ApiCraft 🚀

The Ultimate Developer-First API Client for Visual Studio Code

A lightweight, blazing-fast, and privacy-focused alternative to Postman & Insomnia — built directly inside your editor.

Features • Quickstart • Protocols • Storage & Sync • Scripts & Tests • Keybindings • Contributing

🌟 Why ApiCraft?

Most API clients have become bloated, require forced cloud accounts, or introduce heavy background processes. ApiCraft delivers a high-performance, developer-first experience natively integrated into VS Code:

• ⚡ Zero CORS Barriers: Direct native socket communication — seamlessly test localhost, 127.0.0.1, internal microservices, or public cloud endpoints.
• 🗂️ Multi-Tab Request Workspace: Open, edit, and compare multiple requests side-by-side with unsaved dirty tracking (Ctrl+T, Ctrl+W).
• 🌐 Multi-Protocol Support: REST HTTP, GraphQL (with schema introspection), WebSockets duplex streaming, and Server-Sent Events (SSE).
• 🔒 Privacy First & Local Storage: 100% offline by default. No telemetry, no forced account, and your sensitive API tokens are secured using VS Code's OS-level SecretStorage.
• ☁️ Seamless GitHub Cloud Sync: Backup and sync your collections across machines effortlessly using your own private GitHub Gists.
• 📁 Git-Friendly Local Folders: Save collections as human-readable .json files directly in your repository to version control with your team.
• 🧪 Postman Scripting & Assertions: Run pre-request and post-response tests with full pm.* sandbox compatibility.
• 📦 1:1 Postman & cURL Import/Export: Paste cURL commands or import entire Postman v2.1 collections and environments with a single click.

📸 Key Features at a Glance

🚦 Protocols Supported

1. HTTP / REST

• All standard methods: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS.
• Body Types:
  • none
  • form-data (supports text fields and local file uploads)
  • x-www-form-urlencoded
  • raw (JSON, Text, JavaScript, HTML, XML)
  • binary (file streaming)
  • GraphQL
• Auth Providers: No Auth, Bearer Token, Basic Auth, API Key (Header or Query), OAuth 2.0, JWT Bearer, Digest Auth.
• Dynamic Variable Interpolation: Use {{baseUrl}}, {{token}}, {{$guid}}, {{$timestamp}} across URLs, headers, and bodies.

2. GraphQL & Schema Introspection

• Integrated GraphQL query & variables editor.
• Endpoint Introspection: 1-click schema introspection fetches queries, mutations, subscriptions, and types.
• Schema Explorer: Interactive sidebar documentation for your GraphQL schema right in VS Code.

3. WebSockets (WS / WSS)

• Connect to duplex WebSocket servers (ws:// or wss://).
• Real-time bidirectional message log with timestamps and status indicators.
• Live outbound message composer (JSON, plaintext).

4. Server-Sent Events (SSE)

• Stream real-time event feeds (text/event-stream).
• Event ID, event name, and data payload parsing.

💾 Storage & Cloud Synchronization

ApiCraft provides three flexible storage options:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     Storage Modes                           │
├─────────────────┬─────────────────────┬─────────────────────┤
│ 1. Local Mode   │ 2. Local Folder     │ 3. GitHub Cloud     │
│    (Default)    │    (Git Repo Mode)  │    (Gist Sync)      │
├─────────────────┼─────────────────────┼─────────────────────┤
│ • Stored in     │ • Saved as .json in │ • Backed up to a    │
│   VS Code's     │   a workspace folder│   private GitHub    │
│   globalState   │ • Commit to Git     │   Gist              │
│ • 100% offline  │ • Share with team   │ • Auto-syncs across │
│ • Zero network  │ • Version control   │   different PCs     │
└─────────────────┴─────────────────────┴─────────────────────┘

1. Local Mode (Default): Everything is stored securely on your local computer. Completely offline and private.
2. Local Folder Mode: Connect ApiCraft to any folder in your workspace (e.g. ./.apicraft or ./api-collections). Collections and environments are written as standard JSON files so you can commit them to Git.
3. GitHub Cloud Sync: Sign in using VS Code's native GitHub authentication. ApiCraft creates a private, hidden GitHub Gist and automatically syncs your collections and environments in the background as you work.

🧪 Postman-Compatible Scripting & Tests

ApiCraft includes a full sandboxed execution runtime for Pre-request and Post-response scripts:

// Pre-Request Script Example: Dynamic Header or HMAC
pm.environment.set("timestamp", Date.now());

// Post-Response Tests Example
pm.test("Status code is 200 OK", function () {
    pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

pm.test("Response time is acceptable", function () {
    pm.expect(pm.response.responseTime).to.be.below(500);
});

pm.test("Authentication token returned", function () {
    const json = pm.response.json();
    pm.expect(json.token).to.be.a("string");
    pm.environment.set("authToken", json.token);
});

Supported pm APIs:

• pm.environment.get(key) / pm.environment.set(key, value)
• pm.globals.get(key) / pm.globals.set(key, value)
• pm.collectionVariables.get(key) / pm.collectionVariables.set(key, value)
• pm.variables.get(key) / pm.variables.set(key, value)
• pm.response.code, pm.response.status, pm.response.responseTime, pm.response.json(), pm.response.text()
• pm.test(name, callback)
• pm.expect(actual).to... (Chai-style assertions)

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

🕹️ Quickstart Guide

1. Install ApiCraft from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Click the ApiCraft rocket icon in the Activity Bar on the left.
3. Click New Request (or press Ctrl+T).
4. Enter your URL (e.g. https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1), select GET, and click Send.
5. Inspect the response in Monaco Editor, check network timings, or switch between Pretty, Raw, and Preview modes.
6. Click Save to save the request into a Collection for future runs.

🔒 Security & Privacy

• No Remote Tracking: ApiCraft collects zero usage metrics or telemetry.
• No Third-Party Cloud Servers: Your API requests travel directly from your machine to your target server over low-level Node.js sockets.
• Encrypted Secrets: Sensitive environment variables marked as secret are encrypted using VS Code's native SecretStorage.

📄 License

MIT © ApiCraft Team