# jpillora/chisel

A fast TCP/UDP tunnel over HTTP

Repository: https://github.com/jpillora/chisel
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/chisel
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: tunnel, tcp, http, golang
Last push: 2026-08-09T00:06:44+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 87/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 68, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4207, "days_push": 25, "days_rel": 54, "gap_med": 110, "n_releases_24m": 6}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 16448, forks 1604 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:16.501806+00:00)

## What it is
Chisel is a fast TCP/UDP tunnel transported over HTTP and secured via SSH, shipped as a single Go executable containing both client and server. It is mainly useful for passing through firewalls and providing a secure endpoint into a private network.

## Use cases
- tunnel TCP traffic through firewalls over HTTP
- expose a service behind NAT to the internet securely
- create a SOCKS5 proxy through a remote server
- reverse port forwarding from a server out through a client
- use as an SSH ProxyCommand to reach SSH servers over HTTP
- securely access internal network endpoints from outside

## When to choose
- you need a single static binary with no dependencies for tunneling
- you must traverse restrictive firewalls or proxies that only allow HTTP
- you want encrypted, authenticated tunnels with auto-reconnect
- you need reverse tunnels or SOCKS5 support in the same tool

## When to avoid
- you need a full VPN with IP-layer routing rather than port-level tunnels
- you already run WireGuard or a site-to-site VPN that fits your needs
- you need a GUI-managed tunneling solution
- you require high-throughput raw TCP forwarding without HTTP overhead

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: networking, proxy, security, cryptography
- domain: networking, security, developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: windows, cross-platform, go, cli
- tags: tcp-tunnel, udp-tunnel, http-tunnel, port-forwarding, ssh, firewall-traversal, reverse-proxy, socks5, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- jpillora/chisel (main) score 87

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:16.501806+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:05:05.900556+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/jpillora/chisel (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:16.501806+00:00, sha d885b1328d35)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.