---
title: Request collections in Insomnia
description: This page is an introduction to request collections in Insomnia
url: "/insomnia/collections/"
canonical_url: "/insomnia/collections/"
content_type: landing_page
products:
- Insomnia
canonical: true


---






# Collections


## Request collections in Insomnia
Collections are a way to group requests in Insomnia. You can use them to:




* [Create and send requests](#send-requests)

* [Run multiple requests](#get-started-with-requests) with the Collection Runner

* [Write scripts](#write-scripts) to modify requests or check responses



![Image of a collection](/assets/images/insomnia/collection.png)


## Send requests



With Insomnia, you can send requests via HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, and WebSockets. You can send a single request or run a series of requests in a specific order.



[Learn more about requests](/insomnia/requests/)


![Image of a request](/assets/images/insomnia/request.png)


### Get started with requests


#### Requests reference

Configure and send different types of requests

[Learn more](/insomnia/requests/)


#### Use the Collection Runner

Use the Collection Runner to send multiple requests in a specific order

[Learn more](/how-to/use-the-collection-runner/)


#### Chain requests

Reuse content from a response in another request

[Learn more](/how-to/chain-requests/)


#### Request authentication

Learn what request authentication is and how to authenticate requests in Insomnia

[Learn more](/insomnia/request-authentication/)


## Write scripts



The pre-request and after-response scripts allows you to interact with the request and its response. You can use these to:




* Set or unset variables

* Update the contents of the request

* Dynamically update request bodies

* Test the response



![Image of an after-response script](/assets/images/insomnia/after-response-script.png)


### Get started with scripts


#### Scripts reference

Learn how to write pre-request and after-response scripts.

[Learn more](/insomnia/scripts/)


#### Write pre-request scripts to add dynamic behavior

Use pre-request scripts on a collection in Insomnia to carry out pre-processing such as setting variable values, parameters, headers, and body data for requests.

[Learn more](/how-to/write-pre-request-scripts/)


#### Write after-response scripts to validate responses

Use after-response scripts on a collection in Insomnia to run tests such as validating values in responses.

[Learn more](/how-to/write-after-response-script/)


## Frequently asked questions


- What's the difference between a collection and a design document?
  Documents are a data object that can contain an API spec, a collection of API requests, and tests. Collections are simply a series of API requests that you intend to interact with Insomnia.

- Can I import requests from another tool?
  Yes, you can create requests in collections by importing:
  - Postman collections
  - Swagger/OpenAPI specifications
  - cURL commands
  - Insomnia files
  - HAR files
  - WSDL files

- Can I run collections in CI/CD environments?
  Yes, you can use the [`inso run collection`](/inso-cli/reference/run_collection/) command in Inso CLI to run a collection automatically.

- Can I set authentication headers at the collection level so I do not repeat them on every request?
  No. As a workaround, group the relevant requests in a **folder** and then set authentication at the folder level for that group to avoid duplicating headers on each request.

- Can I hide other projects and collections to focus only on one collection?
  Yes. Go to **Preferences** > **General** > **Application** and enable **Sidebar focus for collections**. The sidebar then displays only the contents of the collection you select. This is enabled by default since Insomnia 13.2