What is Bruno, and why do you need a tool like it when working with APIs?

Bruno is an open-source API client for building, sending and testing REST API calls interactively. It is an alternative to Postman, which has become increasingly commercial.

Before a script calls an API, you want to try the call by hand: which URL, which method, which headers, which body, and what comes back. An API client like Bruno lets you do exactly that, and it supports different data types and formats for talking to REST-based APIs.

Two points to keep in mind:

• Most APIs require authentication before they let you do anything, so the client also manages credentials and tokens.
• API calls are real. A DELETE sent from Bruno removes the data just as if an admin had logged into the CLI and deleted it. A test tool does not mean a test environment, so point it at a sandbox or lab.

Testing matters because it confirms that a call produces the intended result before that call is built into code that runs unattended.

Go deeper:

• Bruno — the open-source, Git-friendly API client.
• usebruno/bruno on GitHub — source code and releases.