File Operations

Request body from a file

The < operator includes the contents of an external file as the request body:

POST https://api.example.com/data
Content-Type: application/json

< ./payload.json

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File paths can be absolute or relative to the .http file's location (or workspace root in VS Code). Visual Studio 2022 does not support file includes.

Variable substitution in included files

VS Code REST Client and httpyac use <@ to indicate that variables within the included file should be resolved:

POST https://api.example.com/data
Content-Type: application/json

<@ ./template.json

JetBrains resolves variables in included files by default. httpyac provides a # @injectVariables metadata tag to control this behavior for JetBrains compatibility.

An encoding can be specified in VS Code REST Client: <@latin1 ./file.xml

Multipart & uploads

All major implementations except Visual Studio 2022 support multipart form data using standard MIME boundary syntax:

POST https://api.example.com/upload
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----FormBoundary

------FormBoundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="field1"

value1
------FormBoundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="document.pdf"
Content-Type: application/pdf

< ./document.pdf
------FormBoundary--

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The < filepath within a multipart boundary references a binary file. The filename parameter in Content-Disposition determines whether the part is sent as a file upload or as form text.

JetBrains provides a live template shortcut mptr to quickly scaffold multipart requests.

Imports & cross-file execution

JetBrains: import and run

import ./auth-requests.http

run ./auth-requests.http#loginRequest

import makes requests from another file available. run executes a specific named request or all requests in a file. Variables can be overridden:

run ./file.http#request (@var=value)

httpyac: @import and @ref

# @import ./shared.http
# @ref loginRequest

GET https://api.example.com/protected
Authorization: Bearer {{loginRequest.token}}

# @import loads variables and named requests from another file. # @ref declares a dependency — the referenced request is executed if needed.

Other clients

kulala.nvim supports the JetBrains-compatible import and run syntax. VS Code REST Client and Visual Studio 2022 do not support cross-file imports or execution.

Saving responses

Saving with >> and >>!

JetBrains introduced the >> operator for saving response bodies to files:

GET https://api.example.com/data

>> ./responses/data.json

>> creates a new file, appending a numeric suffix (e.g., -1, -2) if the file already exists. >>! overwrites the file if it exists.

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The >> syntax can be combined with response handler scripts. Variables can be used in paths.

VS Code REST Client provides UI-based save buttons instead of in-file syntax.

Comparing with <>

JetBrains

JetBrains supports a <> response reference for comparing the current response against a previously saved response file:

GET https://api.example.com/data

<> ./expected-response.json

This is unique to JetBrains.

Client support

Per-client support for every file operation: File Operations comparison.