diff --git a/lib/swoc/CMakeLists.txt b/lib/swoc/CMakeLists.txt
index 33a0ce7f57f..06df0479e09 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/lib/swoc/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11)
 
 project(Lib-SWOC CXX)
-set(LIBSWOC_VERSION "1.5.3")
+set(LIBSWOC_VERSION "1.5.5")
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
 cmake_policy(SET CMP0087 NEW)
 # override "lib64" to be "lib" unless the user explicitly sets it.
diff --git a/lib/swoc/Makefile.am b/lib/swoc/Makefile.am
index ad56edd7928..118e09c8351 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/swoc/Makefile.am
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ library_includedir=$(includedir)/swoc
 
 AM_CPPFLAGS += @SWOC_INCLUDES@
 
-libtsswoc_la_LDFLAGS = @AM_LDFLAGS@ -no-undefined -release 1.5.3
+libtsswoc_la_LDFLAGS = @AM_LDFLAGS@ -no-undefined -release 1.5.5
 libtsswoc_la_SOURCES = \
 	src/ArenaWriter.cc  src/bw_format.cc  src/bw_ip_format.cc  src/Errata.cc  src/MemArena.cc  src/RBTree.cc  src/swoc_file.cc  src/swoc_ip.cc  src/TextView.cc src/string_view_util.cc
 
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/BufferWriter.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/BufferWriter.h
index 4de2d97074b..85e17f144eb 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/BufferWriter.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/BufferWriter.h
@@ -264,6 +264,28 @@ class BufferWriter {
    */
   template <typename Binding> BufferWriter &print_n(Binding const &names, TextView const &fmt);
 
+  /** Write formattted data.
+   *
+   * @tparam T Data type.
+   * @param spec Format specifier.
+   * @param t Instance to print.
+   * @return @a this
+   *
+   * Essentially this forwards @a t to @c bwformat.
+   */
+  template <typename T> BufferWriter & format(bwf::Spec const& spec, T && t);
+
+  /** Write formattted data.
+   *
+   * @tparam T Data type.
+   * @param spec Format specifier.
+   * @param t Instance to print.
+   * @return @a this
+   *
+   * Essentially this forwards @a t to @c bwformat.
+   */
+  template <typename T> BufferWriter & format(bwf::Spec const& spec, T const& t);
+
   /** IO stream operator.
    *
    * @param stream Output stream.
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_base.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_base.h
index c36206afae4..75e7a7de3e5 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_base.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_base.h
@@ -1318,4 +1318,17 @@ BufferWriter &bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, bwf::HexDump cons
 inline BufferWriter &bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const& spec, BufferWriter const& ww) {
   return bwformat(w, spec, TextView(ww));
 }
+
+template <typename T>
+BufferWriter &
+BufferWriter::format(bwf::Spec const &spec, T const &t) {
+  return bwformat(*this, spec, t);
+}
+
+template <typename T>
+BufferWriter &
+BufferWriter::format(bwf::Spec const &spec, T && t) {
+  return bwformat(*this, spec, t);
+}
+
 }} // namespace swoc::SWOC_VERSION_NS
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_ex.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_ex.h
index c232591bd25..47fc0b48430 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_ex.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_ex.h
@@ -206,6 +206,23 @@ SubText<ARG>
 Optional(TextView fmt, ARG &&arg) {
   return detail::Optional(meta::CaseArg, fmt, std::forward<ARG>(arg));
 }
+
+/** Convert from ASCII hexadecimal to raw bytes.
+ *
+ * E.g. if the source span contains "4576696c20446176652052756c7a" then "Evil Dave Rulz" is the output.
+ * For format specifier support, on lhe max width is used. Any @c MemSpan compatible class can be used
+ * as the target, including @c std::string and @c std::string_view.
+ *
+ * @code
+ *   void f(std::string const& str) {
+ *     w.print("{}", bwf::UnHex(str));
+ *     // ...
+ * @endcode
+ */
+struct UnHex {
+  UnHex(MemSpan<void const> const& span) : _span(span) {}
+  MemSpan<void const> _span; ///< Source span.
+};
 } // namespace bwf
 
 /** Repeatedly output a pattern.
@@ -237,6 +254,8 @@ BufferWriter &bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, bwf::Errno const
  */
 BufferWriter &bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, bwf::Date const &date);
 
+BufferWriter &bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const& spec, bwf::UnHex const& obj);
+
 /** Output a nested formatted string.
  *
  * @tparam Args Argument pack for @a subtext.
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_std.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_std.h
index 7003e975bea..24bd00068dd 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_std.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/bwf_std.h
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "swoc/bwf_base.h"
 
 namespace swoc { inline namespace SWOC_VERSION_NS {
+using namespace literals;
 
 /// Format atomics by stripping the atomic and formatting the underlying type.
 template <typename T>
@@ -48,5 +49,10 @@ bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, std::chrono::time_point<Clock,
   return bwformat(w, spec, t.time_since_epoch());
 }
 
+inline BufferWriter &
+bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const& spec, std::exception const& e) {
+  w.write("Exception - "_tv);
+  return bwformat(w, spec, e.what());
+}
 
 }} // end namespace swoc
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_meta.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_meta.h
index 10c69108dbc..796095a65fc 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_meta.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_meta.h
@@ -123,17 +123,22 @@ template <typename T> T TypeFunc();
  * This has no effect on @a u but fools the compiler in to thinking @a T has been used.
  * This avoids metaprogramming issues with unused template parameters.
  *
- * Suppose an API has changed a function from "delain" to "Delain". To handle this the metacase support is used, but there is
- * no apparent template parameter. A fake one can be used and defaulted to @c void. But that creates the unused template
- * parameter warning. This is fixed by doing something like
+ * Suppose an API has changed a function from "cheer_for_delain" to "cheer_delain". To handle this
+ * the metacase support is used, but there is no apparent template parameter. A fake one can be used
+ * and defaulted to @c void. But that creates the unused template parameter warning. This is fixed
+ * by doing something to erase the template parameter @a V while forwarding parameter @a x. The result
+ * is a function @c f that calls the correct function automatically. Note this can't be in the body of
+ * the function because even for SFINAE the function body must compile and the variant with the wrong
+ * function will fail.
+ *
  * @code
  *   template <typename V = void>
- *   auto f(UDT x, swoc::meta::CaseTag<0>) -> decltype(delain(eraser<V>(x)))
- *   { return delain(eraser<V>(x));  }
+ *   auto f(UDT x, swoc::meta::CaseTag<0>) -> decltype(cheer_for_delain(eraser<V>(x)))
+ *   { return cheer_for_delain(eraser<V>(x));  }
  *
  *   template <typename V = void>
- *   auto f(UDT x, swoc::meta::CaseTag<1>) -> decltype(Delain(eraser<V>(x)))
- *   { return Delain(eraser<V>(vc)); }
+ *   auto f(UDT x, swoc::meta::CaseTag<1>) -> decltype(cheer_delain(eraser<V>(x)))
+ *   { return cheer_delain(eraser<V>(x)); }
  *
  *   f(x, swoc::meta::CaseArg); // Invoke the correctly named function
  * @endcode
diff --git a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_version.h b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_version.h
index 9ebfe193c71..c7d97c71d9b 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_version.h
+++ b/lib/swoc/include/swoc/swoc_version.h
@@ -23,11 +23,11 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #if !defined(SWOC_VERSION_NS)
-#define SWOC_VERSION_NS _1_5_3
+#define SWOC_VERSION_NS _1_5_5
 #endif
 
 namespace swoc { inline namespace SWOC_VERSION_NS {
 static constexpr unsigned MAJOR_VERSION = 1;
 static constexpr unsigned MINOR_VERSION = 5;
-static constexpr unsigned POINT_VERSION = 3;
+static constexpr unsigned POINT_VERSION = 5;
 }} // namespace swoc::SWOC_VERSION_NS
diff --git a/lib/swoc/src/Errata.cc b/lib/swoc/src/Errata.cc
index 80e6bea917c..9ef11fe92fc 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/src/Errata.cc
+++ b/lib/swoc/src/Errata.cc
@@ -142,12 +142,14 @@ bwformat(BufferWriter &bw, bwf::Spec const &spec, Errata::Severity level) {
 
 BufferWriter &
 bwformat(BufferWriter &bw, bwf::Spec const &, Errata const &errata) {
+  bwf::Format const code_fmt{"[{0:s} {0:d}] "};
+
   if (errata.has_severity()) {
     bw.print("{}{}", errata.severity(), errata.severity_glue_text());
   }
 
   if (errata.code()) {
-    bw.print("[{0:s} {0:d}] ", errata.code());
+    bw.print(code_fmt, errata.code());
   }
 
   bool trailing_p = false;
diff --git a/lib/swoc/src/bw_format.cc b/lib/swoc/src/bw_format.cc
index ea5c2a6d47e..c586b887255 100644
--- a/lib/swoc/src/bw_format.cc
+++ b/lib/swoc/src/bw_format.cc
@@ -960,10 +960,10 @@ bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, bwf::Pattern const &pattern) {
   return w;
 }
 
-swoc::BufferWriter &
-bwformat(swoc::BufferWriter &w, swoc::bwf::Spec const &spec, std::error_code const &ec) {
-  static const auto GENERIC_CATEGORY = &std::generic_category();
-  static const auto SYSTEM_CATEGORY  = &std::system_category();
+BufferWriter &
+bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const &spec, std::error_code const &ec) {
+  static const auto G_CAT = &std::generic_category();
+  static const auto S_CAT  = &std::system_category();
 
   // This provides convenient safe access to the errno short name array.
   static const swoc::bwf::Format number_fmt{"[{}]"_sv}; // numeric value format.
@@ -971,19 +971,30 @@ bwformat(swoc::BufferWriter &w, swoc::bwf::Spec const &spec, std::error_code con
     // if numeric type, print just the numeric part.
     bwformat(w, spec, ec.value());
   } else {
-    if ((&ec.category() == GENERIC_CATEGORY || &ec.category() == SYSTEM_CATEGORY) && swoc::ERRNO_RANGE.contains(ec.value())) {
+    if ((&ec.category() == G_CAT || &ec.category() == S_CAT) && swoc::ERRNO_RANGE.contains(ec.value())) {
       bwformat(w, spec, swoc::ERRNO_SHORT_NAME[ec.value()]);
     } else {
       w.write(ec.message());
     }
     if (spec._type != 's' && spec._type != 'S') {
-      w.write(' ');
-      w.print(number_fmt, ec.value());
+      bwformat(w, spec, ec.value());
+      w.write(' ').write('[').format(spec, ec.value()).write(']');
     }
   }
   return w;
 }
 
+BufferWriter&
+bwformat(BufferWriter &w, bwf::Spec const& spec, bwf::UnHex const& obj) {
+  auto span { obj._span };
+  size_t limit = spec._max;
+  while (span.size() >= 2 && limit--) {
+    auto b = svto_radix<16>(span.clip_prefix(2).rebind<char const>());
+    w.write(b);
+  }
+  return w;
+}
+
 }} // namespace swoc::SWOC_VERSION_NS
 
 namespace std {