This is a Visual Studio Code extension that lets developers compose, send, and inspect HTTP requests directly from within the editor. It uses .http and .rest files as executable request definitions, parsing each block of text into a complete HTTP request that is dispatched via Node.js built-in HTTP modules without requiring a separate server process. The extension renders full HTTP responses with syntax-highlighted body, status line, and headers in a dedicated editor tab or side panel.
The extension supports multiple authentication schemes including Basic, Digest, SSL certificates, Azure AD, and AWS Signature v4 to secure API calls. It can obtain OAuth 2.0 tokens from Azure Active Directory via device code or interactive flow and attach them as Bearer headers, with support for targeting specific tenants, selecting Azure cloud environments, and setting custom API audiences. The extension also parses and executes cURL commands pasted into the editor, supporting common options like request method and headers.
Beyond core HTTP request execution, the extension provides a variable interpolation engine that resolves environment, file, prompt, and dynamic variables at request time by substituting placeholders in URLs, headers, and bodies. It includes a disk-persisted request history store for browsing, searching, and re-executing previous requests, and supports chaining requests by referencing parts of a previous request or response. The extension can generate code snippets in various languages from a finalized HTTP request, produce cURL equivalents, and handle GraphQL queries with variables and SOAP requests with snippet support.
