ReqLab

A desktop-first API client built with Kotlin and Compose Multiplatform.
No accounts. No telemetry. No cloud lock-in. Just fast, scriptable HTTP.

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What is ReqLab?

ReqLab is a Kotlin + Compose Multiplatform API client for desktop (macOS, Linux, Windows) and web. It is designed for fast request iteration, scriptable validations, and reproducible API test workflows — running entirely offline with no accounts required.

Quick Start

Requirements: JDK 17+ (JDK 21 recommended).

git clone https://github.com/snj07/req-lab.git
cd req-lab
./gradlew :ui-desktop:run

macOS First Launch Note

Note for macOS users: If you see a warning that the app "cannot be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software":

• Right-click the app -> Open -> Open (bypasses the warning once), or
• Go to System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> "Open Anyway" (after attempting to open the app).

Sample Files to Get Started

You can import these sample fixtures from the repo:

• Collection sample: qa-tests/fixtures/reqlab-test-collection.json
• Environment sample: qa-tests/fixtures/reqlab-test-environment.json

Features

🚀 HTTP Requests

• Methods: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, OPTIONS, HEAD
• URL editing with live query-parameter table synchronisation
• Request headers editor (key/value table)
• Body types: JSON, GraphQL, form-data, x-www-form-urlencoded, raw text, binary
• Auth: None, Basic, Bearer Token, API Key, JWT
• Retry controls and per-request timeout
• Copy request as curl

📬 Response Inspection

• Status code, status text, and response headers
• Response body with syntax-highlighted viewer (JSON, XML, HTML, GraphQL, JS)
• Response timing (total, TTFB, DNS, TCP, TLS, body) and payload size
• Structured pass/fail test result reporting from post-request scripts

✏️ Code Editor

A full-featured Compose-native code editor — no WebView, no Electron.

• Syntax highlighting: JSON, XML/HTML, GraphQL, JavaScript
• Code folding: brace-based ({ }, [ ]), tag-based, comment-based; Fold All / Unfold All
• In-editor search: incremental match count, Previous/Next, keyboard-accessible
• Auto-format: JSON pretty-print, XML/HTML indentation, JavaScript formatting (script editor + body editor)
• Line numbers gutter, word wrap toggle, monospace font
• Virtualized rendering (no jank on responses over 10 MB)
• Full clipboard support (copy, cut, paste, select all) in both edit and read-only modes

📜 Scripting

JavaScript pre-request and post-request scripts through the reqlab namespace.

• Pre-request: mutate URL, headers, body, query params, and auth before dispatch
• Post-request: assert status, headers, timing, and body; persist extracted values
• Console logging via reqlab.console.log(...)
• HTTP sub-requests via reqlab.sendRequest() — make real HTTP calls from within scripts (fetch tokens, look up resources, chain requests)

// Pre-request: fetch a token and inject it as a header
reqlab.sendRequest({
    url: "https://api.example.com/auth/token",
    method: "POST",
    header: [{ key: "Content-Type", value: "application/json" }],
    body: { mode: "raw", raw: JSON.stringify({ username: "alice", password: "secret" }) }
}, function(err, resp) {
    reqlab.request.headers.upsert("Authorization", "Bearer " + resp.json().token)
})

See the full guide: docs/scripts.md

🌱 Variables

Four scopes, all interpolated as {{variable}} in URL, headers, body, and auth:

Scope	API	Lifetime
Environment	reqlab.environment.*	Persisted with selected environment
Global	reqlab.globals.*	Persisted workspace-wide
Collection	reqlab.collectionVariables.*	Session-scoped runtime map
Request	reqlab.variables.*	Read-only merged view (request → collection → env → global)

✅ Assertions

Named test blocks with a rich assertion chain:

reqlab.test("status is 200", () => {
    reqlab.expect(reqlab.response.status).to.equal(200);
});

Assertions: equal, eql, include, match, above, below, at.least, at.most, lengthOf, property, oneOf, ok, true, false, null, not.*, and more.

📁 Collections & History

• Unlimited collections with nested folders
• Multi-tab request workflow with tab reorder and persistence
• Request history with badge counts and sidebar sync
• Export and import as JSON (ReqLab-native or Postman format)

📥 Postman Import

⚠️ Experimental feature — Postman collection and environment import, including automatic pm.* / postman.* script conversion, is experimental. While most common patterns are supported, complex or unsupported Postman APIs may not convert correctly and may require manual adjustments after import.

Import Postman Collection v2 / v2.1 and Postman Environment files directly.

• All folders, requests, URLs, methods, headers, bodies, and auth types
• pm.* script calls are automatically rewritten to reqlab.* equivalents
• Legacy postman.* API calls (pre-v6) are also converted on import
• Disabled headers and variables are skipped on import
• pm.sendRequest is fully supported — translated to reqlab.sendRequest() automatically
• pm.execution.setNextRequest, pm.execution.skipRequest, and postman.setNextRequest are translated to reqlab.execution.*
• See docs/scripts.md for the full conversion reference

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
⌘ + Enter / Ctrl + Enter	Send request (or cancel in-flight request)
⌘ + Shift + [ / Ctrl + Shift + [	Move active tab left
⌘ + Shift + ] / Ctrl + Shift + ]	Move active tab right
⌘ + S / Ctrl + S	Save active request
⌘ + W / Ctrl + W	Close active tab
⌘ + N / Ctrl + N	New request tab
⌘ + , / Ctrl + ,	Open Settings

Full shortcut reference (including editor shortcuts): docs/shortcuts.md

❓ In-App Help

Open from the toolbar Help icon or via Settings → Open Help & About:

• Feature overview and usage flow
• Keyboard shortcuts reference
• Scripting overview
• Version and build info

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Documentation

Document	Description
DEVELOPMENT.md	Build, run, and contribute locally
docs/architecture.md	Module structure and data flow
docs/editor-architecture.md	Code editor internals
docs/scripts.md	Scripting API and variable scopes
docs/shortcuts.md	Keyboard shortcut reference
docs/testing.md	Test strategy and coverage matrix
docs/tests.md	Test run commands

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please use GitHub Flow: create a branch, add commits, and open a pull request.

For larger changes, open an issue first to align on approach and scope.

Continuous Integration

ReqLab uses GitHub Actions for CI. Push to main runs the quality gate; tags matching v* run the full build and publish a GitHub Release.

See the workflow: .github/workflows/release.yml

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.