Migrating from Charles Proxy

If you currently use Charles Proxy and want to switch to Madhyamas (or use both), this page maps Charles features to their Madhyamas equivalents and translates common workflows.

Why Switch?

	Charles Proxy	Madhyamas
License	Commercial, paid	Open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0)
Runtime	JVM/Java (requires a JRE)	Single native Rust binary
UI	Java Swing desktop app	Embedded React web UI (any browser)
API	HTML-only web interface	Documented REST API (184 endpoints)
AI agent support	None	Built-in MCP server (146 tools)
gRPC	Limited (5.2 fixes only)	Dedicated gRPC inspection UI
Scripting	None	Sandboxed JavaScript (boa_engine)
Plugins	None	Sandboxed WebAssembly (wasmtime)

Feature Mapping

Core Proxying

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent	Notes
HTTP proxy	Getting Started	Same — set proxy to localhost:8888
HTTPS/SSL MITM	HTTPS & Certificates	Auto-generated CA; install via the Setup button
SOCKS proxy	SOCKS5 Proxy	SOCKS5 via --enable-socks --socks-port
WebSocket inspection	WebSocket Inspection	Frame parsing, fragment reassembly
gRPC inspection	HTTP/2 & gRPC	Enable HTTP/2 downstream first
Access control (IP allowlist)	Access Control	CIDR-based, live updates
SSL Proxying host allowlist	All hosts intercepted by default	Use --no-https to disable

Traffic Recording and Inspection

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent
Recording on/off toggle	Recording button in the toolbar (Recording vs Passthrough)
Recording size limits	Recording Limits — max_requests, max_total_size_mb, max_body_size
Ignore list for recording	ignored_domains config with wildcard/suffix matching
Structure view (tree by host)	Web UI tree view
Sequence view (chronological)	Web UI list view
Focus (highlight hosts)	Focus
Chart/timeline visualization	Timeline View — waterfall with status-color-coded bars
Request/response viewers	Detail panel tabs (Request, Response, Timing, Preview)
zstd content-encoding	On-demand decompression toggle in the body viewer
Find in session	Search bar and advanced filter builder

Sessions

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent
Multiple named sessions	Sessions
Save / re-open sessions	Export/import via API or CLI
Clear session	POST /api/traffic/clear or madhyamas traffic clear
Switch active session	POST /api/sessions/{id}/switch or the Sessions view
Session export	HAR + cURL (Charles also supports CSV/Trace/XML)
Session import	Importing HAR Files

Modifying Traffic

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent
Breakpoints	Breakpoints
Map Local / Map Remote	Rewrites + Rewrite Templates
Rewrite	Rewrites
Block List	Block List
Throttling	Throttling — latency, bandwidth, packet loss
Repeat / Repeat Advanced	Replay — single, edit-then-repeat, and batch
Compose (edit & resend)	Edit-then-Repeat in the Replay view
Mocks	Mocks — collections, recording, conditional, probabilistic

Tools

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent
No Caching / No Cookies	Rewrite Templates
Mirror	Mirror
Auto Save	Auto Save
Process info (which app made a request)	Not supported
Validate (HTML/CSS validation)	Not supported

Export and Import

Charles feature	Madhyamas equivalent
HAR export	GET /api/export/har or madhyamas export har
cURL export	GET /api/export/curl/{id} or madhyamas export curl <id>
HAR import	Importing HAR Files
Mock import/export	GET /api/mocks/export, POST /api/mocks/import
Config import/export	GET /api/config/export, POST /api/config/import (enterprise)

Workflow Translation

Importing a Charles Session

Charles can export HAR files, which Madhyamas imports directly:

1. In Charles, select a session and choose File → Export → HAR.
2. In Madhyamas, import the HAR file:

   curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d @session.har \
     http://localhost:3001/api/traffic/import/har

   Or use the web UI's Import button. The HAR is imported as a new session — your live capture is untouched. See Importing HAR Files.

Replacing Map Local with Rewrites

Charles's Map Local (serve a local file for a URL) maps to a rewrite that replaces the response body. Charles's Map Remote (redirect a URL to another server) maps to a rewrite that changes the request URL.

Replacing Charles Breakpoints

Charles breakpoints pause traffic for manual editing. Madhyamas breakpoints work the same way — set a condition (URL pattern, method, status code), and matching traffic pauses in the web UI for you to inspect and modify before continuing.

Replacing Repeat Advanced

Charles's Repeat Advanced (repeat N times with concurrency) maps to Madhyamas Repeat Advanced / batch replay — madhyamas replay run-advanced <id> --iterations N --concurrency C --delay-ms D.

Features Charles Has That Madhyamas Doesn't

These Charles features have no Madhyamas equivalent today:

• Reverse proxy
• Port forwarding (TCP/UDP)
• Auto browser/OS proxy configuration
• NTLM authentication pass-through
• CSV / XML / Trace session export
• .chlz session format
• Built-in HTML/CSS validation tool
• Client process tracking (which app made a request)
• Native iOS app

Features Madhyamas Has That Charles Doesn't

• MCP server for AI agent integration (146 tools)
• Scripting — sandboxed JavaScript hooks
• Plugins — sandboxed WebAssembly extensions
• Documented REST API with 184 endpoints
• CLI with 159 subcommands
• Enterprise auth, RBAC, and audit logging

See also

• Getting Started — install and run Madhyamas
• HTTPS & Certificates — install the Madhyamas CA
• Importing HAR Files — bring Charles captures into Madhyamas
• CLI reference — drive Madhyamas from the terminal