post-tui

post-tui is a professional terminal HTTP API client for developers who want a fast, keyboard-driven API workflow without leaving the terminal.

The app is written in Rust with ratatui, crossterm, reqwest, tokio, serde, and local JSON/TOML storage. It is designed to stay usable on modest hardware and small terminal windows.

Table of Contents

• Preview
• Installation
  • 1. Install System Requirements
  • 2. Install Rust and Cargo
  • 3. Check Rust and Cargo
  • 4. Add Cargo to PATH if Needed
  • 5. Install post-tui
  • 6. Run post-tui
  • 7. Update post-tui Later
  • Build From Source
• Features
• Interface
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Editing Requests
• Running Requests
• Response Viewer
• cURL Generation
• Collection Import
• Collections, Saved Requests, and History
• Local Data
• Sample Collection
• Current Limitations
• Roadmap
• Contributing
• Author

Preview

Installation

post-tui is distributed through crates.io, so the easiest installation path is through Rust's package manager, Cargo.

If you already have Rust and Cargo installed, skip to Install post-tui.

1. Install System Requirements

cargo install builds the app on your machine. Some operating systems need basic compiler tools installed first.

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y build-essential pkg-config

Fedora:

sudo dnf install -y gcc gcc-c++ make pkgconf-pkg-config

Arch Linux:

sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel pkgconf

macOS

Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Windows

Install:

• Windows Terminal, PowerShell, or Command Prompt
• Microsoft C++ Build Tools from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/

During Build Tools installation, select:

• Desktop development with C++
• MSVC build tools
• Windows SDK

2. Install Rust and Cargo

Rust and Cargo are installed together through rustup.

Linux and macOS

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Choose the default installation option when prompted.

After installation, restart your terminal or run:

source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

Windows

Download and run rustup-init.exe from:

https://rustup.rs/

Choose the default installation option when prompted, then restart your terminal.

3. Check Rust and Cargo

Run:

rustc --version
cargo --version

If both commands print versions, Rust and Cargo are ready.

4. Add Cargo to PATH if Needed

Most rustup installations configure this automatically. If cargo or post-tui is not found, add Cargo's bin directory to your user environment.

Linux and macOS

For Bash:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For Zsh:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Windows PowerShell

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
  "Path",
  $env:Path + ";$env:USERPROFILE\.cargo\bin",
  "User"
)

After running the command, close and reopen your terminal.

5. Install post-tui

cargo install post-tui

Cargo installs the binary into:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.cargo/bin/post-tui
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin\post-tui.exe

6. Run post-tui

post-tui

7. Update post-tui Later

To update to the latest published version:

cargo install post-tui --force

Build From Source

If you cloned this repository, you can build it manually:

cd post-tui
cargo build --release
./target/release/post-tui

Features

• Terminal-native HTTP API client with a focused request, response, collection, and history workflow.
• Supports GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, and OPTIONS.
• Request builder for URL, method, headers, query params, auth, and raw body.
• Auth modes: No Auth, Bearer Token, Basic Auth, and API Key Header.
• Response viewer with status code, response time, response size, headers, body, errors, and scroll support.
• Pretty JSON response view.
• Lightweight JSON tree viewer.
• Raw response body view.
• HTML response text view.
• Open HTML responses in the system browser.
• Search within the active response tab.
• Generate a cURL command from the active request.
• Import Collection v2.1 JSON files.
• Browse imported collections, nested folders, saved requests, and request history.
• Delete collections, folders, individual collection requests, saved requests, and history items.
• Save requests locally.
• Clear request history and local HTML response exports.
• Local app data stored in the platform data directory.
• Built-in help and about modals.

Interface

post-tui uses a compact layout:

• Left sidebar: collections, saved requests, and history.
• Top bar: app name, current mode, and shortcut hints.
• Main panel: request builder.
• Bottom panel: response viewer.
• Footer: contextual help and status messages.
• Modal popups: help, about, import, search, cURL, errors, and confirmations.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Press ? inside the app to open the built-in help modal.

Key	Action
?	Open help
a	Open about
q	Quit
r / Ctrl+r	Run current request
Enter	Edit focused request field or load selected sidebar request
Ctrl+s	Save current request
n	Create a new request
u	Generate cURL for the current request
Tab / Shift+Tab	Switch panels
j/k or arrow keys	Navigate sidebar/request fields or scroll response
h/l or left/right arrows	Change method, auth mode, or response tab
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll response faster
Home / End	Jump to start/end of response
/	Search collections/history/sidebar entries
/ in response panel	Search within the active response tab
o	Import a collection JSON file
d	Delete selected sidebar item
c	Clear history and local HTML response exports
b in HTML response tab	Open HTML response in browser
Esc	Cancel edit or close modal

Editing Requests

Focus the request builder with Tab, move between fields with j/k, then press Enter to edit the selected field.

Supported field formats:

• Headers: one per line, Header-Name: value
• Query params: one per line, key=value
• Bearer auth: token only
• Basic auth: username:password
• API key auth: header-name: value
• Raw body: any text; invalid JSON is allowed and sent as raw text

The input cursor is shown with a blinking block cursor so blank fields are easier to understand.

Running Requests

1. Start the app:

   post-tui

2. Edit the URL field with Enter.

3. Change method with left/right arrows while focused on Method.

4. Press r to run the request.

5. Move to the response panel with Tab.

6. Use h/l to switch response tabs.

The default request URL is:

https://example.com/api

Response Viewer

Response tabs:

• Pretty: pretty JSON when possible, otherwise raw text.
• Tree: lightweight JSON tree view.
• Raw: original response body.
• HTML: HTML converted to readable terminal text.
• Headers: response headers.
• Error: request or network errors.

Response controls:

• j/k or arrow keys scroll line by line.
• PageUp/PageDown scroll faster.
• Home/End jump to the start/end.
• / searches the active response tab and jumps to the first match.
• b opens the last HTML response in the system browser from the HTML tab.

cURL Generation

Press u to generate a cURL command for the current request. The generated command includes:

• HTTP method
• URL with query params
• Enabled headers
• Auth headers or basic auth
• Raw request body
• Content-Type when applicable

Collection Import

Press o, type the path to a Collection v2.1 JSON file, then press Enter.

Example from this repository:

examples/sample-collection.json

Imported requests appear in the sidebar. Select a request with j/k; it loads into the request builder automatically.

Supported import data:

• Collection name
• Nested folders
• Request name
• Request method
• URL as raw string or structured URL object
• Headers
• Query params
• Raw body

Collections, Saved Requests, and History

The sidebar can contain:

• Imported collections
• Nested folders
• Requests inside collections
• Saved local requests
• Request history

Useful shortcuts:

• Ctrl+s: save the current request.
• d: delete the selected sidebar item after confirmation.
• c: clear request history and delete local HTML response exports after confirmation.

Delete supports:

• Entire imported collections
• Folders inside collections
• Individual collection requests
• Saved requests
• Individual history items

Local Data

post-tui stores app data in the platform data directory reported in the footer.

Files include:

• collections.json
• history.json
• requests.json
• config.toml
• *.html response exports created by the browser view action

Missing or corrupted local files are handled gracefully and recreated when data is saved.

Sample Collection

This repository includes a sample collection:

examples/sample-collection.json

It contains sample JSON and HTML requests that are useful for testing import, response tabs, and browser view.

Current Limitations

• Editing is intentionally compact; multiline values are entered through a simple terminal input buffer.
• Collection import supports common v2.1 structures, but not every vendor-specific feature.
• HTML responses are rendered as readable terminal text, not as a full browser engine.
• Requests currently run through the main app flow rather than a cancellable background task.
• Clipboard support is not enabled yet.
• Environment variables and variable substitution are not implemented yet.

Roadmap

• Full multiline editor for headers and body.
• Environment variables such as {{base_url}} and {{token}}.
• Collection export.
• Background requests with cancellation.
• Clipboard integration for cURL and response bodies.
• Request tabs.
• Config screen for timeout, redirects, default headers, and theme.

Contributing

Contributions, ideas, and collaboration are welcome. If you want to help improve post-tui, discuss features, or contribute to development, contact me on LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/raufendro

Author

Created by raufendro.