⚡ consolio

Lightweight, project-isolated API testing tool. Runs as npx — no install needed. ~30MB RAM.

Quick start

# Run immediately — no install needed
npx @pilaniaanand/consolio

# Or install globally
npm install -g @pilaniaanand/consolio
consolio

Opens at http://localhost:4242.

Project isolation

cd my-project
npx consolio init --name "My API"
npx consolio          # auto-detects .consolio/ in current dir

Commit .consolio/collections/ and .consolio/environments/ to share with your team. History is gitignored automatically.

Scripts

npm install        # install everything (server deps + UI devDeps) in one shot

npm start          # production: serves dist/ at http://localhost:4242
npm run build      # compile ui/ → dist/  (run once after clone, or after UI changes)

npm run dev        # development: API server on :4242 + Vite HMR on :5173
                   # both start simultaneously, logs colour-coded (cyan = api, yellow = ui)
                   # edit anything in ui/ and the browser updates instantly

After cloning:

npm install && npm run build && npm start

Development workflow

npm run dev starts two processes via concurrently:

| Process | Port | Description | | --------------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------- | | API server | :4242 | Fastify — handles all /api/* and /ws | | Vite dev server | :5173 | React HMR — proxies /api and /ws to :4242 |

Open http://localhost:5173 for hot-reload development. The server at :4242 is API-only in dev mode — it redirects / to Vite.

Environment variable: CONSOLIO_DEV=true puts the server in API-only mode (set automatically by npm run dev).

Browser interceptor

1. Open chrome://extensions/ → enable Developer Mode
2. Click Load unpacked → select the extension/ folder
3. Click the consolio icon in your Chrome toolbar
4. Toggle Capture requests ON
5. Intercepted requests appear in the Tap sidebar tab

Filter rules (blacklist / whitelist)

In the Tap tab, set a mode and add rules:

• Blacklist (default) — block requests matching any rule. Good for filtering analytics/CDN noise.
• Whitelist — capture only requests matching at least one rule. Good for isolating one API domain.

Per rule: Target (URL / Host / Method / Content-Type) × Mode (contains / starts with / ends with / exact / regex). Rules persist in localStorage.

Pre/post request scripts

// Pre-request tab — runs before the request is sent
consolio.setVariable('ts', Date.now())

// Post-response tab — runs after the response arrives
const body = JSON.parse(response.body)
consolio.setVariable('token', body.access_token)
consolio.log('Got token:', body.access_token)

API: consolio.log(...args) · consolio.setVariable(key, value) · consolio.getVariable(key) Context: request (method, url) · response (status, body, headers, elapsed) · environment

Customise layout

Click ⊞ in the topbar:

• Drag panels to reorder
• Toggle panel visibility
• Resize with sliders, or drag the dividers in the main UI
• Presets: Default · Focus Request · Focus Response · No Sidebar

Preferences persist in localStorage.

CLI

consolio                      # start server (port 4242)
consolio start --port 8080    # custom port
consolio start --no-open      # don't auto-open browser
consolio init                 # initialise project (.consolio/)
consolio init --name "My API"
consolio --version
consolio --help

License

MIT