VS Code REST Client Generator

Generate .http files for inline API testing in VS Code without leaving the editor.

Core Workflow

1. Scan routes: Find all API route definitions
2. Extract metadata: Methods, paths, params, bodies
3. Create .http files: Organize by resource or single file
4. Add variables: Environment-specific values
5. Configure auth: Bearer, Basic, API Key
6. Include examples: Request bodies with sample data

File Structure Options

# Option 1: Single file
api-requests.http

# Option 2: By resource
http/
├── users.http
├── products.http
├── orders.http
└── auth.http

# Option 3: By environment
http/
├── local.http
├── staging.http
└── production.http

Basic .http File Syntax

### Get all users
GET {{baseUrl}}/users
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Get user by ID
GET {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Create user
POST {{baseUrl}}/users
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com"
}

### Update user
PUT {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "name": "John Updated"
}

### Delete user
DELETE {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

Environment Variables

# settings.json or .vscode/settings.json
# {
#   "rest-client.environmentVariables": {
#     "$shared": {
#       "version": "v1"
#     },
#     "local": {
#       "baseUrl": "http://localhost:3000/api",
#       "authToken": "local-dev-token"
#     },
#     "staging": {
#       "baseUrl": "https://staging-api.example.com",
#       "authToken": ""
#     },
#     "production": {
#       "baseUrl": "https://api.example.com",
#       "authToken": ""
#     }
#   }
# }

### Variables Reference
# Use Ctrl+Alt+E (Cmd+Alt+E on Mac) to switch environments
# {{$shared.version}} - shared across all environments
# {{baseUrl}} - from current environment
# {{$timestamp}} - current timestamp
# {{$randomInt min max}} - random integer
# {{$guid}} - random UUID

Generator Script

// scripts/generate-http-files.ts
import * as fs from "fs";
import * as path from "path";

interface RouteInfo {
  method: string;
  path: string;
  name: string;
  description?: string;
  body?: object;
  headers?: Record<string, string>;
  queryParams?: { name: string; value: string; optional?: boolean }[];
}

interface HttpFileOptions {
  baseUrlVar: string;
  authType?: "bearer" | "basic" | "apikey";
  authVar?: string;
  includeComments?: boolean;
}

function generateHttpFile(
  routes: RouteInfo[],
  options: HttpFileOptions
): string {
  const lines: string[] = [];

  // Add file header
  lines.push("# Auto-generated API requests");
  lines.push(`# Base URL: {{${options.baseUrlVar}}}`);
  lines.push("# Switch environment: Ctrl+Alt+E (Cmd+Alt+E on Mac)");
  lines.push("");

  for (const route of routes) {
    // Request separator and name
    lines.push(`### ${route.name}`);

    if (route.description) {
      lines.push(`# ${route.description}`);
    }

    // Method and URL
    let url = `{{${options.baseUrlVar}}}${route.path}`;

    // Convert :param to {{param}}
    url = url.replace(/:(\w+)/g, "{{$1}}");

    // Add query params
    if (route.queryParams?.length) {
      const queryString = route.queryParams
        .map((p) => `${p.name}=${p.value}`)
        .join("&");
      url += `?${queryString}`;
    }

    lines.push(`${route.method} ${url}`);

    // Headers
    if (["POST", "PUT", "PATCH"].includes(route.method)) {
      lines.push("Content-Type: application/json");
    }

    // Authentication
    if (options.authType === "bearer" && options.authVar) {
      lines.push(`Authorization: Bearer {{${options.authVar}}}`);
    } else if (options.authType === "basic") {
      lines.push(`Authorization: Basic {{${options.authVar}}}`);
    } else if (options.authType === "apikey") {
      lines.push(`X-API-Key: {{${options.authVar}}}`);
    }

    // Custom headers
    if (route.headers) {
      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(route.headers)) {
        lines.push(`${key}: ${value}`);
      }
    }

    // Request body
    if (route.body && ["POST", "PUT", "PATCH"].includes(route.method)) {
      lines.push("");
      lines.push(JSON.stringify(route.body, null, 2));
    }

    lines.push("");
    lines.push("");
  }

  return lines.join("\n");
}

function generateHttpFilesByResource(
  routes: RouteInfo[],
  outputDir: string,
  options: HttpFileOptions
): void {
  const groupedRoutes = groupRoutesByResource(routes);

  if (!fs.existsSync(outputDir)) {
    fs.mkdirSync(outputDir, { recursive: true });
  }

  for (const [resource, resourceRoutes] of Object.entries(groupedRoutes)) {
    const content = generateHttpFile(resourceRoutes, options);
    const filePath = path.join(outputDir, `${resource}.http`);
    fs.writeFileSync(filePath, content);
    console.log(`Generated ${filePath}`);
  }
}

function groupRoutesByResource(
  routes: RouteInfo[]
): Record<string, RouteInfo[]> {
  const groups: Record<string, RouteInfo[]> = {};

  for (const route of routes) {
    const parts = route.path.split("/").filter(Boolean);
    const resource = parts[0] || "api";

    if (!groups[resource]) {
      groups[resource] = [];
    }
    groups[resource].push(route);
  }

  return groups;
}

Complete Example Files

users.http

# Users API
# Environment: {{$env}}

@baseUrl = {{baseUrl}}
@authToken = {{authToken}}

### List all users
# @name listUsers
GET {{baseUrl}}/users?page=1&limit=10
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Get user by ID
# @name getUser
GET {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Create new user
# @name createUser
POST {{baseUrl}}/users
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "role": "user"
}

### Update user
# @name updateUser
PUT {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "name": "John Updated",
  "email": "john.updated@example.com"
}

### Partial update user
# @name patchUser
PATCH {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "status": "active"
}

### Delete user
# @name deleteUser
DELETE {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Upload user avatar
# @name uploadAvatar
POST {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}/avatar
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----FormBoundary

------FormBoundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="avatar"; filename="avatar.png"
Content-Type: image/png

< ./avatar.png
------FormBoundary--

auth.http

# Authentication API

@baseUrl = {{baseUrl}}

### Login
# @name login
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
}

### Use token from login response
@authToken = {{login.response.body.$.token}}

### Register
# @name register
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/register
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "name": "New User",
  "email": "newuser@example.com",
  "password": "securepassword123"
}

### Refresh token
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/refresh
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

{
  "refreshToken": "{{refreshToken}}"
}

### Logout
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/logout
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}

### Forgot password
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/forgot-password
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com"
}

### Reset password
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/reset-password
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "token": "{{resetToken}}",
  "password": "newpassword123"
}

Advanced Features

Response Variables

### Login and capture token
# @name login
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
}

### Use captured token
@token = {{login.response.body.token}}
@userId = {{login.response.body.user.id}}

### Make authenticated request
GET {{baseUrl}}/users/{{userId}}
Authorization: Bearer {{token}}

Dynamic Variables

### Create with random data
POST {{baseUrl}}/users
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": "{{$guid}}",
  "email": "user-{{$randomInt 1000 9999}}@example.com",
  "createdAt": "{{$timestamp}}"
}

### Available dynamic variables:
# {{$guid}} - UUID v4
# {{$randomInt min max}} - random integer
# {{$timestamp}} - Unix timestamp
# {{$timestamp offset option}} - with offset
# {{$datetime rfc1123}} - formatted date
# {{$localDatetime iso8601}} - local datetime
# {{$processEnv VAR_NAME}} - environment variable

GraphQL Requests

### GraphQL Query
POST {{baseUrl}}/graphql
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}
X-REQUEST-TYPE: GraphQL

{
  "query": "query GetUsers($first: Int) { users(first: $first) { id name email } }",
  "variables": {
    "first": 10
  }
}

### GraphQL Mutation
POST {{baseUrl}}/graphql
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}
X-REQUEST-TYPE: GraphQL

{
  "query": "mutation CreateUser($input: CreateUserInput!) { createUser(input: $input) { id name } }",
  "variables": {
    "input": {
      "name": "New User",
      "email": "new@example.com"
    }
  }
}

VS Code Settings

// .vscode/settings.json
{
  "rest-client.environmentVariables": {
    "$shared": {
      "version": "v1",
      "contentType": "application/json"
    },
    "local": {
      "baseUrl": "http://localhost:3000/api",
      "authToken": "",
      "userId": "1"
    },
    "staging": {
      "baseUrl": "https://staging-api.example.com",
      "authToken": "",
      "userId": "test-123"
    },
    "production": {
      "baseUrl": "https://api.example.com",
      "authToken": "",
      "userId": ""
    }
  },
  "rest-client.previewResponseInUntitledDocument": true,
  "rest-client.timeoutinmilliseconds": 10000,
  "rest-client.followRedirect": true,
  "rest-client.defaultHeaders": {
    "Accept": "application/json",
    "User-Agent": "rest-client"
  }
}

CLI Script

#!/usr/bin/env node
// scripts/http-gen.ts
import * as fs from "fs";
import { program } from "commander";

program
  .name("http-gen")
  .description("Generate .http files from API routes")
  .option("-f, --framework <type>", "Framework type", "express")
  .option("-s, --source <path>", "Source directory", "./src")
  .option("-o, --output <path>", "Output directory", "./http")
  .option("--single-file", "Generate single file instead of per-resource")
  .option("-a, --auth <type>", "Auth type (bearer|basic|apikey)")
  .parse();

const options = program.opts();

async function main() {
  const routes = await scanRoutes(options.framework, options.source);

  const httpOptions = {
    baseUrlVar: "baseUrl",
    authType: options.auth,
    authVar: "authToken",
  };

  if (options.singleFile) {
    const content = generateHttpFile(routes, httpOptions);
    fs.writeFileSync(path.join(options.output, "api.http"), content);
  } else {
    generateHttpFilesByResource(routes, options.output, httpOptions);
  }

  console.log(`Generated .http files in ${options.output}`);
}

main();

Best Practices

1. Use named requests: Add # @name requestName for variable capture
2. Organize by resource: One .http file per API resource
3. Environment switching: Configure multiple environments in settings
4. Include examples: Pre-fill bodies with realistic sample data
5. Add comments: Document each request's purpose
6. Response chaining: Capture values from responses for subsequent requests
7. Version control: Commit .http files to repository
8. Share settings: Include .vscode/settings.json in repo

Output Checklist

• All routes converted to HTTP requests
• Path parameters use {{param}} syntax
• Request bodies included for POST/PUT/PATCH
• Headers configured (Content-Type, Authorization)
• Environment variables defined in settings.json
• Requests organized by resource or in single file
• Named requests for response chaining
• Sample data in request bodies
• Comments/descriptions for each request