Interface Overview
Rostyman's layout is designed to be familiar if you've used other API clients, but cleaner and faster.
Layout
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [─][□][✕] ← [ ● My Project ▾ ] → ☰ Hamburger menu │
├──────┬───────────────────────────────────────┬────────────────────┤
│ │ Tab Bar: [GET /posts ●] [+ New Tab] │ │
│ ├───────────────────────────────────────┤ Right │
│ S │ │ Panel │
│ i │ Request Builder │ │
│ d │ [GET ▾] [ URL ................] [Send]│ Variables │
│ e │ Params | Headers | Body | Auth | │ Git Sync │
│ b │ Scripts | Cookies | History | Code │ AI Assistant │
│ a ├───────────────────────────────────────┤ Notifications │
│ r │ │ MCP │
│ │ Response Viewer │ │
│ │ 200 OK • 142ms • 1.2 KB │ │
│ │ Body | Headers | Tests | Cookies │ │
├──────┴───────────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────┤
│ Console Panel (toggle with Ctrl+`) │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Status Bar Auto-save ● | Globals | Vault | Tools | Console │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Title Bar
The custom title bar contains:
- Window controls — minimize, maximize, close (left side on Windows/Linux, right side on macOS)
- Workspace switcher — centered in the title bar; shows the current workspace name with a color dot. Click to search, switch, create, rename, or delete workspaces
- Hamburger menu (☰) — File, Edit, View, Help menus with all app actions
Sidebar
The left sidebar has an icon strip and an expandable panel:
| Icon | Panel |
|---|---|
| Collections | Collections tree — all saved requests organized in folders |
| History | Global request history with search |
| Environments | Environments grouped by collection with drag-and-drop |
| Workflows | Visual workflow list with create/rename/delete |
| Mock Server | Running mock servers with start/stop controls |
| Scheduler | Local cron job management |
| Git Sync | Opens Git panel in the right sidebar |
| AI Assistant | Opens AI panel in the right sidebar |
| Plugins | Plugin Manager tab |
| Cookies | Cookie Manager tab |
| Trash | Deleted items (with count badge) |
| Settings | App settings tab |
Toggle the sidebar with Ctrl+B or Ctrl+\.
Tab Bar
Each open request, collection, folder, or panel appears as a tab:
●dot — green when tab has content+button — opens the New Tab menu with protocol options (Ctrl+T)- Collection tabs — click a collection name in the sidebar to open its settings (auth, scripts, variables)
- Folder tabs — click a folder name in the sidebar to open its settings (auth, scripts, overview with breadcrumbs)
- Right-click for tab context menu (duplicate, close others, force close)
- Tabs remember which sub-tab you were on (e.g., Auth, Scripts) when you switch away and back
Request Builder
The top section where you build your request:
- Method selector — GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
- URL bar — supports
{{variable}}substitution - Send button — sends the request (
Ctrl+Enter) - Environment selector — choose which environment's variables to use
- Sub-tabs — Params, Auth, Headers, Body, Scripts, Cookies, History, Code, Examples, Settings
Response Viewer
The bottom section shows the response:
- Status badge — color-coded: green (2xx), orange (3xx), red (4xx/5xx)
- Time — response time in milliseconds
- Size — response body size
- Body tab — Pretty (formatted), Raw, or Preview view
- Headers tab — all response headers
- Tests tab — test results (pass/fail)
- Cookies tab — cookies set by the response
Right Panel
A VS Code-style panel on the right side with vertical tabs, similar to VS Code's secondary sidebar:
- Git Sync — repository status, branches, remotes, commit history
- AI Assistant — generate requests, explain responses, write tests
- Notifications — view source change alerts, sync updates, and scheduler results with search, dismiss, and clear all actions
- MCP — manage your MCP server, connect external MCP servers, view activity logs
- Variables — see all variables used in the current request with source badges
Panel Behavior
- Vertical tab strip — labels are arranged vertically along the right edge. Click any label to expand that panel.
- Pin / Unpin — click the pin icon to keep the panel open permanently. When pinned, horizontal tabs appear at the top for quick switching. Unpin to auto-hide.
- Auto-hide — when unpinned, the panel slides away when your mouse leaves, giving you more screen space.
- Resize — drag the left edge of the panel to adjust its width.
Toggle the entire panel with Ctrl+J or the panel icon in the status bar.
Console Panel
A resizable bottom panel showing script output and logs. Toggle with Ctrl+`.
Status Bar
The thin bar at the bottom:
- Auto-save — toggle + interval selector + "Saved" indicator
- Globals — quick access to global variables (with count)
- Vault — quick access to vault secrets (with count)
- Tools — Runner, Cookies, Find & Replace, Trash
- MCP — green badge when MCP server is running (click to open MCP settings)
- Console — toggle with entry count badge
- Panel controls — toggle left sidebar, bottom console, right panel
- Update badge — appears when a new version is downloaded
Help Menu
Access from the menu bar (Help) or the hamburger menu:
- Documentation — opens the docs site at rostyman.com
- Wiki — opens the GitHub wiki for quick reference
- Changelog — opens the GitHub releases page
- What's New — shows what changed in the current version
- Report a Bug — opens GitHub Issues
- Check for Updates — manually checks for app updates
- About Rostyman — shows version info
Empty State
When no tabs are open, the main area shows:
- Quick actions: Ask AI, Create new, Import, Find in workspace
- Protocol buttons: HTTP, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, Socket.IO, MQTT, MCP (click to create a new request of that type)