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.

Top Group — Primary Modules

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
Databases	Database connections, query tabs, schema browser, ER diagram
Specifications	Your project documents and common files (Markdown, JSON, YAML, SQL, config…) — see Specifications
Workflows	Visual workflow list with create/rename/delete
File Sharing	Send files and chat with nearby devices over your LAN
Mock Server	Running mock servers with start/stop controls
Scheduler	Local cron job management

Bottom Rail

The bottom of the sidebar is a focused three-icon rail:

Icon	Panel
More	Opens a flyout grouping secondary tools — Themes, Languages, Git Sync, AI Assistant, Plugins, Cookies, AI History, and Shape Rostyman (optional feedback).
Trash	Deleted items (with count badge)
Settings	App settings tab

The More popup is how you reach the Theme Manager and Language Manager UIs, plus the cookies and plugins managers and the Git Sync and AI Assistant panels.

Toggle the sidebar with Ctrl+B or Ctrl+\.

Shape Rostyman (optional feedback)

Once in a while a short, optional feedback card may appear in the bottom-right corner asking what you'd like us to build next. It takes under a minute and is entirely dismissible — and it never asks about pricing or what you'd pay, only what matters to you.

• Open it any time from More → Shape Rostyman.
• If you've already answered, reopening it shows your previous answers so you can review and update them instead of starting over.
• Don't want to be asked? Choose Don't ask again on the card.

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 docs.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, SSE, MCP (click to create a new request of that type)