Nifty REST Client

Send HTTP requests from .http files: variables, environments, request chaining, response viewer, cURL import and export, and history. No account, no cloud.

Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.

Features

• Requests as plain text. Write requests in .http or .rest files next to your code, commit them with your project, and click Send Request above any of them (Ctrl+Alt+R). The response opens beside the editor. The format is the same one REST Client, httpYac and JetBrains IDEs use, so existing files just work.
• Variables and environments. Define file variables (@baseUrl = https://api.example.com) and switch environments (local, staging, production) from the status bar. Environments come from http-client.env.json (with secrets in http-client.private.env.json, which you keep out of git) or from settings, with $shared values for all of them. Values from your .env file and the process environment are available too.
• Chain requests. Name a request with # @name login and use its response later: Authorization: Bearer {{login.response.body.token}}, {{login.response.body.$.data.items[0].id}} or {{login.response.headers.Location}}.
• Dynamic values. {{$uuid}}, {{$timestamp}}, {{$datetime iso8601}}, {{$randomInt 1 100}}, {{$processEnv API_KEY}} and {{$dotenv API_KEY}}.
• A clear response view. Status, time and size at a glance, colored and pretty-printed JSON, images shown inline, all headers, and the exact request that was sent (with variables filled in). Copy the body, save it, or open it in an editor.
• cURL both ways. Copy as cURL for any request, and Paste cURL as Request to turn a curl command from docs or DevTools into a request.
• Everything else you need. Request history, a cookie jar so login sessions carry over, GraphQL (GRAPHQL method, query plus variables), body files (< ./payload.json, or <@ ./payload.json to fill in variables), multi-line query strings, and # @no-redirect / # @no-cookie-jar per request.
• Completion and hover for {{variables}}, showing their current values.
• No account. No cloud. No telemetry. Your requests and secrets stay in your files.
• Works in the browser on vscode.dev and github.dev. Requests go through the browser there, so servers must allow cross-origin requests (CORS), and $processEnv variables are empty.

Example

@baseUrl = {{host}}/api

### login
POST {{baseUrl}}/login
Content-Type: application/json

{ "user": "ada", "password": "{{$dotenv API_PASSWORD}}" }

###
GET {{baseUrl}}/orders?limit=10
Authorization: Bearer {{login.response.body.token}}

With http-client.env.json:

{
  "local": { "host": "http://localhost:3000" },
  "production": { "host": "https://shop.example.com" }
}

Commands

Settings

Install

• VS Code: search for "Nifty REST Client" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
• Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.

Privacy

This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.

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