Request History

REST CLI automatically tracks request and response history for debugging, auditing, and replaying requests.

Overview

History tracking captures:

• Request details (method, URL, headers, body)
• Response data (status, headers, body)
• Execution metadata (timestamp, duration, sizes)
• Errors (if any)

Enabling/Disabling History

Global Setting

History is enabled by default. To disable globally, edit ~/.restcli/.session.json:

{
  "historyEnabled": false
}

Or toggle in TUI:

1. Press C to open configuration viewer
2. Navigate to history setting
3. Press t to toggle

Per-Profile Control

Override global setting per profile in ~/.restcli/.profiles.json:

{
  "name": "Production",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer {{token}}"
  },
  "historyEnabled": false
}

Priority:

1. Profile setting (if specified)
2. Global setting (if profile doesn’t specify)

Use cases for disabling:

• Production profiles - Avoid logging sensitive production data
• High-volume testing - Prevent history buildup during load tests
• Sensitive APIs - Don’t persist API keys or PII in history
• Temporary work - Exploratory testing without logging

Viewing History

TUI Mode

Press H to open history viewer.

History List:

Key	Action
/	Search/filter entries
↑/↓ or j/k	Navigate entries (left pane)
Shift+↑/↓ or J/K	Scroll preview pane (right pane)
gg	Go to first entry
G	Go to last entry
PgUp/PgDn	Page up/down
Ctrl+u/d	Half page up/down
Enter	Load entry into main view
r	Replay request
p	Toggle preview pane visibility
C	Clear all history (with confirmation)
ESC or H or q	Close viewer

Search Mode:

Press / to filter history entries. Search is case-insensitive and matches:

• URL
• HTTP method
• Request name
• Status code
• Status text
• Timestamp

While searching:

• Type to filter in real-time
• Backspace to delete characters
• Enter to keep filtered results
• ESC to cancel and show all entries

Footer shows: Search: query█ [N results] or scroll position [current/total] (percentage%)

Details View:

• Full request (method, URL, headers, body)
• Response (status, headers, body)
• Metadata (timestamp, duration, sizes)

File Location

History stored in: ~/.restcli/restcli.db (SQLite database, history table)

Clearing History

Clear All (TUI)

1. Press H to open history
2. Press D to clear all
3. Confirm with y or cancel with n

Confirmation dialog:

┌─ Confirm ─────────────────────────┐
│ Clear all history?                │
│                                   │
│  This will delete all 127 entries │
│  This action cannot be undone.    │
│                                   │
│  [y] Yes  [n] No                  │
└───────────────────────────────────┘

History Entry Structure

{
  "timestamp": "2024-11-23T14:30:22Z",
  "requestFile": "/path/to/requests.http",
  "requestName": "Get User",
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "https://api.example.com/users/123",
  "headers": {
    "Authorization": "Bearer token123",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  "body": "",
  "responseStatus": 200,
  "responseStatusText": "200 OK",
  "responseHeaders": {
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  "responseBody": "{\"id\":123,\"name\":\"Alice\"}",
  "duration": 245,
  "requestSize": 0,
  "responseSize": 32,
  "error": ""
}

Replaying Requests

From History

1. Press H to open history
2. Navigate to desired entry
3. Press r to replay

Replay behavior:

• Uses exact same request (method, URL, headers, body)
• Resolves variables at replay time (may differ from original)
• Captures new response in history
• Useful for:
  • Debugging API changes
  • Comparing responses over time
  • Re-running failed requests