HTTP Forge 🔨

An AI-native and fully Postman-compatible API client for VS Code.

Build, test, automate, and version REST, GraphQL, and OpenAPI APIs in one local workspace — offline, Git-native, merge-friendly, and ready for AI agents.

Designed for teams comparing Postman, Bruno, Thunder Client, and Insomnia alternatives.

📖 Docs • 🐛 Issues • 📝 Changelog

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 HTTP Forge Family

HTTP Forge is a family of components that share the same workspace model and work together across local development, AI workflows, and CI/CD.

Typical flow: design and validate in the extension, automate with CLI/MCP, and generate typed clients for Playwright when needed.

Deep architecture details: Architecture diagram • User Guide

Why developers switch

• If you are looking for a Postman alternative, Bruno alternative, Thunder Client alternative, or Insomnia alternative, HTTP Forge keeps your API workspace in Git.
• Your API workspace stays in Git.
• No cloud account is required.
• Works offline.
• Merge-friendly one-file-per-request storage.
• Postman-compatible import and OpenAPI import/export.
• AI agent support through MCP.

What it is

HTTP Forge is an API development platform. The extension is the primary user interface, while @http-forge/core, the CLI, and the MCP server extend the same workspace into automation, CI/CD, and agent workflows.

⚡ 1-Minute Quickstart

Install → Send your first request → Run AI agent — in under 60 seconds.

1. Install Open VS Code, press Ctrl+Shift+X, search HTTP Forge, click Install.

2. Create a request Open the HTTP Forge panel in the sidebar → click + → choose a collection → name your request.

3. Send it Set the URL to https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1, hit Send — you'll see the JSON response instantly.

4. Let AI write your tests Open GitHub Copilot Chat and type:

@http-forge suggest assertions for the last response

Copilot reads the response schema and generates pm.test() assertions automatically.

5. Run the whole collection

@http-forge run collection "My Collection"

Full results, timing stats, and a self-contained HTML report — no terminal required.

Full guide: Extension User Guide • MCP Server Setup

🎯 Use Cases

🧑‍💻 Developer — explore & debug APIs

Build requests, inspect responses, and iterate fast — all without leaving VS Code. No account, no cloud, no subscription.

🤖 AI-assisted API testing

Ask GitHub Copilot to generate tests, heal broken assertions, analyse coverage against your OpenAPI spec, and run the entire suite autonomously. HTTP Forge is the only VS Code API tool with a native MCP server.

🔄 Postman migration

Import your Postman v2.1 collection — all pm.* scripts, environments, and globals work unchanged. No rewriting, no learning curve.

🔐 Enterprise / secrets management

Connect to AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, GCP Secret Manager, HashiCorp Vault, 1Password, or Doppler. Credentials never touch your filesystem.

🚀 CI/CD pipeline testing

Run http-forge run my-collection --reporter junit in any pipeline. Zero GUI dependencies, JUnit XML output, exit codes for pass/fail.

🧪 Contract testing with OpenAPI

Import your OpenAPI 3.0 spec, scaffold a full collection in one command, then validate every response against the spec — catch drift before it reaches production and reuse the same contract for your own docs, QA, and automation.

🤖 AI & MCP

✅ Built-in MCP server — 60+ tools for GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Continue
✅ Auto-generate request bodies and test scripts from natural language
✅ Scan collections for hardcoded values → replace with {{ENV_VAR}}
✅ Analyse test coverage against OpenAPI specs
✅ Heal broken assertions after API changes
✅ Generate negative/edge-case test scenarios
✅ Full agent mode — AI drives the entire test lifecycle autonomously

🔧 Request Builder

✅ All HTTP methods — GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
✅ Query params, headers, path variables with enable/disable toggles
✅ JSON, form-data, raw text, binary, GraphQL body types
✅ OAuth 2.0 (all 4 grant types + PKCE), Bearer, Basic, API Key
✅ Pre/post scripts with full pm.* Postman API compatibility
✅ IntelliSense for variables, filters, dynamic vars, and scripting API
✅ Split/stack layout modes — view request and response side-by-side or stacked with resizable dividers

📁 Collections

✅ Git-friendly folder structure — one file per request
✅ Import Postman v2.1, export OpenAPI 3.0
✅ Drag & drop, duplicate, file-watching auto-reload
✅ Cross-collection test suites with iterations
✅ Visual flow editor for suites — request, script, if/else, for, while, switch, block nodes
✅ Fast node authoring — adding non-request nodes opens the editor immediately
✅ Branch lifecycle controls — add/remove else, elseif, and default branches from the flow UI
✅ Simple upfront request-count estimate with live total adjustment during flow execution
✅ P50/P90/P95/P99 performance statistics
✅ Self-contained HTML test reports

🌍 Environments & Secrets

✅ Multiple environments with {{variable}} substitution
✅ OS keychain integration (Windows, macOS, Linux)
✅ Cloud secrets — AWS, Azure, GCP, HashiCorp Vault, 1Password, Doppler
✅ pm.environment.set() persists across requests

🖥️ CLI & CI/CD

✅ Headless collection runner — no VS Code needed
✅ MCP server lifecycle management (start, stop, status)
✅ JSON output for pipeline integration
✅ JUnit XML reports

📸 Screenshots

🔄 Migrate from Postman

Export Postman collection (v2.1) → Import into HTTP Forge → Done. All pm.* scripts run unchanged.

🆚 vs Postman / Bruno / Thunder Client / Insomnia

Your OpenAPI contract is not just for import or export — it can also be reused by your own team for documentation, testing, and downstream tooling.

📚 Documentation

• Extension guide
• CLI & CI/CD
• MCP Server
• Secret Providers
• TypeScript Codegen
• Playwright Integration

📄 License

MIT

Enjoy HTTP Forge! 🔨✨