Rostyman Collection Format

Rostyman uses its own JSON-based .rostyman format for exporting and importing collections. This format captures everything in a single file: requests, folders, variables, environments, auth, scripts, and examples.

Overview

Property	Value
File extension	.rostyman or .json
MIME type	application/json
Encoding	UTF-8
Version	1.0

Top-Level Structure

{
  "_type": "rostyman_collection",
  "_version": "1.0",
  "info": {
    "name": "My API Collection",
    "description": "Optional description",
    "exportedAt": "2026-03-25T12:00:00.000Z",
    "exportedFrom": "Rostyman 0.1.0-beta.9"
  },
  "auth": { ... },
  "preScript": "// runs before every request",
  "testScript": "// runs after every response",
  "variables": [ ... ],
  "environments": [ ... ],
  "items": [ ... ]
}

Required Fields

• _type — must be "rostyman_collection"
• _version — format version (currently "1.0")
• info.name — collection name

Optional Fields

• info.description — collection description
• info.exportedAt — ISO 8601 timestamp
• info.exportedFrom — Rostyman version that created the file
• auth — collection-level authentication
• preScript — JavaScript that runs before all requests
• testScript — JavaScript that runs after all responses
• variables — collection-scoped variables
• environments — named variable sets
• items — folders and requests (recursive tree)

Items (Requests & Folders)

Items form a recursive tree. Each item is either a request or a folder.

Request

{
  "type": "request",
  "name": "Get Users",
  "description": "Fetch paginated user list",
  "method": "GET",
  "url": "{{baseUrl}}/api/users",
  "params": [
    { "key": "page", "value": "1", "enabled": true, "description": "Page number" },
    { "key": "limit", "value": "20", "enabled": true, "description": "" }
  ],
  "headers": [
    { "key": "Accept", "value": "application/json", "enabled": true, "description": "" }
  ],
  "body": {
    "mode": "none"
  },
  "auth": { "type": "inherit" },
  "preScript": "",
  "testScript": "rm.test('Status is 200', () => rm.expect(rm.response.code).to.equal(200));",
  "examples": []
}

Supported methods: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS

Folder

{
  "type": "folder",
  "name": "Users",
  "description": "User management endpoints",
  "items": [
    { "type": "request", "name": "Get Users", ... },
    { "type": "folder", "name": "Admin", "items": [ ... ] }
  ]
}

Folders can nest to any depth.

Body

{
  "mode": "raw",
  "raw": "{ \"name\": \"John\" }",
  "language": "json"
}

Mode	Fields	Description
none	—	No body
raw	raw, language	Raw text body
formdata	formdata[]	Multipart form data
urlencoded	urlencoded[]	URL-encoded form
graphql	graphql.query, graphql.variables	GraphQL query

Raw languages: json, xml, html, text, javascript, graphql

Form Data / URL-Encoded

{
  "mode": "formdata",
  "formdata": [
    { "key": "file", "value": "/path/to/file.png", "enabled": true, "description": "Upload" },
    { "key": "name", "value": "photo.png", "enabled": true, "description": "" }
  ]
}

GraphQL

{
  "mode": "graphql",
  "graphql": {
    "query": "query GetUser($id: ID!) { user(id: $id) { name email } }",
    "variables": "{ \"id\": \"123\" }"
  }
}

Authentication

{ "type": "none" }
{ "type": "inherit" }
{ "type": "bearer", "bearer": { "token": "{{accessToken}}" } }
{ "type": "basic", "basic": { "username": "admin", "password": "{{password}}" } }
{ "type": "api-key", "apikey": { "key": "X-API-Key", "value": "{{apiKey}}", "in": "header" } }

All auth types: none, inherit, bearer, basic, api-key, oauth2, oauth1, digest, aws, ntlm, hawk

OAuth 2.0

{
  "type": "oauth2",
  "oauth2": {
    "grantType": "authorization_code",
    "authUrl": "https://auth.example.com/authorize",
    "tokenUrl": "https://auth.example.com/token",
    "clientId": "my-app",
    "clientSecret": "{{clientSecret}}",
    "scope": "read write",
    "redirectUri": "https://localhost/callback",
    "token": ""
  }
}

Grant types: authorization_code, authorization_code_pkce, client_credentials, password, implicit

Variables

Collection-scoped variables available to all requests:

"variables": [
  {
    "key": "baseUrl",
    "value": "https://api.example.com",
    "type": "text",
    "enabled": true,
    "description": "API base URL"
  },
  {
    "key": "apiSecret",
    "value": "sk-...",
    "type": "secret",
    "enabled": true,
    "description": "API secret key"
  }
]

Types: text (default), secret (masked in UI)

Environments

Named variable sets for switching between configurations:

"environments": [
  {
    "name": "Local",
    "variables": [
      { "key": "baseUrl", "value": "http://localhost:3000", "type": "text", "enabled": true, "description": "" },
      { "key": "token", "value": "dev-token-123", "type": "secret", "enabled": true, "description": "" }
    ]
  },
  {
    "name": "Production",
    "variables": [
      { "key": "baseUrl", "value": "https://api.example.com", "type": "text", "enabled": true, "description": "" },
      { "key": "token", "value": "", "type": "secret", "enabled": true, "description": "Set before use" }
    ]
  }
]

Examples

Saved response examples for documentation:

"examples": [
  {
    "name": "Success",
    "statusCode": 200,
    "statusText": "OK",
    "headers": { "content-type": "application/json" },
    "body": "{ \"success\": true, \"data\": [] }"
  },
  {
    "name": "Unauthorized",
    "statusCode": 401,
    "statusText": "Unauthorized",
    "headers": { "content-type": "application/json" },
    "body": "{ \"error\": \"Invalid token\" }"
  }
]

Design Principles

1. No internal IDs — database IDs are never exported. New IDs are generated on import.
2. Variables as placeholders — {{baseUrl}} is exported literally, never resolved.
3. Single file — everything (requests, folders, variables, environments, auth, scripts, examples) in one JSON file.
4. Pretty-printed — 2-space indentation for readability and clean diffs.
5. Forward-compatible — the importer ignores unknown fields, so newer exports can be read by older versions.
6. Deterministic — fields are always in the same order for consistent diffs.

Exporting

1. Right-click a collection in the sidebar
2. Select Export
3. Choose Rostyman JSON format
4. Save the .rostyman file

Importing

1. Click Import in the sidebar header
2. Select your .rostyman file
3. Rostyman creates a new collection with all folders, requests, variables, environments, and scripts preserved

The importer also supports Postman (v2.1), Insomnia, OpenAPI, HAR, Thunder Client, Hoppscotch, Bruno, and cURL.