hostage

A terminal UI for managing /etc/hosts entries.

▎ hostage                                        /etc/hosts
⌕ Filter ▏
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
▌● 127.0.0.1       localhost
 ● 192.168.1.10    mysite.local
 ○ 10.0.0.1        disabled.local
 ● 192.168.1.20    another.host
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[a] add  ·  [e] edit  ·  [d] delete  ·  [space] toggle  ·  [c] show comments  ·  [J/K] move  ·  [/] filter  ·  [q] quit

Install

go install github.com/v4run/hostage@latest

Usage

sudo hostage

Root access is required to write to /etc/hosts.

Key bindings

Key	Action
↑ / k	Move up
↓ / j	Move down
gg	Jump to top
G	Jump to bottom
space	Toggle enable / disable
c	Show / hide comments
shift+j	Move entry down
shift+k	Move entry up
a / i	Add new entry
e	Edit entry
d / x	Delete entry
/	Filter entries
esc	Clear filter / cancel
q / ctrl+c	Quit

Features

• Add — enter an IP and hostname; validates the IP before saving
• Edit — change an entry's IP or hostname(s) in place; preserves enabled / disabled state
• Delete — confirmation prompt before removing an entry
• Enable / disable — toggle entries on and off by commenting them out (# ip hostname) without deleting them
• Filter — live search by IP or hostname
• Conflict detection — if /etc/hosts is modified externally while hostage is open, the write is aborted and a split-pane scratch view shows the pre-reload buffer so you can reconcile changes manually; new entries are marked + and removed-only entries are marked ~
• Atomic writes — changes are written via a temp file rename to avoid corruption
• Show comments — c toggles whether # comments and blank lines render in the list (off by default). View-only — the cursor skips them
• Reorder — Shift+J / Shift+K move the selected entry down / up. Comments stay anchored, preserving the file's annotated structure. Disabled while a filter is active

Disabled entry format

Disabled entries are stored as:

# 192.168.1.10 mysite.local

Any line matching # <valid-ip> <hostname> is treated as a disabled entry. Plain comments are left untouched.