Restify — REST API Client for VS Code

A fast, lightweight REST API client built right into VS Code. Test APIs, debug endpoints, and manage requests without ever leaving your editor.

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Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Sidebar & Views
• Request Builder
  • URL & Method
  • Query Parameters
  • Headers
  • Request Body
  • Scripts
  • Authentication
• Response Viewer
  • Response Tabs
  • File Previews
• Code Generation
• Environments & Variables
• Collections
• Request History
• Settings
  • Proxy Configuration
  • Client Certificates (mTLS)
  • SSL Settings
• Keyboard Shortcuts

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Getting Started

1. Install Restify from the VS Code Extensions Marketplace
2. Open Restify using any of these methods:
   • Sidebar icon — click the Restify icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar) to open the panel
   • Command Palette — press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P and search for "Restify: Open"
3. The main request panel opens automatically — you're ready to test APIs

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Sidebar & Views

The Restify sidebar contains two collapsible panels:

History

• Shows your last 25 executed requests with method, URL, status code, and response time
• Click any entry to restore the full request and response
• Save an entry to a collection by clicking the "+" button on hover
• Delete individual entries or clear all history at once

Collections

• Create and organize saved requests into named collections
• Supports nested folders for grouping related requests (e.g., Auth, Users, Products)
• Drag and drop requests between folders and collections
• Copy, rename, or delete requests via hover actions
• Import/Export collections as JSON for sharing with teammates

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Request Builder

URL & Method

• HTTP Method dropdown — select from GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, or OPTIONS. Each method has a distinct color for quick recognition
• Address bar — paste or type your full URL. Environment variables like {{baseUrl}} are resolved automatically
• Send — click Send or press Enter while in the URL bar

Query Parameters

• Type directly in the URL — parameters you add to the URL auto-populate the Params table
• Use the Params tab — add key/value rows; they're reflected in the URL
• Enable/disable — toggle rows on/off without deleting them

Headers

• Autocomplete — common header names (Content-Type, Authorization, etc.) and values (application/json, Bearer, etc.) are suggested as you type
• Enable/disable — toggle headers on/off without removing them

Request Body

Choose from seven body formats:

Format	Use Case
None	No body (typical for GET requests)
JSON	Structured data with syntax highlighting and auto-formatting
XML	XML-formatted payloads
Text	Raw text
Form Data	Key/value pairs with file upload support
URL Encoded	Standard form submission format
GraphQL	GraphQL queries and variables

The body editor includes formatting options and auto-detects content type.

Scripts

Write post-response scripts to automate workflows:

• Extract values from responses and store them as environment variables
• Access response data — response.status, response.body, response.headers, response.rawBody
• Set variables — vars['token'] = response.body.access_token
• Log output — log(...) writes to the Script Logs tab in the response pane

Scripts run in the extension host (not the webview) for full Node.js capabilities.

Authentication

Choose your auth method — Restify handles the headers automatically:

Method	Details
None	No authentication
Bearer Token	Paste an access token; Authorization: Bearer <token> is added automatically
Basic Auth	Enter username/password; Base64-encoded automatically
API Key	Key/value pair with option to send in headers or as a query parameter

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Response Viewer

Response Tabs

• Body — the main response data with automatic formatting (JSON syntax highlighting, XML pretty-printing)
• Headers — all response headers from the server
• Logs — detailed debug information: request/response breakdown, headers, parameters, and script logs
• Raw — the unformatted response output

Response Info

• Status code — displayed prominently (200 OK, 404 Not Found, 500 Server Error, etc.)
• Response time — how long the request took
• Response size — how much data was returned
• Search — click the search icon to find text within large responses
• Copy as cURL — copy a curl command to reproduce the same request from your terminal

File Previews

Restify detects and previews common file types inline:

• CSV — parsed and displayed as a read-only table
• Excel (XLS/XLSX) — parsed and displayed as a table with support for multiple sheets, cell formatting, and large datasets
• Plain text — rendered inline
• PDF — rendered using a bundled PDF renderer (no external CDNs)

For Excel files, Restify automatically detects .xls and .xlsx formats, parses the spreadsheet data, and renders it as an interactive table. You can view all sheets and scroll through rows without downloading the file.

Limits: In-webview previews are capped at 5 MB. Files larger than this prompt a download. The Download button saves the binary to your chosen location.

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Code Generation

Turn any request into ready-to-run code snippets:

1. Build your request (method, URL, headers, body, auth)
2. Click the code icon (< >) in the top bar
3. Select a language from the dropdown
4. Copy the generated snippet

Supported languages:

• cURL
• JavaScript (fetch)
• JavaScript (axios)
• Node.js (node-fetch)
• Python (requests)
• Java (OkHttp)
• Swift (URLSession)
• Go (net/http)
• PowerShell (Invoke-RestMethod)
• PHP (cURL)
• C# (HttpClient)

Snippets reflect the full request state including method, URL, headers, body, and authentication.

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Environments & Variables

Environments store reusable values so you don't repeat yourself across requests.

Create an Environment

1. Click the environment dropdown at the top of the request panel
2. Select "Manage Environments"
3. Click "+ New Environment"
4. Name it (e.g., "Development", "Production")
5. Add key/value pairs:
   • baseUrl = https://api.example.com
   • token = abc123xyz
6. Save

Use Variables

Reference variables anywhere in your request using {{variableName}} syntax:

• URLs — {{baseUrl}}/users
• Headers — Authorization: Bearer {{token}}
• Body — "username": "{{username}}"

Visual feedback: variable names turn green if resolved, red if not found in the active environment.

Switch Environments

• Use the dropdown at the top to switch instantly
• All {{variable}} references update automatically
• Select "No Environment" to disable variable resolution

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Collections

Create a Collection

1. Open the Collections panel in the sidebar
2. Click the "+" button in the panel header
3. Name your collection

Save a Request

1. Build your request (URL, headers, body, auth)
2. Click the Save button next to the URL bar
3. Name the request and choose a collection
4. Click Save

Organize

• Folders — right-click a collection to add nested folders
• Drag & drop — move requests between folders and collections
• Copy — duplicate requests within a collection
• Rename/Delete — hover over a request for action buttons

Import & Export

• Export a collection as JSON for backup or sharing
• Import a JSON file to restore or merge collections

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Request History

Every request you send is automatically recorded:

• Last 25 requests are stored with full request/response data
• Click any entry to restore it instantly
• Save to collection by clicking the "+" on hover
• Delete entries individually or clear all at once

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Settings

Click the gear icon (top right of the request panel) to open Settings.

General

• Show Activity Log — enable or disable the activity log panel that records request events (starts, completions, errors, scripts)

Proxy Configuration

Route all requests through a proxy server:

• Host — proxy server address
• Port — proxy port number
• Authentication — optional username/password for proxy auth
• No Proxy Hosts — hostnames that bypass the proxy

Client Certificates (mTLS)

For APIs requiring mutual TLS authentication:

• Hostname — the domain that requires the certificate
• Certificate Path — path to your certificate file
• Key Path — path to your private key file
• CA Path (optional) — path to a CA certificate

Certificates are matched by hostname and applied automatically.

SSL Settings

• Verify SSL Connection checkbox (below the URL bar)
• Enabled (default) — strict certificate verification
• Disabled — allows self-signed or untrusted certificates (for testing only)

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Activity Log

The bottom panel shows a real-time activity log of request events, including starts, completions, errors, and script execution. Toggle visibility from Settings.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Send request	Enter (in URL bar) or Ctrl+Enter (anywhere)
Save request	Ctrl+S
Format body (JSON/XML)	Shift+Alt+F
Close search	Esc

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Overview