Auto Detect Route

A VS Code extension that automatically discovers Express.js API routes from your Node.js codebase and lets you test them directly in the editor — like an embedded Postman, with zero manual setup.

Features

Automatic route discovery

• Scans your workspace for Express routes (app.get, router.post, etc.)
• Resolves nested router prefixes across files: app.use('/api', router) → /api/users
• Supports GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
• Handles CommonJS (require) and ES Modules (import)
• Auto-refreshes when you save a file — new routes appear instantly

In-editor request panel

• Click any route in the sidebar → a request panel opens beside your code
• Fill in path params, query params, headers, and JSON body
• Hit Send — response appears with status, timing, size, and pretty-printed JSON
• Jump to the route definition with Go to Source

Environment variables (Postman-style)

• Define variables like {{BASE_URL}}, {{AUTH_TOKEN}}, {{API_KEY}}
• Use them anywhere: URL, headers, body, query params
• Variables are resolved live in the URL preview
• Unresolved variables show an amber warning
• Mask sensitive values (tokens/passwords) with the 🔒 toggle
• Persisted globally across all workspaces and VS Code restarts

Persistent request state

• Headers, body, and auth tokens are saved per route
• Reopening a route restores exactly what you last typed
• Survives VS Code restarts

Getting started

Install

Install from the VS Code Marketplace or from a .vsix file:

Extensions panel → ··· → Install from VSIX…

Use

1. Open any Node.js / Express project folder in VS Code
2. Click the ◇ icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
3. Routes are detected automatically — click one to open the request panel
4. Click ◇ Variables (toolbar icon) to add environment variables

Environment variables

Open the variable editor from:

• The ◇ button in the URL bar of any request panel, or
• The ◇ Variables icon in the Routes sidebar toolbar

Syntax

Use double curly braces anywhere in your request:

Tips

• Disable a variable with its checkbox to temporarily exclude it without deleting it
• Mask a value with 🔒 to hide tokens from view while still using them in requests
• Variables resolve in real-time in the URL preview bar

Configuration

Open VS Code settings (Ctrl+,) and search for Auto Detect Route:

Default excluded paths

**/node_modules/**   **/dist/**     **/build/**
**/out/**            **/.git/**     **/.env*
**/*.pem             **/*.key       **/*.p12
**/*.pfx             **/*.crt       **/.ssh/**
**/.aws/**           **/secrets/**

Sensitive files (.env, private keys, certificates) are always excluded from scanning, even if not listed here.

Supported route patterns

// Direct method calls
app.get('/users', handler)
router.post('/login', handler)

// Nested routers with prefixes
app.use('/api', apiRouter)          // → /api/...
router.use('/v1', v1Router)         // → /api/v1/...

// Chained route handlers
router.route('/users').get(list).post(create)

// CommonJS
const users = require('./routes/users')
app.use('/users', users)

// ES Modules
import usersRouter from './routes/users'
app.use('/users', usersRouter)

// Inline require
app.use('/auth', require('./routes/auth'))

Security

• The extension never reads .env, private keys, certificates, or credential files
• HTTP requests run in the VS Code extension host (Node.js), not the webview — no CORS issues
• Response bodies are capped at 10 MB to prevent memory exhaustion
• Only http:// and https:// protocols are allowed in the base URL
• Header values are sanitised to prevent header injection

Keyboard shortcuts

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85 or later
• A workspace containing Node.js / Express.js source files

Limitations

• Static routes only — dynamically constructed paths (e.g. `/${prefix}`) are not detected
• Framework support: Express.js only (Fastify, Koa, Hapi not yet supported)
• Maximum 500 JS/TS files scanned per workspace (configurable via autoDetectRoute.exclude)

auto-detect-url

auto-detect-route