For VS Code and Open VSX editors such as Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium
The no-login REST client for .http files
Send requests straight from .http and .rest files. Your existing REST Client files work unchanged (Azure AD token variables aside). No account, no cloud sync, no telemetry. It runs as a workspace extension, so over Remote-SSH, WSL, Dev Containers and Codespaces it runs on the remote side, next to your code.
Install from the VS Code Marketplace Install from Open VSX
Free forever, including commercial use. Pro adds importers, OAuth2, assertions, a runner and CLI from £2.99 a month.
Free, with nothing that REST Client users already had taken away
- REST Client syntax:
###,@variables,{{$guid}},{{$timestamp}},{{$dotenv}},{{$processEnv}}, request chaining with# @name, multipart, forms, GraphQL and< fileincludes. - Send request links above every request and a response panel with status, timing, headers, pretty JSON/XML/HTML, raw view and save to file.
- Environments in
.vscode/restwren.env.json, safe to commit. Secrets live in your OS keychain and appear in files only as{{secret:NAME}}. - Local history of your last 500 requests, kept on your machine and cleared in one click.
- cURL import and export, plus code snippets for curl, fetch, axios, Python, Go and C#.
- Proxy, custom CA, client certificates, a self-signed certificate switch and timeouts.
- Remote-friendly: runs where your workspace runs (Remote-SSH, WSL, Dev Containers, Codespaces), on the free tier.
Pro, for teams moving over and for CI
- One-shot import from Postman v2.1 collections and environments, Thunder Client exports, Insomnia v4 exports and OpenAPI 3 specs, converted to plain
.httpfiles. - OAuth2 helpers: authorization code with PKCE, client credentials and refresh, with tokens kept in your OS keychain.
- Assertions:
# @assert status == 200and JSONPath checks. - Collection runner panel and the
restwren run <folder>CLI with JUnit XML for CI. - GraphQL schema introspection and query skeletons.
- Side-by-side diff of any two responses.
Your requests never touch our servers
Requests go directly from your machine to your APIs. Collections, environments and history stay on your disk or in your OS keychain. Restwren collects no telemetry. The only time the extension contacts us is to renew a Pro licence key, and then it sends only the key. Read the privacy notice.
Moving from another client
From REST Client
Open your existing .http files and click Send request. The syntax is the same, and Restwren reads your rest-client.environmentVariables setting until you create restwren.env.json. Uninstall REST Client if both extensions fight over Ctrl+Alt+R.
From Thunder Client or Postman
Export your collection and environment to JSON, then run Restwren: Import (Pro). You get one .http file per folder, environments in restwren.env.json, and secret values moved into your OS keychain.