Import an API specification into an API Collection in Insomnia

Uses: Insomnia

Prerequisites

Insomnia

Download and install Insomnia.

API specification

You need to have an API specification in one of the following formats:

Insomnia
Postman v2
HAR
OpenAPI (versions 3.0, 3.1)
Swagger
WSDL
cURL

Select a specification

In your workspace, click Import.
Select the source of the import: File, URL, cURL, or Clipboard.
Based on the source you selected, either choose a file, enter a URL, or paste your API specification.

Insomnia automatically detects cURL commands and converts them into requests.

Scan the specification

Click Scan.
Review the resources to import.
Click Import.

Insomnia creates an API Collection for your specification and puts the specification in its Spec tab.

Validate

Open the imported API Collection and click the Spec tab. You can see three different views:

On the left you can see an overview of the specification, with sections that you can expand. You can click the different elements to highlight them in the specification.
In the middle, you can see the specification as it was imported. You can also see if there are any warnings or errors.
On the right, you can see a preview of the rendering of the specification.

API spec in the Spec tab of an API Collection

To turn the specification into requests you can send, click Generate and select “Requests”. For more information, see Generate requests from an API spec.

FAQs

Can I import a GraphQL API spec in Insomnia?

Yes. For Insomnia to autodetect that your spec is in GraphQL format, the path must be /graphql, the method must be POST, the request body must be application/json and must contain a property query with the type string, and the response body must be application/json.

Where does my spec go after I import it?

Insomnia creates an API Collection for the spec and puts the spec in the Spec tab of that API Collection. In Insomnia 13.2 and earlier, this was a separate workspace type called a design document. For more details, see API Collections.