James

When it comes to web debugging, relying on an external proxy server is clearly not the most straightforward way towards finding where the possible problem is. In this case, using a 'web' proxy that runs locally makes a lot more sense.

James is a user-friendly and modern-looking piece of software that makes it possible for you to record and display incoming and outgoing data traffic.

Simply put, James is a lightweight HTTP proxy and HTTP monitor that seizes requests and responses to and from your browser, which makes it suitable as for debugging purposes.

The app's interface is the first giveaway that it is not an advanced tool. Working with James is by no means difficult, partly thanks to its simplistic interface and the rest thanks to its straightforward workflow.

Just launch James and it automatically starts a local proxy which you can use by configuring your web browser. Input the port number and the generic address for local hosts (127.0.0.1) and the provided port number in the appropriate section of the browser.

James can also take care of all the configurations, considering your web browsers of choice are Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

Once the browsers are configured, you can start browsing and the app displays a list of relevant details, such as ping time and the target URL.

By clicking any entry, you can get a detailed view with the requests and response headers. For even more convenience, James features an easy-to-use search function that can help you pinpoint content with precision.

Unfortunately, James has its limits and does not include useful features like bandwidth throttling and AJAX debugging, just to name a few. By now it is quite clear what are James' strong points: its modern interface, it user-friendliness and its ability to automatically configure two of the most popular web browsers out there.

If you are looking for a lightweight and quick tool for web debugging that is suitable for almost all users, regardless of their experience, then James is surely worth trying out.