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Post User Guide & Visual Walkthrough

Complete visual walkthrough and reference manual for Post.

A complete visual walkthrough and reference manual for Post, a native macOS application for HTTP API testing, local webhook debugging, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool inspection.

View on GitHub 🍳 Open Practical Cookbook →

Table of Contents

  1. HTTP Workbench & Request Construction
  2. Environments, Keychain & 1Password (op://) Secrets
  3. Authentication Presets & Zero-Copy Response Chaining
  4. JSONPath Querying, Response Diffing & Code Generation
  5. Local Webhook Listener, Mock Rules & Live Replay
  6. Model Context Protocol (MCP) Inspector (HTTP/SSE & stdio)
  7. Stash-Model Auto-Suggest & Keyboard Navigation
  8. Sample Use Cases & cURL Import/Export

1. HTTP Workbench & Request Construction

The HTTP Workbench is your primary workspace for building, parameterizing, and executing HTTP API calls.

HTTP Workbench Overview HTTP Workbench Overview (annotated)

Visual Callout Guide

  • ① Stash-Model Token Filter (⌘K): Press ⌘K (or ⌘F) to jump to the search bar. Press Tab to browse filter keys (method:, status:, type:, host:, collection:) and filter your requests or history without touching the mouse.
  • ② Environment & Code Export Toolbar:
    • Environment Menu: Switch between Local Dev, Production, HomeLab & Home Assistant, or HTTPBin Sandbox.
    • Gear Button (⌘E): Open the Environments & Collections Manager sheet.
    • Copy cURL / Code Export Split Button: Click the primary side to copy a runnable curl command, or click the chevron to export idiomatic Go (net/http), Swift (URLSession), or Python (httpx) code.
  • ③ Dynamic {{variable}} Interpolation: Use {{variable_name}} placeholders in URLs, query parameters (userId = {{user_id}}), headers, auth tokens, or request bodies. Values are resolved dynamically at execution time.
  • ④ Live JSONPath Slicing & Diff: Enter a dot/bracket JSONPath query (such as $.company or $.items[0].id) in the response filter bar to slice large payloads on the fly, and click Copy Result to copy only the matched fragment.

2. Environments, Keychain & 1Password (op://) Secrets

Post provides three tiers of variable and secret storage so sensitive tokens never leak into plain-text files or Git repositories.

Environments, Keychain & 1Password Secret Manager Environments, Keychain & 1Password Secret Manager (annotated)

Visual Callout Guide

  • ① Switchable Environment Profiles: Create dedicated profiles for each deployment target (Local Dev, Production, HomeLab & Home Assistant, HTTPBin Sandbox). Switching the active profile immediately re-evaluates all {{variable}} placeholders across the workbench.
  • ② macOS Keychain Secrets (🔒): Click the lock icon on any variable row to mark it as a Keychain Secret. Post stores the value in the native macOS Keychain (kSecClassGenericPassword under com.msjurset.post-mac.env) and omits the secret string from ~/Library/Application Support/Post/workspace.json.
  • ③ 1Password CLI (op://) Secret URIs: Paste a 1Password secret reference (op://Vault/Item/field) into any variable value—or use {{op://Vault/Item/field}} directly inline in a request header or Auth field. Post automatically detects the URI, displays a blue 1P op:// badge, and resolves the secret at request time via op read --no-newline (prompting once via Touch ID).
  • ④ 1Password Session Cache Control: Resolved op:// secrets are cached in memory for the current app session so repeated requests don’t re-prompt Touch ID. Click Clear 1P Cache at any time to evict all cached secrets from memory.

3. Authentication Presets & Zero-Copy Response Chaining

Chain authentication responses directly into downstream requests without manual copy-paste.

Step A: Extract Tokens on Login (Chaining Tab)

Zero-Copy Auth Chaining Zero-Copy Auth Chaining (annotated)

  • ① Response Chaining Tab: Select the Chaining tab on any login or token-exchange request (e.g., 1. Auth Login (Extract JWT & User ID)).
  • ② JSONPath Extraction Rules: Specify the JSONPath expression to evaluate against the response body (e.g., $.json.access_token and $.json.user.id).
  • ③ Target Environment Variables: Specify the environment variable name (jwt_token, user_id) where the extracted value should be written upon receiving an HTTP response.

Step B: Consume Extracted Tokens (Auth Tab)

Dedicated Auth Presets Dedicated Auth Presets (annotated)

  • ① Dedicated Auth Tab: Select the Auth tab on any downstream request and choose from None, Bearer Token, Basic Auth, or API Key (Header or Query Param).
  • ② Chained {{jwt_token}} Injection: Reference {{jwt_token}} in the Bearer Token field. Post automatically constructs the Authorization: Bearer <token> header when sending the request or generating client code.
  • ③ Verified Upstream Authentication: The upstream server (https://httpbin.org/bearer) confirms "authenticated": true with the chained token.

4. JSONPath Querying, Response Diffing & Code Generation

Inspect API responses and audit schema or data changes across runs.

Response Diff Engine Response Diff Engine (annotated)

Visual Callout Guide

  • ① Response Diff Engine: Switch the response sub-tab from Response Body to Diff to compare the current response against prior runs of the same request.
  • ② Baseline Snapshot Selector: Choose any previous response from the Baseline dropdown menu and view the total added (+4) and removed (-3) line counts on the right.
  • ③ LCS Line-by-Line Highlighting: Post runs a Longest-Common-Subsequence (LCS) line diff over the pretty-printed JSON payloads, highlighting removed lines in red (-) and newly added or mutated fields in green (+).

5. Local Webhook Listener, Mock Rules & Live Replay

Post embeds a zero-dependency local HTTP server (NWListener) so you can capture, mock, delay, and replay webhooks locally.

Captured Payloads, Live Replay & Workbench Export

Local Webhook Listener Local Webhook Listener (annotated)

  • ① Embedded NWListener (:9090): Configure the listening port (default 9090) and start/stop the server from the header or sidebar footer.
  • ② Captured Webhook Stream: Inspect every incoming webhook in real time, including the HTTP method, path, client IP/port, timestamp, and the status code returned (429, 202, 200).
  • ③ 1-Click Replay & Workbench Export:
    • Replay Now: Re-fire the captured webhook payload (method, headers, and body) to any local microservice URL (e.g., http://localhost:8080/webhook).
    • Open in Workbench: Convert the captured webhook into a permanent, editable request inside the HTTP Workbench.
    • Copy cURL: Copy a runnable curl command reproducing the exact webhook call.

Mock Rules, Artificial Latency & Auto-Forwarding

Webhook Mock & Forwarding Rules Webhook Mock & Forwarding Rules (annotated)

  • ① Mock & Forwarding Rules Engine: Switch to Mock & Forwarding Rules to define how the local listener responds to specific URL path prefixes.
  • ② Route Prefix & Status Presets: Match paths like /webhook/github, /webhook/rate-limit, or /webhook/chaos and return 200 OK, 202 Accepted, 429 Too Many Requests, or 503 Service Unavailable.
  • ③ Artificial Latency & Live Auto-Forward:
    • Artificial Delay (ms): Pause before returning the HTTP response (e.g., 1200 ms) to test timeout handling and exponential backoff in your callers.
    • Auto-Forward Target URL: Automatically mirror matching incoming webhooks to a downstream local server in real time.

6. Model Context Protocol (MCP) Inspector (HTTP/SSE & stdio)

Test, debug, and audit Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers over both HTTP / SSE and local stdio subprocesses.

MCP Inspector MCP Inspector (annotated)

Visual Callout Guide

  • ① Dual Transport & 1-Click Config Import:
    • Choose between HTTP / SSE (for web/gateway MCP servers) and Stdio Command (spawns local CLI servers via npx, uvx, python3, or sqlite3 over stdin/stdout JSON-RPC 2.0).
    • Click Import Local Configs to automatically scan ~/.gemini/antigravity-cli/mcp/, ~/.cursor/mcp.json, and Claude Desktop configurations.
  • ② Tools, Resources & Prompts: Browse discovered tools (tools/list), server resources (resources/list), and prompt templates (prompts/list) in the left pane.
  • ③ Auto-Generated Schema Form: In Schema Form mode, Post parses each tool’s JSON Schema (inputSchema) into typed input fields, required badges (*), descriptions, and boolean toggles—or switch to Raw JSON for freeform editing.
  • ④ Live JSON-RPC Execution Output: Click the green Play button to execute tools/call, inspect the formatted JSON output and execution latency (18 ms), and record the call in Activity History.

7. Stash-Model Auto-Suggest & Keyboard Navigation

Post’s search bar implements the Stash model for predictable, flicker-free keyboard filtering:

Supported Filter Tokens

  • method:: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH, HEAD, OPTIONS
  • status:: 200, 201, 204, 400, 401, 403, 404, 429, 500
  • type:: HTTP, Webhook, MCP
  • host:: Dynamically extracted hostnames from your workspace (jsonplaceholder.typicode.com, httpbin.org, localhost, homeassistant.local)
  • collection:: Collection folder names

Keyboard Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
⌘ + ReturnExecute current HTTP request
⌘ + NCreate new HTTP request
⌘ + K or ⌘ + FFocus tokenized search bar
⌘ + EOpen Environments, Secrets & Collections sheet
⌘ + ,Open Editor Settings (Slash Commands, Vim Mode, Syntax Highlighting)
Tab / Down ArrowOpen suggestion dropdown or advance highlight / cycle slash pills
Shift + Tab / Up ArrowMove suggestion highlight or slash pill backward
EnterCommit highlighted token or slash command
EscDismiss dropdown / exit Vim Insert or Visual mode

8. Code Syntax Highlighting, Vim Engine, Slash Commands & Settings (⌘,)

  • Code Syntax Highlighting: All read-only response panes (Response Body, JSONPath results, Webhook Payload Body, MCP Execution Result) and live multiline editors highlight JSON keys (cyan), strings (green), numbers (yellow), booleans/null (orange), {{template_var}} tokens (pink), op:// 1Password references (teal), and cURL flags/commands.
  • Subtle Watermark (:_) & Vim Mode (swift-vim-engine):
    • Toggling Enable Vim Mode Support ON in Settings never forces text areas into Vim mode by default—every editor starts in standard editing mode (VIM=OFF).
    • Click the subtle :_ watermark in the bottom-right corner of any multiline editor (or type /vim) to activate Vim Normal mode (VIM:N, VIM:I, VIM:V).
    • Click the ? icon next to the VIM:N badge to open the interactive Vim Mode Cheatsheet popover, or click × (or :q) to exit back to standard editing.
  • Dynamic-Growth Slash Command Bar:
    • Type / at the start of a line in any multiline editor to dynamically expand the field and reveal the slash command bar (no permanent blank line is ever reserved when idle).
    • Cycle pills with Tab / Shift+Tab / Up / Down and press Enter or Space to execute:
      • /vim — Toggle Vim normal mode
      • /pretty — Pretty-print / format the JSON buffer
      • /json — Insert a structured JSON payload template
      • /graphql — Insert a GraphQL query and variables JSON body
      • /uuid — Insert a fresh random UUID v4
      • /iso8601 — Insert the current UTC ISO-8601 timestamp
      • /timestamp — Insert the current Unix epoch timestamp
      • /op — Insert an op://Private/API_Credential/token 1Password secret reference
      • /env — Insert a {{base_url}} environment variable placeholder
      • /clear — Clear the entire editor buffer
  • Bottom-Left Settings Cog (⚙ / ⌘,): Click the cog icon in the bottom-left corner of the sidebar to enable or disable Slash Commands, Vim Mode Support, and Code Syntax Highlighting at any time.

9. Sample Use Cases & cURL Import/Export

  • Reset / Load Sample Use Cases: Select Request → Reset / Load Sample Use Cases from the macOS menu bar at any time to restore all 6 sample collections, 19 requests, 4 environments, webhook mock rules, diff baselines, and 4 MCP servers.
  • cURL Import: Click cURL in the bottom-left sidebar bar and paste any multi-line curl command (including -X, -H, -d, --data-raw, -u) to import it into the workbench.