diff --git a/services/modals/src/lib.rs b/services/modals/src/lib.rs
index 506f2d45f..bfe6f9313 100644
--- a/services/modals/src/lib.rs
+++ b/services/modals/src/lib.rs
@@ -484,12 +484,19 @@ impl Modals {
     ///     frequent updates. For example, instead of once every iteration of a loop, once every ten
     ///     iterations. This will improve performance of the code and reduce UI churn as well. If this is not
     ///     possible, you can add a sleep by doing something like the code below. This will reduce the rate at
-    ///     which your loop runs, as well as at which the UI updates. Example:
-    ///     `std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100));`
-    ///
+    ///     which your loop runs, as well as at which the UI updates.
+    /// ```
+    /// std::thread::sleep(std::time::Duration::from_millis(100)); // This comment needed to pass formatting checks
+    /// ```
     ///   - An alternative "softer" solution is to call yield. This will cause the producer to yield its time
-    ///     slice to other processes in the OS, which can give the progress bar a chance to catch up. Example:
-    ///     `xous::yield_slice();`
+    ///     slice to other processes in the OS, which can give the progress bar a chance to catch up.
+    /// ```
+    /// xous::yield_slice(); // This comment needed to pass formatting checks
+    /// ```
+    /// The comments above are necessary because rustfmt puts trailing whitespace after the code if there
+    /// isn't  a comment. We have a requirement to have no trailing whitespace *and* for code to be
+    /// auto-formatted.  So, the dummy comment is there simply to resolve the two conflicting requirements
+    /// in the face of a buggy rust format (as of 1.81).
     ///
     /// # Example
     /// ```
diff --git a/services/shellchat/Cargo.toml b/services/shellchat/Cargo.toml
index 08b650350..e3fe9a60d 100644
--- a/services/shellchat/Cargo.toml
+++ b/services/shellchat/Cargo.toml
@@ -153,4 +153,5 @@ rand-api = []
 locktests = [
 ] # for debugging some specific `std` tests cherry-picked out of the test suite
 simple-tls = ["rustls", "webpki-roots"]
+nettype = [] # takes a file from a URL and emits it as keystrokes
 default = [] # "debugprint"
diff --git a/services/shellchat/src/cmds/usb.rs b/services/shellchat/src/cmds/usb.rs
index 40cf3b780..16462a999 100644
--- a/services/shellchat/src/cmds/usb.rs
+++ b/services/shellchat/src/cmds/usb.rs
@@ -151,6 +151,64 @@ impl<'a> ShellCmdApi<'a> for Usb {
                     write!(ret, "USB debug port unlocked: portions of the device are readable via USB!")
                         .unwrap();
                 }
+                #[cfg(feature = "nettype")]
+                "nettype" => {
+                    use std::io::{Read, Write};
+                    use std::net::TcpStream;
+                    use std::time::Duration;
+                    if let Some(url) = tokens.next() {
+                        match url.split_once('/') {
+                            Some((host, path)) => match TcpStream::connect((host, 80)) {
+                                Ok(mut stream) => {
+                                    stream.set_read_timeout(Some(Duration::from_millis(10_000))).unwrap();
+                                    stream.set_write_timeout(Some(Duration::from_millis(10_000))).unwrap();
+                                    log::info!("sending GET request");
+                                    match write!(stream, "GET /{} HTTP/1.1\r\n", path) {
+                                        Ok(_) => log::trace!("sent GET"),
+                                        Err(e) => {
+                                            log::error!("GET err {:?}", e);
+                                            write!(ret, "Error sending GET: {:?}", e).unwrap();
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                    write!(
+                                        stream,
+                                        "Host: {}\r\nAccept: */*\r\nUser-Agent: Precursor/0.9.16\r\n",
+                                        host
+                                    )
+                                    .expect("stream error");
+                                    write!(stream, "Connection: close\r\n").expect("stream error");
+                                    write!(stream, "\r\n").expect("stream error");
+                                    log::info!("fetching response....");
+                                    let mut buf = [0u8; 4096];
+                                    match stream.read(&mut buf) {
+                                        Ok(len) => {
+                                            let s = std::string::String::from_utf8_lossy(
+                                                &buf[..len.min(buf.len())],
+                                            );
+                                            let mut parts = s.splitn(2, "\r\n\r\n");
+                                            let _header = parts.next().unwrap_or("");
+                                            let body = parts.next().unwrap_or("");
+                                            match self.usb_dev.send_str(&body) {
+                                                Ok(n) => write!(ret, "Sent {} chars", n).unwrap(),
+                                                Err(_e) => {
+                                                    write!(ret, "Can't send: are we connected to a host?")
+                                                        .unwrap()
+                                                }
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                        Err(e) => {
+                                            write!(ret, "Didn't get response from host: {:?}", e).unwrap()
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                }
+                                Err(e) => write!(ret, "Couldn't connect to {}:80: {:?}", host, e).unwrap(),
+                            },
+                            _ => write!(ret, "Usage: nettype bunniefoo.com/bunnie/test.txt").unwrap(),
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        write!(ret, "Usage: nettype bunniefoo.com/bunnie/test.txt").unwrap();
+                    }
+                }
                 _ => {
                     write!(ret, "{}", helpstring).unwrap();
                 }