Getting Started with Insomnia: How to Export and Publish Collections

Insomnia is a super handy tool for API developers, but sharing your collections with team members or making them publicly accessible can feel a bit tricky. Let's walk through how to export a collection and then publish it for public use.

1. Exporting a Collection

First, let's see how to export a collection from Insomnia.

1. Open Insomnia and select the collection you want to export.
2. Click the three dots on the top right of the collection name and choose "Export (JSON)".
3. A dialog will pop up; save the JSON file to an appropriate location.

And there you have it—your collection is now exported as a JSON file.

2. Publishing the Exported Collection

Next, we’ll look at how to publish this exported JSON file.

Using GitHub for Publication

1. Go to your GitHub repository and create a new directory called insomnia/.
2. Upload the exported JSON file into this directory.
3. Click on the uploaded file and then click "Raw" on the top right.

This will generate a URL like this:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-username/your-repo/main/insomnia/your-collection.json

You can now use this URL to share the collection with your team members or make it publicly accessible.

3. Introducing EchoAPI

Let’s also introduce you to EchoAPI, a lightweight collaboration tool that can replace Insomnia or Postman. EchoAPI offers these features:

• Supports a scratch pad for ultra-lightweight API development.
• Provides API design, debugging, automated testing, and load testing functionalities.
• Comes with plugins for IntelliJ IDEA, VS Code, and a Chrome request capture extension.
• No login required to use.

If you’re looking for better flexibility and ease of use in API development, give EchoAPI a try.

That’s it! Now you know how to export and publish Insomnia collections. By sharing collections smoothly, your team development can be more efficient.