Bruno — Open-Source IDE for API Exploration & Testing

What Bruno Does

• HTTP requests — REST, GraphQL, gRPC (beta)
• Plain text storage — .bru files in your repo
• Environments — dev/staging/prod variables
• Scripting — pre-request and post-response JavaScript
• Tests — assertions on responses
• Auth — Basic, Bearer, OAuth2, AWS Sig
• CLI — bru run for CI/CD
• Offline — no account, no cloud sync

Architecture

Electron app + open .bru file format (similar to HTTP files). Each collection is a directory tree. Environment files are .env style. CLI shares the same engine for headless runs.

Self-Hosting

Desktop app — no server. Collections live in your Git repo.

# Project structure
my-api/
├── bruno.json
├── environments/
│   ├── dev.bru
│   └── prod.bru
└── users/
    ├── list.bru
    └── create.bru

Key Features

• Plain text .bru format (Git-friendly)
• Offline by default (no cloud account)
• Environment variables
• JavaScript scripting (pre/post)
• Built-in assertions
• CLI for CI/CD
• OpenAPI/Postman import
• Free, no paywall

Comparison

FAQ

Q: Can I migrate from Postman? A: Yes. File → Import → select a Postman collection JSON. Bruno automatically converts it to .bru files.

Q: How does team collaboration work? A: Store the collection in a Git repo and have the team push/pull. Use .env for environment variables to keep sensitive info isolated.

Q: Does it support GraphQL? A: Yes. Select GraphQL as the request type and introspection is provided automatically.

Sources & Credits

• Docs: https://docs.usebruno.com
• GitHub: https://github.com/usebruno/bruno
• License: MIT