⚡ ShellReq

A lightweight, interactive terminal-native API testing tool for developers.

Fast. Scriptable. Beautiful TUI. Zero vulnerabilities.

Why ShellReq?

ShellReq brings the power of a modern API client directly into your terminal workflow — no heavy GUI apps needed.

• Interactive TUI — Full-screen terminal UI for managing requests.
• Fast CLI — Fire HTTP requests instantly without leaving your terminal.
• Git Friendly — Save requests as shell scripts or CI/CD steps.
• Environment Support — Use .env files for multi-environment testing.
• Zero Config — Install and start testing immediately.
• Secure — All dependencies pinned to exact versions, 0 known vulnerabilities.

Installation

npm install -g shellreq

Or run instantly with npx:

npx shellreq ui

Interactive TUI

Launch the full-screen terminal UI:

shellreq ui

Features:

• Tab-based navigation: Editor → Response → History → Collections
• Method selector (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE)
• JSON body editor for POST/PUT/PATCH
• Response viewer with status, timing, headers, and formatted body
• Auto-saves last 50 requests to history
• Collections for saving frequently used requests
• Keyboard shortcuts: TAB switch tab, ENTER send request, Q quit

CLI Usage

GET request

shellreq get https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1

POST with JSON body

shellreq post https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts --json '{"title":"Hello","body":"World"}'

Custom headers

shellreq get https://api.example.com/data -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN"

Verbose mode (show response headers)

shellreq get https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1 --verbose

DELETE

shellreq delete https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in your project root:

API_URL=https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com

Use placeholders in commands:

shellreq get "{{API_URL}}/posts/1"

VS Code Extension

ShellReq is also available as a VS Code sidebar extension — a full API client without leaving your editor.

Download ShellReq API Client on VS Code Marketplace

Tech Stack

• HTTP — Node.js built-in http/https (CLI & extension)
• TUI — Ink (React for CLI)
• CLI Parsing — Commander.js
• Styling — Chalk
• Environment — Dotenv

Changelog

v0.4.1

• Security & Stability: Removed axios from the NPM package, replacing it completely with native Node.js http/https modules.
• Dependency Cleanup: Eliminated unnecessary native module overrides (http, https, url) from dependencies to prevent supply chain risks.
• Brought CLI networking on par with the VS Code extension for full consistency and safety.

v0.4.0

• Fixed VS Code extension webview: reliable tab switching and draggable splitter (mouse/touch) across platforms.
• Hardened webview scripting to avoid CSP/DOM timing issues and improved state sync with the extension host.
• Improved request handling and error reporting in the extension's network layer.
• Bumped package versions for CLI and extension; updated release notes and READMEs.

v0.3.0

• Removed ink-box and ink-gradient (eliminated high CVE from cross-spawn chain)
• Pinned all dependencies to exact versions — 0 known vulnerabilities
• Replaced axios in TUI with native fetch (Node 18+)
• Fixed backgroundColor prop errors in Ink components
• Fixed dotenv.config() options compatibility
• Added vitest.config.ts to exclude VS Code extension tests from npm test run
• Updated React to 18.x for Ink 5.x compatibility

v0.2.0

• Interactive TUI with tab navigation
• History and Collections persistence
• Split-pane response viewer

v0.1.x

• Initial CLI release with GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
• Environment variable support via .env

Contributing

Open issues or PRs on GitHub.

License

MIT