Dynamic Variables

Dynamic variables are prefixed with $ inside {{...}} and generate values at request time. Implementations support different sets with different syntax.

Universally supported

Widely Supported Supported by 3+ implementations, possibly with syntax variations.

UUID, timestamp, and random integer are available in most major clients — but with syntax variations. VS 2022 does not document UUID generation.

VS Code REST Client

{{$guid}}

JetBrains

{{$uuid}} or {{$random.uuid}}

httpyac

{{$guid}} or {{$uuid}}

VS Code REST Client

{{$randomInt 1 100}}

JetBrains

{{$randomInt}} (0-1000) or {{$random.integer(1, 100)}}

httpyac

Both syntaxes supported

VS Code REST Client dynamic variables

• {{$guid}} — UUID v4
• {{$randomInt min max}} — random integer in [min, max) range
• {{$timestamp [offset unit]}} — Unix timestamp with optional offset (e.g., {{$timestamp -1 d}})
• {{$datetime format [offset unit]}} — UTC datetime; formats: rfc1123, iso8601, or custom Day.js format
• {{$localDatetime format [offset unit]}} — local timezone datetime
• {{$processEnv NAME}} — OS environment variable
• {{$dotenv NAME}} — value from .env file
• {{$aadToken [options]}} — Azure AD v1 token
• {{$aadV2Token [options]}} — Azure AD v2 / Microsoft Identity Platform token
• {{$oidcAccessToken [options]}} — OpenID Connect token

Offset units: y (year), M (month), w (week), d (day), h (hour), m (minute), s (second), ms (millisecond).

JetBrains dynamic variables

• {{$uuid}} or {{$random.uuid}} — UUID v4
• {{$timestamp}} — Unix timestamp
• {{$isoTimestamp}} — ISO-8601 UTC timestamp
• {{$randomInt}} — random integer 0-1000
• {{$random.integer(min, max)}} — parameterized random integer
• {{$random.float(min, max)}} — random float
• {{$random.alphabetic(length)}} — random letters
• {{$random.alphanumeric(length)}} — random letters, digits, underscores
• {{$random.hexadecimal(length)}} — random hex string
• {{$random.email}} — random email address
• {{$exampleServer}} — IntelliJ built-in web server URL
• {{$projectRoot}} — project root path

Java Faker-based $random.* categories: $random.name, $random.address, $random.company, $random.lorem, $random.commerce, $random.finance, $random.internet, $random.phoneNumber, and many more.

Localized random data: {{$random.locale.name.fullName("fr")}}

OS environment variables: {{$env.VARNAME}}

httpyac dynamic variables

httpyac supports both VS Code REST Client and JetBrains dynamic variable syntaxes. Additionally:

• {{$input prompt $value: default}} — prompt user for input
• {{$password prompt}} — prompt with masked input
• {{$pick prompt $value: opt1,opt2,opt3}} — selection picker
• {{$input-askonce prompt}} — prompt once, cache value

All {{...}} expressions are evaluated as Node.js JavaScript, so {{new Date().toISOString()}} is valid.

Visual Studio 2022 dynamic variables

• {{$datetime format [offset]}}, {{$localDatetime format [offset]}}, {{$timestamp [offset]}} — matching VS Code REST Client syntax
• {{$randomInt [min max]}}
• {{$processEnv NAME}}, {{$dotenv NAME}}

Client support

Per-client support for every dynamic variable: Variables & Environments comparison.