runhttp

Run .http files from the command line. You already have .http files — the ones VS Code's REST Client extension runs. runhttp runs the same files in your terminal and in CI. Zero dependencies, no Electron, no account, no config.

# api.http
@base = https://api.example.com
@token = {{$env API_TOKEN}}

### Get the current user
GET {{base}}/me
Authorization: Bearer {{token}}
Accept: application/json

npx runhttp api.http

GET https://api.example.com/me   # Get the current user
  200 OK · 142ms · application/json · 318 B
  {
    "id": 7,
    "name": "Ada Lovelace"
  }

Why

You want to fire off a saved HTTP request and see the response. The options:

• Postman / Insomnia — a whole GUI app and an account, to send one GET.
• Hurl is great, but uses its own .hurl format — your existing VS Code .http files don't run in it.
• httpyac runs .http files but pulls in dozens of dependencies.
• curl works, but now you're translating a clean .http file into a wall of -H flags every time.

runhttp runs the .http files you already keep next to your code. One small binary's worth of pure standard library — npx/pipx and go.

Usage

runhttp api.http               # run every request in order
runhttp api.http -n 2          # run only request #2 (1-based)
runhttp api.http --name login  # run the request titled "### login"
runhttp api.http --list        # list requests without sending
cat api.http | runhttp         # read from stdin

| Option | | |---|---| | -n, --request <n> | run only the nth request | | --name <title> | run the request with this ### title / # @name | | --list | print requests, don't send | | --var k=v | define/override a variable (repeatable) | | -i, --include | print response headers | | --json | emit results as a JSON array (stdout) | | --no-follow | don't follow redirects (default: follow, max 5) | | --insecure | skip TLS verification | | --timeout <sec> | per-request timeout (default 30) |

Variables

@base = https://api.example.com      # file variable
GET {{base}}/users                   # {{name}} to use it
Authorization: Bearer {{$env TOKEN}} # {{$env NAME}} reads the environment

Override or supply any variable from the command line with --var name=value. An undefined variable is an error — a typo never gets silently sent.

Exit codes

0   every request came back < 400
1   some request returned an HTTP status >= 400
2   parse error, connection failure, or bad usage

runhttp smoke.http && echo "all endpoints healthy"

Scope (on purpose)

Supports the everyday .http: @variables, {{vars}} / {{$env}}, request titles, headers, request bodies, multiple requests per file, and redirect following. It does not do gRPC/WebSocket/GraphQL transports or response assertions — if you need those, reach for httpyac or Hurl. runhttp is the small, dependency-free one for the 90% case.

Install

npx runhttp api.http       # Node >= 18
pip install runhttp        # Python >= 3.8 (byte-for-byte port)

• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/runhttp
• PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/runhttp/
• GitHub: https://github.com/jjdoor/runhttp · runhttp-py

License

MIT