Postcode – VS Code Extension alternative to Postman
Visual Studio Code has been my go-to choice of editor since I started developing web applications. It’s impressive UX is one thing, but what I really love is the availability of various extensions/plugins in the Visual Studio Marketplace that makes it easy to to add new languages, themes, debuggers, and to connect to additional services.
Naturally, this sparked my curiosity to learn about how I could make my own extension and publish it to the marketplace. Couple of weeks later, here we are and I’ve published my first extension 🚀 — Postcode.
What does Postcode do?
Postcode can be seen as an alternative to Postman. Postcode is an API client for developers to create and test simple and complex HTTP/s requests, as well as view responses without leaving the code editor.
Extension Objectives:
The goals of the extension were primarily focussed on the UI/UX — keeping it similar to Postman (while also ensuring the extension fits seamlessly with the user’s VS code theme) so it’s familiar for developers to use and switch to with ease.
Quick Start to use Postcode:
Step 1. Install the Postcode extension for Visual Studio Code from the Marketplace.
Step 2. Click on the Postcode icon in the side panel OR run the following command from the command palette by pressing (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac):
Postcode: Create Request
Step 3. Create or test your HTTP/s requests and hit Send to see the responses
Behind the scenes
Technology
Postcode is written in TypeScript and JavaScript, and uses ReactJS.
Where can I find Postcode?
You can find the Postcode extension in the Visual Studio Code Marketplace and the code repository on Github.
Feedback, Issues and Contributions
Since this is the first extension I’ve made, there’s definitely room for improvement and I’m open to any kind of feedback.
- If you come across a problem/bug with the extension, please file an issue. For the list of known issues, please check the issues tab on Github.
- You can find planned features for future releases marked as feature under issues tab and if you have a new feature requests, please file an issue.
- Postcode is completely open sourced and contributions are always welcome. To get started and understand the structure of the application, please check the contributions section.
Do download the extension and share this if you found it helpful 😄
