Features

Comprehensive features of REST Client Next for API testing in VS Code.

Main Features

REST Client Next includes a rich set of features designed to make API testing convenient and efficient.

HTTP Request Operations

  • Send/Cancel/Rerun HTTP requests directly in the editor
  • View responses in a separate pane with syntax highlighting
  • Support for all standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, etc.)
  • Multiple requests in a single file separated by ### delimiter
  • Select specific text to send only that portion as a request

GraphQL Support

  • Send GraphQL queries using request body
  • Author GraphQL variables in the request body
  • Separate GraphQL query and variables with a blank line
  • Set X-Request-Type: GraphQL header to identify as GraphQL request

cURL Integration

  • Send cURL commands directly in the editor
  • Copy HTTP requests as cURL commands (Rest Client: Copy Request As cURL)
  • Supported cURL options:
    • -X, --request
    • -L, --location, --url
    • -H, --header (no @ support)
    • -I, --head
    • -b, --cookie (no cookie jar file support)
    • -u, --user (Basic auth only)
    • -d, --data, --data-ascii, --data-binary, --data-raw

Curl Request

Request History

  • Auto-save every sent request to history
  • View last 50 requests via Ctrl+Alt+H (Cmd+Alt+H on macOS)
  • Display method, URL, and request time for each entry
  • Re-send any historical request by selecting it
  • Clear history via Rest Client: Clear Request History

Request History

Response Handling

  • Save full response (headers + body) to file
  • Save response body only with appropriate file extension based on MIME type
  • Fold/unfold response body for easier navigation
  • Preview response in different modes:
    • Full: complete response with headers and body
    • Headers: headers only
    • Body: body only
    • Exchange: both request and response
  • View images directly in the preview pane
  • Customize font size, family, and weight for response preview
  • Copy response body to clipboard

Customization & Productivity

  • Generate code snippets in multiple languages (Python, JavaScript, cURL, etc.)
  • Remember cookies for subsequent requests (configurable)
  • Add notes and per-request settings
  • CodeLens support for quick “Send Request” action
  • Keyboard shortcuts for all common operations
  • Support for SOAP requests with envelope snippets

Authentication Methods

REST Client Next supports multiple authentication schemes:

  • Basic Auth - Username/password with base64 encoding
  • Digest Auth - More secure challenge-response authentication
  • SSL Client Certificates - PFX, PKCS12, and PEM formats
  • Microsoft Entra ID (ex Azure Active Directory) - Enterprise cloud directory
  • OpenID Connect - OAuth2 with incremental consent
  • AWS Signature v4 - AWS service authentication
  • AWS Cognito - AWS user pool authentication

Environments & Variables

  • Create multiple environments (development, staging, production)
  • Shared environment ($shared) for common variables
  • Switch environments via Ctrl+Alt+E (Cmd+Alt+E on macOS)
  • Four variable types:
    • Environment variables - Shared across files
    • File variables - Scoped to the current file
    • Request variables - For request chaining
    • Prompt variables - Interactive input per request
  • System variables for dynamic values (GUIDs, timestamps, random numbers, etc.)
  • Variable auto-completion and hover support
  • Go to definition for variables
  • Find all references for file variables

HTTP Language Support

Full language support for .http and .rest files:

  • Syntax highlighting for requests and responses
  • Auto-completion for methods, URLs, headers, variables, MIME types
  • Code snippets for common operations (GET, POST, etc.)
  • Comment support (# and //)
  • JSON/XML body indentation and auto-closing brackets
  • Goto symbol definition (Ctrl+Shift+O / Cmd+Shift+O)
  • CodeLens for sending requests
  • Request block folding/unfolding
  • Support for Markdown fenced code blocks with http or rest

Auto-completion example

Proxy & Network

  • Respects VS Code proxy settings (http.proxy, http.proxyStrictSSL)
  • Support for HTTP and HTTPS proxies
  • Exclude specific hosts from proxy via rest-client.excludeHostsForProxy
  • Configurable timeout (0 for infinity)

File Support

  • Use file contents as request body with < path/to/file
  • Variable processing in referenced files with @ prefix
  • Encoding override for file references
  • Support for multipart/form-data with file uploads
  • Support for application/x-www-form-urlencoded format
  • Clickable document links (Ctrl/Cmd + Click) to open files