insomnia

Insomnia is an open-source, cross-platform desktop API client covering GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE), gRPC and other HTTP-compatible protocols. It is distributed for Mac, Windows and Linux, licensed under Apache-2.0, and developed in the open by Kong on GitHub. What the README says you can do with it: - Debug APIs using popular protocols and formats. - Design APIs with a native OpenAPI editor and visual preview. - Test APIs with native test suites and a collection runner. - Mock APIs through a cloud or self-hosted mocking server. - Build CI/CD pipelines using the native Insomnia CLI (Inso) for linting and testing. - Collaborate through the product's collaboration features. - Extend the client with third-party plugins. Storage options. Projects, collections, design specs and other resources can be kept in different backends, and the README states these can be combined per project: - Local Vault, for 100% local storage. - Git Sync, using any third-party Git repository without routing through the cloud. - Cloud Sync, for cloud collaboration, optionally end-to-end encrypted (E2EE). A Private Environments feature keeps environment configuration stored locally regardless of the storage backend chosen for a project. Accounts and plans. Insomnia can be used without an account via the local Scratch Pad. Most other capabilities require an account; the README explains this is how the project sustains development of a freely available open-source distribution. A free tier is described as generous, with premium plans adding unlimited collaboration, Git Sync, organization creation and third-party identity provider logins (SAML, OIDC). Storing API data only locally or in Git is possible independently of having an account. Development. The repository is a Node.js monorepo; contributing requires Node.js and Git, with the correct Node version indicated in .nvmrc. Common root-level commands include npm i, npm run lint, npm run type-check, npm test, npm run dev (live reload) and npm run dev:autoRestart (renderer live reload plus main process auto restart). Linux users may need supporting packages such as libfontconfig-dev on Ubuntu/Debian or libcurl-devel on Fedora, and may need to clear a cached Electron install if installation fails. The Inso CLI has its own workflow: npm i, npm run inso-start to compile in watch mode, then ./packages/insomnia-inso/bin/inso -v. Ecosystem and community. Plugins can be found and installed from the Insomnia Plugin Hub. The README points to community projects including Insomnia Documenter (generating API documentation pages), a GitHub REST API spec importer, and Swaggymnia (generating Swagger documentation for an existing API). Bug reports and feature requests go through the GitHub issue tracker after reading the issue guidelines; general product questions are handled in the project's Slack community. Official documentation lives at docs.insomnia.rest. Notable caveats from the README: an account requirement for most features, plus optional paid plans for collaboration and Git Sync. The source code itself is Apache-2.0 licensed.