beeline

A small, fast desktop API client in the spirit of Bruno. A collection is a plain folder of JSON files. You can read them, diff them, hand-edit them and keep them in git next to your code. There is no account, no cloud sync and no telemetry.

Features

• Collections on disk. A folder is a collection. Each request is a *.json file, and subfolders group them. Create, rename and move to Trash from the sidebar.
• Request editor. Method, URL, query params (kept in sync with the URL), headers, body (JSON, text or form), and bearer or basic auth.
• Tabs. Keep several requests open at once.
• Environments. Put environments/<name>.json in the collection, pick one in the sidebar, and use {{name}} anywhere in a request.
• Response viewer. Status, time, size, pretty-printed JSON (keys stay in server order) with syntax colours, and headers. JSON request bodies are coloured too.
• History. Each request tab keeps its last 20 sends for the session; pick one to see that response again.
• Import from a cURL command, an OpenAPI 3 or Postman v2.1 file, or a Bruno folder (a .bru or YAML collection, or a whole workspace).
• Copy as cURL. See the exact command for a request and copy it.
• Response-time sparklines in the sidebar, for the current session.
• Light, dark or system theme, with a choice of fonts and text size.

Install

macOS

Download the .dmg from the latest release, open it, and drag beeline into Applications.

The app is not signed or notarised yet, so macOS blocks it the first time. To open it, try once, then go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. Or run:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/beeline.app

Windows

Download the -windows-x86_64.zip from the latest release, unzip it, and run beeline.exe. The exe is not signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time: click More info → Run anyway.

From source

You need Rust (from rustup). The Nix flake and direnv supply the other tools (just, cargo-bundle, resvg).

git clone https://github.com/zpeters/beeline
cd beeline
just run                     # open the last collection
cargo run -- examples/demo   # open a folder as the collection
just install-mac             # build beeline.app and copy it into /Applications
just install-win             # build beeline.exe, install it with a Start menu shortcut

CI builds and tests beeline on macOS and Linux. On Linux, build it from source as above (cargo run --release) or use the release's .tar.gz; there is no package yet.

Shortcuts

Keys	Action
⌘ Enter	Send the request
⌘ S	Save
⌘ T	New tab
⌘ W	Close tab
⌘ N	New request

On Linux and Windows, use Ctrl instead of ⌘. There is no menu bar there: the collection name at the top of the sidebar switches, opens and creates collections, and the ⋯ beside it has Reload, Import, Rename and Move to Trash.

File format

my-api/
  environments/dev.json      {"variables": {"base": "https://api.example.com"}}
  users/list users.json      a request; its name is the file name
  health.json

A request file. Every field is optional:

{
  "method": "POST",
  "url": "{{base}}/users?notify=true",
  "params": [{ "key": "notify", "value": "true", "enabled": true }],
  "headers": [{ "key": "Accept", "value": "application/json", "enabled": true }],
  "body": { "type": "json", "text": "{\"name\": \"bee\"}" },
  "auth": { "type": "bearer", "token": "{{token}}" }
}

• body.type: none, json, text, form (with fields).
• auth.type: none, bearer (token), basic (username, password).

See examples/demo for a working collection.

Development

just          # list the recipes
just check    # fmt, clippy (warnings are errors) and tests
just test     # tests only; `cargo test -- --ignored` adds a live HTTPS check
just dmg      # build dist/beeline-<version>.dmg
just icons    # render the icon and banner PNGs from their SVGs

• src/ is the crate. AGENTS.md describes the module boundaries and the project rules.
• docs/superpowers/ holds the design specs and plans: why things are the way they are.
• Ideas and planned work are in GitHub Issues.

License

beeline is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

The bundled fonts keep their own licences: Inter and IBM Plex Mono under the SIL Open Font License, and Atkinson Hyperlegible under the Braille Institute licence. See assets/fonts/.