tinyprobe for VS Code

Explore endpoints and run tinyprobe API workflows without leaving the editor.

A tinyprobe workflow open in VS Code: a Run workflow link above it, a green check next to each step, and the run view with the steps, the checks of the selected step and its response

Problems as you save. tinyprobe files are validated when you open and save them: an unknown endpoint, a missing param or a misspelled key is underlined where it is, with the suggestion of tinyprobe (did you mean 'get_user'?).
Call an endpoint. A ▶ Call link sits above every endpoint of an API file. It asks for the required params, lets you pick optional ones, and shows the response, whatever its status. The last values are remembered for each endpoint.
Run workflows. ▶ Run workflow at the top of a workflow, or the Test Explorer: each workflow is a test suite and each step a test, updated live as the run goes. A failed step shows why, at its line.
See every exchange. The run view lists the steps; select one to see its checks, saved values, request and response.
Environments. The environment file (env.local.yaml, env.dev.yaml...) is passed to every run and call. Pick it in the status bar, bottom left; the choice is kept for each folder. If you have not picked one yet and the folder has environment files, the first run or call asks which one to use. When a step fails on an undefined variable, a message tells you, with a button to change the environment.

The extension has no runtime dependency and no engine of its own: it runs the tinyprobe binary, and reads its JSON protocol. What you see in VS Code is what tinyprobe run does in CI.

Install

Search for tinyprobe in the Extensions view of VS Code, or install it from the VS Code Marketplace. Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium find it on Open VSX. From a terminal:

code --install-extension kikutano.tinyprobe-vscode

Every release also has the .vsix on GitHub, to install with Extensions → ⋯ → Install from VSIX....

To try it right away, open the example folder of the tinyprobe repository: it calls a public test API, so there is nothing else to install.

Requirements

tinyprobe 0.10.0 or newer, on the PATH or set with tinyprobe.path:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kikutano/tinyprobe/main/install.sh | sh

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kikutano/tinyprobe/main/install.ps1 | iex

Settings

Setting	Default
`tinyprobe.path`	`tinyprobe`	Path of the `tinyprobe` binary.
`tinyprobe.validateOnSave`	`true`	Validate tinyprobe files when they are opened and saved.
`tinyprobe.variables`	`{}`	Variables passed with `--var` to every run and call, over the environment file, e.g. `{ "baseUrl": "http://localhost:8081" }`. Values are typed like YAML.

Commands

tinyprobe: Run Workflow: runs the current workflow.
tinyprobe: Call Endpoint: calls an endpoint of the current file, picked from a list.
tinyprobe: Select Environment: the environment file passed with -e.
tinyprobe: Show Last Run: reopens the run view.
tinyprobe: Validate File: validates the current file now.

How files are recognised

A YAML file with a top-level endpoints: or steps: key is a tinyprobe file; one with steps: is a workflow. Environment files are found by name: env.yaml, env.*.yaml, env-*.yaml, environment.yaml. Other YAML files are left alone.

A step cannot run on its own, since it uses the values saved by the steps before it: running a step from the Test Explorer runs its whole workflow.

Secrets. The run view shows requests as they are sent, Authorization headers included. They stay in VS Code: nothing is written to disk or sent anywhere.

Development

No dependency to install: the extension is plain JavaScript on the VS Code API.

Run it: open this folder in VS Code and press F5 (Run Extension).
Unit tests: npm test (Node's test runner, no VS Code needed).

Integration tests run in a separate VS Code instance, with a temporary profile. They need a tinyprobe binary, the tinyprobe test server and the examples of the tinyprobe repository:

# in the tinyprobe repository: start the test server on http://localhost:5122
dotnet run --project tests/Tinyprobe.RealServer.Tests --urls http://localhost:5122

# here
TINYPROBE_PATH=$(command -v tinyprobe) TINYPROBE_EXAMPLES=../tinyprobe/docs node test/integration/run.js

Package: npm run package builds a .vsix with vsce, which you can install with Extensions: Install from VSIX....
Release: set the version in package.json and CHANGELOG.md, then push a matching annotated tag (git tag -a v0.2.0 --cleanup=whitespace -F notes.md). The Release workflow tests, packages and publishes a GitHub Release with tinyprobe-vscode.vsix; the tag message after its first line goes on top of the notes.

src/protocol.js and src/cli.js use no VS Code API, and media/run-view.js renders the NDJSON events in any browser: they are meant to be reused by other front ends.

License

MIT

tinyprobe

Gaetano luigi Lenoci