# Kong/insomnia

The open-source, cross-platform API client for GraphQL, REST, WebSockets, SSE and gRPC. With Cloud, Local and Git storage.

Repository: https://github.com/Kong/insomnia
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/insomnia
Homepage: https://insomnia.rest
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: electron-app, rest-api, api-client, curl, http-client, graphql, api-design, api, grpc, websockets
Last push: 2026-08-26T14:32:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 99/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3784, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 27, "n_releases_24m": 30}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 39954, forks 2363 (observed 2026-08-28T04:12:08.084639+00:00)

## What it is
Insomnia is an open-source, cross-platform desktop API client for debugging, designing, testing, and mocking APIs across REST, GraphQL, WebSockets, SSE, and gRPC. It supports local, Git, and cloud storage backends, an OpenAPI design editor, collection testing with scripting, mock servers, and a CLI (Inso) for CI/CD automation.

## Use cases
- debug and send requests to REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSocket APIs
- design APIs from OpenAPI specs with live preview
- run automated API test collections in CI/CD pipelines
- generate mock servers from OpenAPI specs or natural language
- test MCP servers with a native MCP client
- store API collections locally or sync via Git without cloud
- import Postman collections and scripts

## When to choose
- you need a free, open-source Postman alternative with multi-protocol support
- you want local-only or Git-based storage for sensitive API collections
- your team follows a design-first OpenAPI workflow with linting and CI automation
- you need API mocking to unblock frontend/backend parallel development

## When to avoid
- you only need simple one-off curl-style requests from the terminal
- you require fully offline use of premium features like unlimited collaboration or enterprise SSO
- you prefer a lightweight CLI-only HTTP client without a GUI

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: http-client, api-framework, testing, mock-api, developer-tools, cli, websocket, graphql
- domain: apis, developer-tools, web-development, testing
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: api-client, rest, grpc, openapi, postman-alternative, api-design, api-mocking, collection-runner, mcp-client, git-sync, automation, macos, linux, electron, desktop

## Member repositories
- Kong/insomnia (main) score 99

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:08.084639+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:24:05.711355+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Kong/insomnia (fetched 2026-08-28T04:12:08.084639+00:00, sha 26bbd197685d)
  - homepage: https://insomnia.rest (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.402315+00:00, sha 1a3668d159e8)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/ai-native (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.405152+00:00, sha 8a9243bf7d5d)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/api-design (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.407478+00:00, sha 65aed8c18bcd)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/insomnia-cli (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.409310+00:00, sha c3db252dd22a)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/api-mocking (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.411085+00:00, sha e03bd0d4cc6a)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/collaboration (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.412794+00:00, sha c0f3c4e11dcc)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/api-testing (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.414380+00:00, sha f3c046a76a3b)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/local-vault (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.416141+00:00, sha 66dcbba28ea5)
  - site_page: https://insomnia.rest/features/api-debugging (fetched 2026-08-29T07:47:04.418104+00:00, sha 0eff3c5d3450)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.