> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://hitspec.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# hitspec — Plain text API tests. No magic.

> hitspec is a file-based HTTP API testing tool — write .http tests that look like real HTTP requests, assert, capture, chain, and load-test. No SDK, no GUI.

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    <h3 className="hs-feature-title">{title}</h3>
    <p className="hs-feature-desc">{children}</p>
  </a>
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export const Yes = () => <span className="hs-yes">✓</span>;
export const No = () => <span className="hs-no">—</span>;

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  "@type": "SoftwareApplication",
  "name": "hitspec",
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  "description": "hitspec is a file-based HTTP API testing tool. Write API tests as plain-text .http files, run them with 26 assertion operators, capture values, chain requests, stress-test, mock, and verify database state.",
  "featureList": [
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    "26 assertion operators",
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    },
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    },
    {
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      "name": "Is hitspec free and open source?",
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    },
    {
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    },
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      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "Can I verify database state after an API request?",
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<section className="hs-hero">
  <div className="hs-hero-inner">
    <span className="hs-badge">
      <span className="hs-badge-dot" />

      Open source · Go · single binary · zero dependencies
    </span>

    <h1 className="hs-headline">
      Plain text API tests.

      <br />

      <span className="hs-gradient-text">No magic.</span>
    </h1>

    <p className="hs-subhead">
      hitspec is a file-based HTTP API testing tool. Write tests in plain-text
      <code>.http</code> files that look like actual HTTP requests. Run them
      with <strong>26 assertion operators</strong>, capture values, chain
      requests, stress-test, and mock APIs — all from one binary. No SDK. No
      GUI. No JavaScript.
    </p>

    <div className="hs-cta-row">
      <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-primary" href="/quickstart">
        ⚡ Get started in 60 seconds
      </a>

      <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-ghost" href="/installation">
        Install hitspec
      </a>

      <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-ghost" href="https://github.com/abdul-hamid-achik/hitspec">
        ★ Star on GitHub
      </a>
    </div>

    <div className="hs-install-chip">
      <span>\$</span>
      <code>brew install --cask abdul-hamid-achik/tap/hitspec</code>
    </div>

    {/* Code window mockup */}

    <div className="hs-window">
      <div className="hs-window-bar">
        <span className="hs-dot hs-dot-r" />

        <span className="hs-dot hs-dot-y" />

        <span className="hs-dot hs-dot-g" />

        <span className="hs-window-title">api.http</span>
      </div>

      <pre>
        {`@baseUrl = https://api.example.com

                ### Create a user
                # @name createUser
                POST {{baseUrl}}/users
                Content-Type: application/json

                { "name": "Ada", "email": "ada@example.com" }

                >>>
                expect status 201
                expect body.id exists
                expect body.email matches /^[^@]+@example\\.com$/
                <<<

                >>>capture
                userId from body.id
                <<<

                ### Fetch the user we just created
                # @depends createUser
                GET {{baseUrl}}/users/{{createUser.userId}}

                >>>
                expect status 200
                expect body.name == "Ada"
                expect duration < 500
                <<<`}
      </pre>
    </div>
  </div>
</section>

<section className="hs-stats">
  <div className="hs-stat">
    <div className="hs-stat-num">26</div>
    <div className="hs-stat-label">Assertion operators</div>
  </div>

  <div className="hs-stat">
    <div className="hs-stat-num">17</div>
    <div className="hs-stat-label">Built-in functions</div>
  </div>

  <div className="hs-stat">
    <div className="hs-stat-num">8</div>
    <div className="hs-stat-label">Auth types</div>
  </div>

  <div className="hs-stat">
    <div className="hs-stat-num">1</div>
    <div className="hs-stat-label">Binary, zero runtime deps</div>
  </div>
</section>

<section className="hs-section">
  <span className="hs-eyebrow">Why hitspec</span>
  <h2 className="hs-h2">Everything Postman does. In a text file.</h2>

  <p className="hs-lead">
    Tests are readable <code>.http</code> files — no binary collections, no JSON
    blobs, no GUI-only workflows. Diffs are meaningful, code review works
    naturally, and your whole API test suite lives next to your code in git.
  </p>

  <div className="hs-grid" style={{ marginTop: "1.5rem" }}>
    <Feature icon="📝" title="Plain-text .http files" href="/concepts/file-format">
      Tests look like real HTTP requests. Compatible with the REST Client VS Code
      format, so you get syntax highlighting for free.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🔍" title="26 assertion operators" href="/reference/assertion-operators">
      <code>==</code>, <code>contains</code>, <code>matches</code>, <code>exists</code>,
      <code>type</code>, <code>schema</code>, <code>snapshot</code>,
      <code>length</code>, <code>in</code>, and more.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🔗" title="Captures & dependencies" href="/concepts/captures">
      Chain requests by capturing response values and controlling execution order
      with <code>@depends</code>.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="⚡" title="Built-in stress testing" href="/features/stress-testing">
      Load test with configurable rate, virtual users, ramp-up, and pass/fail
      thresholds. No separate tool needed.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🎭" title="Mock server" href="/features/mock-server">
      Spin up a mock API from your <code>.http</code> files for frontend
      development and testing.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🗄️" title="Database assertions" href="/features/database-assertions">
      Verify database state after requests with <code>>>>db</code>
      blocks. PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🔑" title="8 authentication types" href="/features/authentication">
      Bearer, Basic, API Key, Digest, AWS Signature v4, OAuth2, and more.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🔌" title="Import & export" href="/reference/import-export">
      Import from curl, Insomnia, OpenAPI, and Postman. Export requests as
      curl, HTTPie, Python, fetch, Go, Ruby, or wget.
    </Feature>

    <Feature icon="🖥️" title="Interactive studio (TUI)" href="/studio">
      A keyboard-first terminal UI to edit, run, and inspect requests — like
      Postman, but file-backed. Run <code>hitspec studio</code>.
    </Feature>
  </div>
</section>

<section className="hs-band">
  <span className="hs-eyebrow">See it in action</span>
  <h2 className="hs-h2">A Postman-class client, in your terminal</h2>

  <p className="hs-lead">
    <code>hitspec studio</code> opens a keyboard-first workspace: a file tree,
    a syntax-highlighted source editor you can save inline, a tabbed response
    viewer (Body / Headers / Assertions / Timing / Captures), a command palette,
    an environment switcher, and dedicated screens for stress, mock, contract,
    record, and history. Everything the REST <code>--api-only</code> server does,
    driven by one in-process manager.
  </p>

  <div className="hs-cta-row">
    <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-primary" href="/studio">Explore the studio</a>
    <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-ghost" href="/guides/api-client-manager">How it works</a>
  </div>
</section>

<section className="hs-section">
  <span className="hs-eyebrow">Install</span>
  <h2 className="hs-h2">Running in under a minute</h2>

  <p className="hs-lead">
    One binary, no runtime dependencies. Pick whichever install path you prefer.
  </p>

  <Tabs>
    <Tab title="Homebrew (macOS / Linux)">
      ```bash theme={null}
      brew install --cask abdul-hamid-achik/tap/hitspec
      ```
    </Tab>

    <Tab title="Go">
      ```bash theme={null}
      go install github.com/abdul-hamid-achik/hitspec/apps/cli@latest
      ```
    </Tab>

    <Tab title="Binary download">
      Grab a pre-built archive from the
      [Releases page](https://github.com/abdul-hamid-achik/hitspec/releases/latest),
      extract it, and put it on your <code>PATH</code>. See the
      [installation guide](/installation) for platform-specific steps.
    </Tab>
  </Tabs>

  <p className="hs-lead" style={{ marginTop: "1.5rem" }}>
    Then write a test and run it:
  </p>

  ```bash theme={null}
  hitspec run api.http
  ```
</section>

<section className="hs-section">
  <span className="hs-eyebrow">How it compares</span>
  <h2 className="hs-h2">hitspec vs. the usual suspects</h2>

  <p className="hs-lead">
    A full test framework on top of plain HTTP requests — without a GUI,
    collections export, or JavaScript.
  </p>

  <div style={{ marginTop: "1.5rem", overflowX: "auto" }}>
    <table className="hs-compare">
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <th>Capability</th>
          <th>hitspec</th>
          <th>Postman / newman</th>
          <th>REST Client</th>
          <th>Hurl</th>
          <th>k6</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>

      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>Plain-text, git-friendly files</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Assertions + captures + dependencies</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Built-in stress / load testing</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Mock server from test files</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Database assertions</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Interactive terminal client (TUI)</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>No JavaScript / SDK required</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
          <td>Single binary, zero runtime deps</td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>

          <td>
            <Yes />
          </td>

          <td>
            <No />
          </td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
  </div>
</section>

<section className="hs-faq">
  <span className="hs-eyebrow">FAQ</span>
  <h2 className="hs-h2">Frequently asked questions</h2>

  <p className="hs-lead">
    Everything you need to decide whether hitspec is the right API testing tool
    for your team.
  </p>

  <AccordionGroup>
    <Accordion title="What is hitspec?">
      hitspec is an open-source, file-based HTTP API testing tool. You write API
      tests as plain-text <code>.http</code> files that look like real HTTP
      requests, and hitspec executes them, evaluates assertions, captures values
      for chaining, and produces CI-friendly output. There is no SDK, no GUI, and
      no JavaScript — just text files you can read, diff, and check into git.
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Is hitspec a good Postman alternative?">
      Yes. hitspec covers the same ground — requests, environments, auth,
      assertions, and an interactive client (<code>hitspec studio</code>) — but
      stores everything in version-controllable plain text. There are no binary
      collections to export, no GUI-only workflows, and tests live next to your
      code so code review works naturally. See the
      [migrating from Postman guide](/guides/migrating-from-postman).
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="What file format does hitspec use?">
      hitspec uses <code>.http</code> (or <code>.hitspec</code>) files. The
      <code>.http</code> format is compatible with the REST Client VS Code
      extension and other HTTP file tools, so you get syntax highlighting for
      free. hitspec adds assertion blocks (<code>>>></code> /
      <code>\<\<\<</code>), captures (<code>>>>capture</code>),
      request dependencies (<code>@depends</code>), and metadata directives on
      top. See the [file format reference](/concepts/file-format).
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Can hitspec do load and stress testing?">
      Yes. Built-in stress testing is available with the <code>--stress</code>
      flag and inside the studio stress screen. You can configure request rate,
      virtual users, ramp-up, and pass/fail thresholds, and export metrics to
      Prometheus or Datadog. No separate load-testing tool is required. See the
      [stress testing guide](/features/stress-testing).
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="How does hitspec compare to Hurl and k6?">
      Like Hurl, hitspec uses plain-text, no-JavaScript test files. Unlike Hurl,
      hitspec adds a built-in mock server, database assertions, an interactive
      terminal client, and import/export to curl, Postman, Insomnia, and
      OpenAPI. Like k6, hitspec has built-in load testing — but with a simpler,
      HTTP-file syntax instead of JavaScript scripting. See the comparison
      table above.
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Is hitspec free and open source?">
      Yes. hitspec is MIT-licensed and developed in the open on
      [GitHub](https://github.com/abdul-hamid-achik/hitspec). You can install it
      via Homebrew, <code>go install</code>, or a pre-built binary from the
      [releases page](https://github.com/abdul-hamid-achik/hitspec/releases).
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Does hitspec work in CI/CD pipelines?">
      Yes. hitspec has an official GitHub Action, emits JUnit XML, TAP, JSON,
      and HTML output, respects environment variables, and returns exit codes
      that map to test outcomes. See the
      [CI/CD guide](/guides/ci-cd-pipeline) and
      [GitHub Actions integration](/integrations/github-actions).
    </Accordion>

    <Accordion title="Can I verify database state after an API request?">
      Yes. Use a <code>>>>db</code> block to run SQL against PostgreSQL,
      MySQL, or SQLite and assert on the results after an HTTP request. This is
      ideal for verifying side effects. See
      [database assertions](/features/database-assertions).
    </Accordion>
  </AccordionGroup>
</section>

<section className="hs-final">
  <h2>Write your first API test in under a minute</h2>

  <p>
    No SDK. No GUI. No JavaScript. Just plain-text <code>.http</code> files you
    can read, diff, and check into git.
  </p>

  <div className="hs-cta-row" style={{ justifyContent: "center" }}>
    <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-primary" href="/quickstart">Start the quickstart →</a>
    <a className="hs-btn hs-btn-ghost" href="/installation" style={{ color: "#fff", borderColor: "rgba(255,255,255,0.5)" }}>Install hitspec</a>
  </div>
</section>