usebruno/bruno

Bruno is a desktop API client for exploring and testing HTTP APIs, positioned as a lightweight alternative to Postman and Insomnia. Its defining choice is storage: collections live in a folder on your filesystem in a plain-text markup called Bru, so requests can be reviewed and merged through Git or any other version control instead of syncing through a vendor cloud.

What changes in practice

Instead of exporting a collection from a hosted workspace, you commit the collection folder alongside the code. Reviewers see request changes as text diffs, and teammates branch and merge them like source files. The project states that Bruno is offline-only, with no plans to add cloud sync, so request data stays on your machine; sharing relies on your own repository or file exchange rather than a hosted account README.

Three ways to run it

The GUI is the main path: download binaries for Mac, Windows and Linux, or install through Homebrew, Chocolatey, Scoop, winget, Snap, Flatpak, AUR or Apt README installation. Note that the Apt path adds a third-party signing key and repository, which is a system-level change worth checking before use.

The second path is the Bruno CLI, installed from npm as @usebruno/cli, which runs a whole collection, a single request, or a folder against a named environment — the natural fit for automated API checks in CI/CD README.

The third path is the official Docker image of the CLI, published for both amd64 and arm64 with alpine and debian variants. It lets a pipeline run collections without installing Node.js or npm on the host README. Choose the path that matches your job: the GUI for authoring and exploration, the CLI or container for repeatable runs.

Conditions worth knowing

• The README frames the free open-source edition as covering most features, with paid versions available separately; which features sit behind the paid tiers is not detailed there, so check the pricing page if that matters README.
• The Docker images only package the CLI, not the desktop application.
• The software is MIT-licensed, so modification and redistribution are permitted under that licence's terms README.
• The repository description mentions GraphQL, OpenAPI and openapi3 topics, but the supplied README does not document the depth of those integrations; treat them as unverified scope.

A 2025 Hacker News commenter using it for occasional GET/POST work said it already covers more than most people need, while a 2023 thread debated whether developers would pay for such tools — background on the project's commercial model, not a functional assessment HN comment.