RestfulToolkit

English | 中文

RestfulToolkit is a VS Code extension for finding, navigating, and copying RESTful API endpoints in Java/Kotlin Spring MVC, Spring Boot, and JAX-RS projects.

It scans controller annotations, builds a searchable endpoint index, and lets you jump to source code, copy request parameters, generate full URLs/cURL commands, or create DTO classes from JSON without leaving VS Code.

Highlights

Supported Projects

Frameworks

• Spring MVC / Spring Boot
• JAX-RS with javax.ws.rs or jakarta.ws.rs

File Types

• Java: *.java
• Kotlin: *.kt

Endpoint Annotations

Multi-path annotations such as @GetMapping({"/users", "/list"}) are split into separate endpoints.

Installation

Install from the VS Code Extensions view:

1. Open Extensions with Ctrl+Shift+X.
2. Search for RestfulToolkit.
3. Click Install.

From source:

git clone https://github.com/tedburner/RestfulToolkit.git
cd RestfulToolkit
npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host.

Usage

Search Endpoints

Open the command:

• Command Palette: RestfulToolkit: Search REST Endpoints
• Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Alt+N or Ctrl+\
• macOS: Cmd+Alt+N or Cmd+\

Search supports:

• Path fragments: users
• HTTP methods: post
• Multiple words: post create
• camelCase acronyms: dtc for DataTransferController

Commands are registered before the initial scan finishes. If search opens during background indexing, QuickPick shows the endpoints discovered so far with an indexing indicator. When indexing completes, it refreshes the current query; if no endpoints were found, it closes and shows the normal empty-index warning. Initial and filtered results both respect restfulToolkit.maxResults.

Search keeps its existing matching and ranking behavior while processing repeated text terms only once in memory.

Copy Endpoint Parameters

Right-click a controller method and choose RestfulToolkit: Copy Endpoint Parameters.

Supported parameter sources:

Output formats:

• URL Params
• JSON Body
• Form Data
• x-www-form-urlencoded

@RequestBody and @ModelAttribute DTOs are expanded when their fields can be resolved in the workspace.

Copy Full URL

Right-click an endpoint and choose RestfulToolkit: Copy Full URL.

If a Spring mapping declares multiple paths, the copy commands use the first path declared in source order. Endpoint search still indexes every declared path separately.

Example output:

http://localhost:8080/api/users/{id}?keyword=

Base URL resolution order:

1. restfulToolkit.baseUrl VS Code setting
2. .restful-toolkit.json project config
3. Spring config files such as application.yml, application.properties, bootstrap.yml, and profile files
4. Default http://localhost:8080

Detected values remain in Extension Host memory only. Creating, changing, or deleting a supported Spring configuration file invalidates the owning workspace cache.

Copy as cURL

Right-click an endpoint and choose RestfulToolkit: Copy as cURL.

Example output:

curl -X POST 'http://localhost:8080/api/users' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"name": "", "email": ""}'

The command includes the HTTP method, full URL, headers, and request body where applicable. The result can be imported into Postman, Bruno, or Insomnia.

Generate DTO Class from JSON

Right-click a folder in Explorer and choose RestfulToolkit: Generate DTO Class from JSON.

The generator supports:

• Java and Kotlin output
• Nested objects and arrays
• @JsonProperty for original JSON keys
• Optional Lombok mode for Java DTOs

Configuration

RestfulToolkit reads configuration from three levels, in priority order:

1. VS Code workspace settings
2. .restful-toolkit.json in the workspace root
3. Built-in defaults

Project config example:

{
  "scanPaths": [
    "**/src/main/java/**/*.java",
    "**/src/main/kotlin/**/*.kt"
  ],
  "excludePaths": [
    "**/src/test/**",
    "**/target/**",
    "**/build/**"
  ],
  "maxResults": 100
}

Known Limitations

• Does not detect endpoints inherited from parent classes.
• Does not resolve route placeholders such as ${api.path}.
• Does not detect routes registered through @Configuration classes.
• Kotlin string template support is limited.
• Conditional annotations such as @ConditionalOnProperty are not evaluated.

Expected endpoint detection accuracy is about 80-85% for typical Spring Boot projects.

Troubleshooting

Development

npm install
npm run compile
npm test
npm run build

Additional validation scripts:

node src/test/scripts/test-parameter-copy.js
node src/test/scripts/test-copy-url-curl.js
node src/test/scripts/test-all-files.js
node src/test/scripts/test-json-to-class.js

Roadmap

• Micronaut and Quarkus support
• Spring Boot Actuator integration
• HTTP request execution inside VS Code
• Services tree view
• Better inheritance and configuration-class route support

License

MIT. See LICENSE.