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Basic Usage

Basic usage summary (with default keymaps)​

Execute request​

There are several ways to execute a request:

  • Position the cursor on the line of the request or in the block of the request delimited by ### and then press <CR> or <leader>Rs to run the request.
  • Select several requests in visual mode and press <CR> or <leader>Ra to run the requests.
  • Press <leader>Ra to run all requests in the buffer.
  • Press <C-c> to cancel request execution.
  • To search for a request in the buffer, press <leader>Rf.
  • You can use # or // to comment out a request or its data, and it will not be processed.

Executing requests in non .http files​

  • You can execute requests from any file type. If you wrap your requests in a code block with http .. , it will behave just like in a .http file.
  • Common comment syntax is recognized, so you can put requests in the comments of your code files.

If you cannot wrap requests in a code block, you will need to position the cursor exactly on the line with the request or visually select the required requests and their accompanying data.

// You javascript code here
console.log('Hello world!');

/* My test request

```http
POST http://localhost:3000
Content-Type: application/json
{"name": "John Doe"}

Kulala UI​

Kulala UI

  • Kulala UI is opened automatically when you run a request or you can open it manually with <leader>Ro at any time.
  • You can switch between different views with (H) Headers, B (Body), (A) All, (V) Verbose, (S) Stats, (O) Script output, (R) Report
  • To scroll through the history of responses use [ and ].
  • To clear responses history press X.
  • To jump to the request in the request buffer press <CR>.
  • To open help window press ?.
  • To open the Kulala scratch buffer use <leader>Rb.
  • To choose variables environment use <leader>Re and select the environment you want to use.
  • To manage Authentication configurations use <leader>Ru.

Kulala LSP and Formatter​

Kulala includes a built-in in-process LSP server that provides the following features:

  • Autocompletion: HTTP syntax, metadata, commands, variables, requests, GraphQL schema and Kulala API.

  • Symbols information: symbols search and symbols outline - <leader>cs, <leader>cS.

  • Hover information for requests: equivalent to Kulala's inspect command - K.

  • Code actions: a list of all available Kulala commands - gra/<leader>ca.

  • Formatting: format buffer/range - gq/<leader>cf/<leader>lf.

  • In json/yaml/bruno files, code actions will be available to convert collections into HTTP format.

info

Kulala LSP does not set any keymaps, but relies on your Neovim's default LSP keymaps. Some distributions set these keymaps only for LSPs that have been setup through nvim-lspconfig or the distributions's own LSP config. In this case, you may need to enable them yourself.

Please refer to keymaps for more information.

Some plugins, like lsp-saga or nvim-lighbulb show 💡 signs when there are code actions available.

Since Kulala provides code actions for every line, you may want to disable them in your config. For example:

require('lspsaga').setup({
  lightbulb = { ignore = { clients = { 'kulala' } } }
})

require("nvim-lightbulb").setup({
 ignore = { clients = { "kulala" } }
})

Syntax summary​

  • # and // is used to comment out a request or its data.
  • ### is used to delimit requests and their data.
  • ### Request name is used to name a request, for UI, import / run commands and to reference the request data in other requests.

Metadata​

  • # @meta-name meta-value is used to add arbitrary metadata to a request or file.
  • # @prompt variable-name prompt-string is used to prompt the user for input and store it in a variable.

Directives​

  • # @accept chunked allows you to accept Transfer-Encoding: chunked responses and streamed responses.
  • # @curl-global-... and # @curl-... allows you to set global and per-request flags for curl requests.
  • # @grpc-global-... and # @grpc-... allows you to set global and per-request flags for gRPC requests.
  • # @stdin-cmd allows you to execute an external command
  • # @jq allows you to filter the response body using jq.

Variables​

  • @variable-name=variable-value is used to define variables that can be used in request URL, headers and body.
  • {{variable}} allows you to use variables defined in metadata, system environment variables, http-client.env.json file or .env file.
  • {{$dynamic-variable}} allows you to use predefined dynamic, aka magic variables.
  • # @env-stdin-cmd allows you to set environment variables using an external command.
  • # @env-json-key allows you to set environment variables using a JSON path on the response body.
  • # @env-header-key allows you to set environment variables from the response headers.

Requests import​

  • import /path/to/file allows you to import requests from another file.
  • run #request-name allows you to run a named request.
  • run /path/to/file allows you to run all requests in another file.

File input/output​

  • < /path/to/file allows you to include the contents of a file in the request.
  • >> /path/to/file allows you to save the response to a file. Use >>! to overwrite the file if it exists.

Scripts​

  • < {% %} and < {% -- lua } allow you to run an inline pre-request js|lua scripts.
  • < /path/to/script.js|lua allows you to run a pre-request js|lua script in a file.
  • > {% %} and > {% --lua %} allows you to run an inline post-request js|lua script.
  • > /path/to/script.js|lua allows you to run a post-request js|lua script in a file.

For details please consult the corresponding sections in the documentation.