VS Code Tip of the Week: The Thunder Client Extension

This week's VS Code Tip off the Week is the Thunder Client extension.

Thunder Client is a lightweight Rest API Client Extension for Visual Studio Code

There's amazing tools out there like Postman, Postwoman (now Hoppscotch), etc. but I like the fact that I can use this directly within VS Code.

Select Thunder Client New Request from the available items in the list.

The New Request window opens with a test GET request to https://www.thunderclient.com/welcome.

Click the SEND button to make the GET request. A response from thunderclient.com is returned.

"about": "Thunder Client is a hand-crafted lightweight Rest API Client extension for VS Code.",
"createdBy": "Ranga Vadhineni",
"github": "github.com/rangav/thunder-client-support",
"twitter": "twitter.com/thunder_client",
"auth": "Supported Authentication methods Basic Auth, Bearer Token & OAuth 2.0",
"graphql": "The client supports Graphql Query & Variables",
"support": "For Bugs & Feature requests please submit on github",
"share": "Please spread the word about Thunder Client"
}"/>

There's a lot more you can do with the extension, so I encourage you to check out their repository on GitHub!

thunderclient / thunder-client-support

Thunder Client is a lightweight Rest API Client Extension for VS Code.

Thunder Client

Thunder Client is a lightweight Rest API Client Extension for Visual Studio Code, hand-crafted by Ranga Vadhineni with a focus on simplicity, clean design and local storage. The source code is not open source. You can report any Bugs Or Feature requests here.

• Featured on Product Hunt - Product Hunt
• Featured in the "20 Fan Favorite Extensions" for VS Code
• Website - www.thunderclient.com
• Extension - VS Code Marketplace
• Documentation - https://docs.thunderclient.com

Story behind Thunder Client

• Read Launch Blog Post on Medium

Milestones

• The extension was launched on March 31st, 2021
• 500K downloads on Dec 20th, 2021
• 1 Million downloads on July 13th, 2022
• View All Milestones

Innovations

• First to introduce GUI based API Client for VS Code.
• First to introduce 100% local storage API Client.
• First to introduce Scriptless Testing.
• First to introduce an advanced CLI that runs Requests, Collections and cURL commands.
• More to…

View on GitHub

Happy VS Coding!

Comments

[Abayomi Ogunnusi]

Can thunder client publish the end points as documents?

[Ranga Vadhineni]

Hi, I am creator of Thunder Client

can you please provide more details what you meant by end points as documents?

[Abayomi Ogunnusi]

Kindly refer to the image link below...
dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/up...

For example, In postman you can publish all endpoints as collections that can be shared between developers....

[Ranga Vadhineni]

You can save requests to collections in Thunder Client also, you can share with your team by saving the requests data to git(see documentation on GitHub)

also you export a collection to json file.

You can generate code snippet too.

dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/up...

[Abayomi Ogunnusi]

Thanks for the reply... I will definitely check Thunder Client

[Christophe Avonture]

Hi Ranga
Just to say: Thanks ! Your extension is a must have.

[Ranga Vadhineni]

Glad you like the extension, let me know if you have any questions.

[Christophe Avonture]

Did you know if there is any good tutorials on how to use it with OAuth2 authentication ?

[Ranga Vadhineni]

see this link blog.jongallant.com/2021/04/azure-...

[Christophe Avonture]

Thanks Ranga! I think it's not my use case: the tutorial is using "Client Credentials" for the Grant type while, I think, I need to use "Authorization Code".

The app I'm trying to use is indeed using such code that I, then, need to pass back to the calling application. My redirect URL is using a "/saveCode" URI and, I think, I need to give him the generated code (once logged in).

I continue to try / search on Google...

[Ranga Vadhineni]

OAuth2 - Authorization Code is also easy to test.

Can you create a new issue on our Github page, I will share some screenshots that might be helpful.

[Nick Taylor]

Hmm, I’m not sure. Maybe @ranga_vadhineni, the creator of Thunder Client, can chime in. 😎

[mooktar]

Basically, thunder client satisfy my need right now.

[Nick Taylor]

[pdfreviewer]

I've been long for such an extension for VSCode. A great tool to use to test web APIs.

[Ranga Vadhineni]

Hi All, just want to post an update.

• Our Code Snippet feature now supports more languages including Flutter Dart & Php Laravel
• The code snippet is updated in real-time as you make changes to request

[Mason Carter]

This extension is awesome, but it's really frustrating since they’ve put everything behind a paywall now (and a subscription, no less).
If you're looking for an alternative to Thunder Client, give EchoAPI a try.
With EchoAPI, you get a robust alternative to traditional API tools.
Key Features of EchoAPI:

1. No login required: Start using the tool immediately without any sign-up hassle.
2. Supports Scratch Pad: Use it for quick notes and temporary code.
3. Ultra lightweight: It’s designed to be extremely fast and efficient.
4. 100% compatible with Postman script syntax: Migrate or use your existing scripts without any modification. Click here to learn more: EchoAPI