HttpDesigner is a free Visual Studio extension for developers to send API and REST requests.

It's like Postman for Visual Studio - giving .http files a friendly GUI.

Step 1:

Download directly within Visual Studio by searching for 'HttpDesigner' in the Tools->Extensions and Updates dialog
(or download from the Visual Studio Marketplace).

Step 2:

After you restart Visual Studio, if you don't see HttpDesigner, activate it from the Tools menu


Step 3:

Click the "+" tab to create a new request, and fill in the URL, and any parameters you want to send as needed. If you choose POST, you can send form parameters in the Body ta.b


Step 4:

Click Send, to send the request (if the request is going to this project, remember to run the project). To save the request, select the .HTTP file to save it to on the left, and click Save.


Troubleshooting

  • Cannot enable: If you have installed HttpDesigner previously and it is now disabled, please see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/35203647/updating-visual-studio-2015-extensions-end-up-disabled you can get the tool mentioned, here https://github.com/remcoros/DuplicateExtensionFinder/releases/download/v1.2/DuplicateExtensionFinder.exe and run it with "DuplicateExtensionFinder.exe -delete"
  • Cannot enable (administrator usage): If running VS as administrator, and HttpDesigner isn't enabled (the Tools menu item is deactivated) you will need to go to "Tools | Options | Environment | Extensions and Updates" and check "Load per user extensions when running as administrator".
  • Invisible tool window: If the HttpDesigner window doesn't appear, please restart Visual Studio and try running the project again (if it still won't work, resetting your VS settings should fix it Tools->Import and Export Settings Wizard->Reset all settings->select “No, just reset settings, overwriting my current settings”->Choose a Default Collection of settings).
  • Closed the window: You can reopen the HttpDesigner window by going to Tools->HttpDesigner to disable it, and then repeat to re-enable it - the next time you run the project the HttpDesigner window should appear.

Technical support is available by emailing support@keyoti.com