Thunder Client

Provides a GUI-based interface within VS Code for constructing and executing HTTP requests with full support for HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, etc.), custom headers, request bodies (JSON, form-data, raw text), URL parameters, and authentication schemes. Requests are executed directly from the editor sidebar without leaving the development environment, with responses rendered in a dedicated panel showing status codes, headers, and body content.

Organizes HTTP requests into named collections and nested folders, allowing developers to group related API endpoints (e.g., 'User API', 'Payment API') with persistent storage in local JSON-based collection files. Collections can be created, renamed, and reorganized through the sidebar UI, and individual requests within collections are reusable across multiple test scenarios.

Supports creating request templates with variable placeholders ({{variableName}}) that are automatically substituted with values from environment variables or request-level variables. Templates enable creating parameterized request patterns that can be reused across multiple test scenarios with different input values without duplicating request definitions.

Automatically detects response content type (JSON, XML, HTML, plain text, binary) and applies appropriate syntax highlighting and formatting. JSON responses are pretty-printed with indentation and collapsible tree view for easy navigation. XML and HTML responses are formatted with syntax highlighting. Response headers are displayed in a separate panel with key-value pairs.

Supports defining environment-specific variables (API keys, base URLs, authentication tokens, hostnames) that are automatically substituted into requests using {{variableName}} syntax. Multiple environments can be created (dev, staging, production) and switched via dropdown, enabling the same request collection to be executed against different backends without manual URL/header editing.

Provides native support for GraphQL queries and mutations through a dedicated request type that handles GraphQL-specific syntax (query/mutation/subscription structure, variables, fragments). Requests are sent as POST requests to GraphQL endpoints with proper Content-Type headers and JSON-encoded query/variables payloads, with responses parsed and displayed as formatted JSON.

Provides a GUI-based interface for defining assertions on HTTP responses without writing code, allowing developers to validate response status codes, headers, body content (JSON path matching, regex patterns), and response time thresholds. Assertions are stored with requests and executed automatically after each request, with pass/fail results displayed in the response panel.

Enables exporting request collections as JSON files that can be committed to Git repositories and shared across team members. Collections are stored as plain JSON files that can be version-controlled, branched, and merged using standard Git workflows. Team members can import shared collections by cloning the repository or pulling updates, with all requests, environments, and variables synchronized across the team.

Provides a command-line interface (CLI) tool that executes Thunder Client requests, collections, and cURL commands from terminal or CI/CD pipelines. The CLI can run individual requests, entire collections, generate test reports, and output results in structured formats (JSON, HTML) for integration with CI/CD systems like GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, and CircleCI.

Stores all request collections, environments, variables, and test results locally on the user's machine in JSON-based files within the VS Code extension storage directory. No cloud synchronization or remote servers are required; all data remains under user control and is accessible offline. Data can be manually backed up, version-controlled via Git, or migrated to other machines by copying files.

Supports multiple authentication methods including Basic Auth (username/password), Bearer tokens, API keys (header-based), OAuth 2.0 flows, and custom header-based authentication. Authentication credentials are configured per-request or per-environment and automatically applied to outgoing requests without manual header construction.

Maintains a history of executed requests with cached responses, allowing developers to quickly re-execute previous requests or view past responses without reconstructing the request. Request history is organized chronologically and can be searched or filtered by request name, URL, or response status code.