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Dharmendra
Dharmendra

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# 🚀 Getting Started with Requestly for Local Development

#webdev #ai

A Complete Guide to Using Local Workspace (Beginner Friendly + Contributor Approved)
Requestly recently introduced Local Workspace—a powerful feature designed for developers who want complete privacy, offline capabilities,

✅ What is Local Workspace?

Local Workspace is a personal workspace that stores all your Requestly data directly on your system instead of the cloud.

✅ Key Characteristics

  • Your collections stay local
  • Your API requests stay local
  • Your environment variables stay local
  • No cloud sync
  • No external access
  • Works completely offline

This makes Local Workspace ideal for:

  • Local development
  • Secure API testing
  • Private or internal projects
  • Environments with restricted internet access

📌 Note: Local Workspace is currently in early beta and available only for the Requestly Desktop App (API Client).

✅ Features Available in Local Workspace

Local Workspace supports essential API Client features:

✅ API Requests

  • GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH
  • Custom headers
  • Params & body
  • JSON/text response viewer

✅ Collections

Organize APIs into folders that map directly to your local file system.

✅ Local Environment Variables

Create variables like:

{{base_url}}
{{api_key}}
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All stored securely on your machine.

✅ Offline Mode

Since everything is local, you can work even without internet.

⚙️ How to Create a Local Workspace (Step-by-Step)

Below is the exact setup workflow.

1️⃣ Open Workspace Menu

In the Requestly Desktop App:

  • Go to the top-left corner
  • Click your current workspace name

This opens the workspace dropdown.

2️⃣ Click “Join or Create Workspace”

From the dropdown menu:

  • Select Join or Create Workspace
  • Then choose Create Workspace

3️⃣ Select “Local Workspace”

You’ll see workspace type options.

Choose:
✅ Local Workspace
Then enter:

  • Workspace Name
  • Local Directory Path (where data will be stored)

Recommended: Create a dedicated folder like
~/RequestlyLocalWorkspace/

4️⃣ Click “Create”

Once you hit Create:

  • Your new Local Workspace is ready
  • All API data & configurations will be stored locally
  • You can now start building API requests instantly

Setup time: Less than 30 seconds.

🧪 What You Can Do After Creating Local Workspace

Below are the common use cases.

✅ Send API Requests

  • Add new requests
  • Choose method (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE)
  • Add headers, params, body
  • Hit Send and view the response

Perfect for backend developers and API testers.

✅ Create & Organize Collections

You can create:

  • Personal collections
  • Project-specific folders
  • Reusable API groups

Everything is stored under the folder you selected.

✅ Use Environments (Local Only)

Define local environment variables:

{{url}}
{{auth_token}}
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Great for switching between:

  • Local dev
  • Staging
  • Production

🚧 Current Limitations (Beta)

This feature is still in active development.
Here are the documented limitations:

Limitation Status
Only API Client supported ✅ Yes
Cannot delete Local Workspace from UI ✅ Yes
Some features may behave inconsistently ✅ Expected
No UI-level analytics ✅ Yes

If you want to join early access or report issues, contact:
📩 contact@requestly.io

🎯 Why Local Workspace is Useful for Developers

If you work in:

✅ A secure environment
✅ Corporate or restricted network
✅ Offline development
✅ Private API testing
✅ Local host/backend projects
✅ Sensitive data projects

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