tailcat
A netcat-like tool that connects two machines over Tailscale's encrypted peer-to-peer network without a Tailscale account. Connection details are exchanged by any method you choose.
Pick a small issue you can reproduce, then fix it with your AI coding agent.
Share on XLicense: BSD-3-Clause
Overview
Tailcat is a netcat-like tool built from open source parts of Tailscale. It uses Tailscale's data plane, which gives WireGuard-encrypted point-to-point tunnels, but not its control plane, so no Tailscale account is needed. One side runs a listener and gets a short address; the other side connects with that address. The connection details are shared by whatever means you like. It is a Go library and CLI that runs in userspace.
Key features
- Listener returns a short address that a client uses to connect
- Traffic is encrypted end to end with WireGuard
- Uses DERP relays for setup and as a fallback when NAT traversal fails
- Needs no root access and does not change routing or DNS
- Available as both a CLI and a Go library
Best for
Developers who want to pipe data between two machines behind NAT without setting up an account or VPN. The default DERP relays are free but rate limited, and you can run your own.
- Upstream
- tailscale/tailcat
- Fork on GitHub
- Guo-astro/tailcat
- Upstream stars
- 8.3k
- Category
- Security and networking
- Language
- Go
- License
- BSD-3-Clause
- Forked
- 2026-08-29
- Sync status
- In syncLast synced 2026-10-19
More in Security and networking
A ProxyPin script for rewriting Apple WLOC location responses in authorized iOS tests. It helps QA teams reproduce network-based location scenarios using selected coordinates.
Forked 2026-10-18Last synced 2026-10-19License: MITSecurity and networkingGitHub
Scripts that query crt.name Certificate Transparency records to find subdomains, with Bash and Python command-line tools for collecting results and saving them to a file.
Forked 2026-10-14Last synced 2026-10-19License: MITSecurity and networkingGitHub
A practical guide to running a personal Xray proxy on a VPS, with Hysteria2 as the main entry point and optional backup entries. Route selected AI traffic through WARP and, if needed, Claude or Anthropic through a fixed SOCKS5 exit.
Forked 2026-10-12Last synced 2026-10-19License: MITSecurity and networkingGitHub
Clearcam adds object detection, tracking, event search, and notifications to security camera feeds. Run its Python NVR locally and optionally use the iOS app for remote viewing and alerts.
Forked 2026-10-12Last synced 2026-10-19License: GPL-3.0Security and networkingGitHub