FiveDollars — API Client for VSCode
A lightweight, native-feel REST API client that lives inside your editor. Send HTTP requests, organize them into collections, switch between environments, and share with your team — without leaving VSCode.
Works in VSCode, Cursor, VSCodium, Theia, and any editor that supports the Open VSX marketplace.
Features
- Full HTTP client — GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, custom verbs. Query params, headers, path params, every body type (JSON, form-data, x-www-form-urlencoded, raw, binary, GraphQL).
- Collections — group requests, drag to reorder, nest folders, duplicate, rename.
- Environments — variables resolved with
{{name}} syntax across URL, headers, body, scripts.
- Auth helpers — Basic, Bearer, API Key.
- Pre/Post scripts — run JavaScript before sending or after receiving; mutate environment, chain requests, assert.
- Runner — execute a sequence of requests, see the timeline and outcomes.
- History — every sent request kept locally and re-runnable.
- Backups — auto and manual JSON snapshots of your workspace, restore at any time.
- Share via GitHub — push a request or folder to a gist, send the link, recipients import in one click.
- No CORS, no headers stripped — requests run from the extension host, so you set
Origin, Referer, User-Agent, cookies, etc. exactly as you want.
- Local-first — all data stays on your machine in VSCode's per-user storage. No account required.
Install
VSCode (official)
Available on the Visual Studio Marketplace.
- Open the Extensions panel (
Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
- Search for FiveDollars
- Click Install
Or from the command line:
code --install-extension LeandroDettmer.fivedollars
Cursor / VSCodium / Theia / Gitpod
These editors use the Open VSX registry.
- Open the Extensions panel (
Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
- Search for FiveDollars
- Click Install
Or from the command line:
cursor --install-extension LeandroDettmer.fivedollars
codium --install-extension LeandroDettmer.fivedollars
Usage
- Open the Command Palette (
Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P)
- Run FiveDollars: Open
- A FiveDollars tab opens. From there:
- Click + in the sidebar to create a collection or request
- Type a URL, pick a method, hit Send
- Switch environments from the top-right
- Right-click any item for export, share, duplicate, rename, delete
The first time you open it, an example collection is created so you can try a real request right away.
Tips
- Variables: write
{{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}} in a URL, header or body — values come from the active environment.
- Path params:
/users/:id works too, just fill the param in the panel.
- Save a response: response panel → Download for the raw bytes, or Open in editor to view it as a temp file in your editor.
- Share a request: right-click → Share via GitHub → recipient pastes the link into their FiveDollars and the request appears.
- Backups: open the Settings modal → Backups tab. Restore replaces your current workspace, so export first if you need to keep both.
Privacy & data
- Workspaces, requests, environments, history, and secrets are stored locally in VSCode's per-user storage. Nothing is sent to FiveDollars servers.
- GitHub Personal Access Tokens (used for sharing) are stored in the OS keychain via VSCode's
SecretStorage.
- HTTP requests go directly from the extension host to the URL you typed. No proxy in the middle.
- Optional anonymous telemetry counts feature usage (no URLs, no payloads). Can be disabled in Settings.
Troubleshooting
- Can't find the FiveDollars tab — open the Command Palette (
Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run FiveDollars: Open.
- Self-signed certificate errors — the extension uses your OS trust store. Install your CA at the system level and restart VSCode.
- Lost a collection, environment or request — open Settings → Backups and restore an automatic or manual snapshot.
- Migrate to another machine — right-click a collection → Export, or use Settings → Backups to grab a full workspace snapshot, then import on the other side.
Links
License
MIT. See LICENSE.
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