0/24 or --file targets.csv
copy/paste into a spreadsheet or note	--export ./reports writes timestamped UTC CSVs and pingtrace 10.0.0.0/21 do it by default; add --json for a schema-validated JSON report alongside

It's the same probes you already trust (the OS ping / traceroute) pingtrace just runs them with no additional latency overhead, parallelize requests for faster CIDR resolution, decorates outputs for clear cross-platform readability including export.

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Try it in 30 seconds

Install from source

go install github.com/skhell/pingtrace/cmd/pingtrace@latest
pingtrace help

# the headline command ping + trace + enrichment
pingtrace 8.8.8.8

# live MTR (Ctrl+C / q to stop)
pingtrace 1.1.1.1 --mtr

# bounded MTR, 10 cycles, 2s apart, exported to CSV
pingtrace 1.1.1.1 -m --cycles 10 --interval 2 --export ./reports

# CSV + JSON report (JSON validates against schema/pingtrace.schema.json)
pingtrace 8.8.8.8 --export ./reports --json

# multiple targets, a CIDR, or a file
pingtrace 8.8.8.8,1.1.1.1,example.com
pingtrace 10.0.0.0/30
pingtrace --file ./targets.csv

# script-friendly: pick your columns
pingtrace 8.8.8.8 --no-trace --columns seq,ip,time_ms,status

Run pingtrace --help for the grouped, color-coded flag reference, and pingtrace config to open an interactive TUI for tokens, DNS, and thresholds.

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Operational notes

• pingtrace depends on system ping and traceroute tooling being available on PATH.
• On Windows, tracert is used.
• On Unix-like systems, traceroute is used, with tracepath as a fallback where available.
• --export without a path writes operation-specific CSV files in the current working directory.
• If --export points to a .csv file path, pingtrace uses that file's directory and still writes separate ping_...csv and trace_...csv files.
• Private DNS enrichment is automatically skipped if the configured server does not respond within 5 seconds.
• --json writes a sibling JSON report (probe_...json for ping/trace runs, mtr_<target>_...json per MTR target) into the same directory as --export, or the current working directory when --export is omitted. The document validates against schema/pingtrace.schema.json and lists any CSVs written in its exportedFiles section.
• PeeringDB and ipinfo.io enrichment is skipped for private/RFC-1918 IP addresses.

Feedback

If pingtrace saved you time in a troubleshooting session, it was worth building.

• Star the project on GitHub
• Report bugs or request features in Issues
• Buy a coffee (or a snack for my buddy Schnauzer Tyson) if you feel like it.