🚀 Introducing RESTerX: An Open-Source, Lightweight, and Powerful API Testing Tool for Developers

Whether you’re building RESTful APIs or testing integrations with third-party services, API testing is a daily task for developers. Tools like Postman, Insomnia, and Thunder Client have their place, but they can feel heavy, bloated, or just too much for what should be a simple HTTP request.

Why RESTerX?

While popular tools are powerful, many are closed-source, come with telemetry, or eventually push users towards paid tiers. RESTerX is:

🔓 Completely Open Source
🧼 Lightweight and clean UI
💻 Cross-platform CLI & Web UI
🔒 Privacy-first (no data sent externally)
It’s everything you need to test APIs without the bloat.

A Postman-like Web UI — Without the Bloat

The web interface is fast, responsive, and mirrors the familiar layout of Postman — with some major perks:

🌓 Dark/Light Mode Toggle
🧠 Request History saved in localStorage
🧾 Custom Headers, Auth, and Body Tabs
📦 JSON/Raw/Form support with syntax highlighting
🔍 Real-time status, response time, and headers display
And yes, it looks awesome on both desktop and mobile.

To get started:

./restcli web

Open your browser at http://localhost:8080 (or your custom port).

Press enter or click to view image in full size

CLI Interface — For Terminal Lovers

Sometimes, you just want to stay in the terminal. RESTerX brings a menu-driven CLI that supports all HTTP methods and runs seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Launch it with:

./restcli
Choose your method, input your URL, and you’re ready to go. Fast, minimal, and distraction-free.

Built with Go for Performance

Go (Golang) is known for its speed, portability, and concurrency. RESTerX leverages these strengths to give you a tool that:

Starts instantly
Has a tiny memory footprint
Compiles to a single binary
No Electron. No memory hogs. Just solid performance.

🔧 Installation is Simple
If you have Go installed, just clone the repo and build:

git clone https://github.com/AkshatNaruka/RESTerX
cd RESTerX
go build -o restcli ./cmd

That’s it. No dependencies, no Docker, no drama.

Testing APIs Made Easy

RESTerX supports:

✅ All standard HTTP methods: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, HEAD, DELETE
🔐 Bearer and Basic authentication
🧾 Custom headers
📝 Request body in JSON, form data, or raw text
📊 Formatted responses with copy-to-clipboard support
Want to test a local microservice or a public API? RESTerX handles both seamlessly.

Privacy by Design

No login. No telemetry. No cloud sync.

All your data stays in your browser (via localStorage) or on your machine.

In a time where even developer tools track usage and send data, RESTerX is a breath of fresh air.

🔥 Why Developers Love RESTerX
🧠 Zero learning curve — Designed to feel instantly familiar
💥 Fast and responsive — Built with performance-first mindset
🛠️ Hackable and extensible — Open-source with clear structure
🌍 Works offline — No network needed for local API testing
Whether you’re working on backend services, testing microservices, or just poking at REST APIs, RESTerX deserves a place in your toolkit.

Join the Community

RESTerX is open-source and lives on GitHub:
🔗 github.com/AkshatNaruka/RESTerX

We welcome contributors! Whether you want to add a feature, squash a bug, or improve documentation — your input is valuable.

Submit a pull request and be part of the RESTerX journey!

Final Thoughts

RESTerX brings the joy back to API testing. With a clean interface, powerful CLI, and zero clutter, it’s a must-have tool for developers who value performance, simplicity, and privacy.

Try it out. Star it. Contribute. And spread the word.

👉 GitHub — 🔗 github.com/AkshatNaruka/RESTerX