// the find
fullstorydev/grpcurl
Like cURL, but for gRPC: Command-line tool for interacting with gRPC servers
grpcurl is the standard tool for hitting gRPC endpoints from the command line — the gRPC equivalent of curl. It handles reflection-based discovery, proto source files, and protoset files, so you can inspect and call services without writing client code. Maintained by FullStory and actively used across the industry.
Server reflection support means zero setup on servers that enable it — just point and shoot. The three descriptor source modes (reflection, .proto files, protoset) cover every real-world scenario, including servers you don't control. Bidirectional streaming works interactively from stdin, which is rare for CLI tools in this space. The underlying grpcurl library package is usable as a Go dependency, not just a binary.
No built-in request history, variables, or environment management — you end up wrapping it in shell scripts that grow ugly fast. The JSON-to-protobuf mapping can silently drop fields or coerce types in ways that trip you up with complex proto schemas (oneof, Any, enums). No TUI or interactive mode beyond raw stdin streaming, so service exploration is tedious compared to Postman-style tools like BloomRPC or Kreya. The protoset workflow requires running protoc separately, which is a non-trivial setup step for non-Go teams.