Import & Export

January 17, 2026 · View on GitHub

LazyCurl supports importing from and exporting to multiple formats for interoperability with other tools.

Overview

Format	Import	Export	TUI Shortcut	CLI Command
cURL	✅	✅	`Ctrl+I` / `Ctrl+E`	-
OpenAPI 3.x	✅	❌	`Ctrl+O`	`lazycurl import openapi`
Postman	✅	✅	`Ctrl+P`	`lazycurl import postman`

cURL Import/Export

Import cURL Command (`Ctrl+I`)

Paste a cURL command to create a new request in LazyCurl.

Supported Features:

HTTP methods (-X, --request)
Headers (-H, --header)
Request body (-d, --data, --data-raw)
Basic authentication (-u, --user)
Multiline commands (backslash \ or backtick ` continuation)

Variable Conversion:

Shell variables are automatically converted to LazyCurl syntax:

Shell Syntax	LazyCurl Syntax
`$VAR`	`{{VAR}}`
`${VAR}`	`{{VAR}}`

Example:

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}'

Becomes a POST request with:

URL: https://api.example.com/users
Headers: Content-Type, Authorization (with {{TOKEN}})
Body: JSON object

Export as cURL (`Ctrl+E`)

Copy the current request as a cURL command to clipboard.

Output Format:

curl -X POST 'https://api.example.com/users' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer your-token' \
  -d '{"name": "John"}'

Included Elements:

HTTP method
URL with resolved variables
All headers
Request body (properly escaped)
Authentication headers

OpenAPI Import

Import OpenAPI 3.x specifications to create collections automatically.

Supported Versions

Version	Support
OpenAPI 3.0.x	✅ Full
OpenAPI 3.1.x	✅ Full
Swagger 2.0	❌ (upgrade guidance provided)

TUI Import (`Ctrl+O`)

Press Ctrl+O to open import modal
Enter path to OpenAPI file (JSON or YAML)
Preview shows endpoints count and tags
Confirm to create collection

CLI Import

# Basic import
lazycurl import openapi api.yaml

# Custom collection name
lazycurl import openapi spec.json --name "My API"

# Specify output location
lazycurl import openapi spec.yaml --output ./collections/api.json

# Preview without saving
lazycurl import openapi spec.yaml --dry-run

# JSON output for scripting
lazycurl import openapi spec.yaml --json

Conversion Details

Organization:

Operations grouped by tags into folders
Untagged operations go to "Untagged" folder
Operation summary becomes request name

Parameters:

OpenAPI	LazyCurl
Path parameters	URL with `{param}` syntax
Query parameters	Request params with examples
Header parameters	Request headers
Request body	JSON body with schema examples

Authentication:

Security schemes are automatically extracted:

OpenAPI Security	LazyCurl Auth
`type: http, scheme: bearer`	Bearer Token
`type: http, scheme: basic`	Basic Auth
`type: apiKey, in: header`	API Key (Header)
`type: apiKey, in: query`	API Key (Query)

Example:

# OpenAPI spec
paths:
  /users:
    get:
      tags: [Users]
      summary: List all users
      security:
        - bearerAuth: []
      parameters:
        - name: limit
          in: query
          schema:
            type: integer
            example: 10

components:
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer

Creates:

Folder: "Users"
Request: "List all users"
URL: /users?limit=10
Auth: Bearer Token

Handling Complex Schemas

$ref Resolution:

References are automatically resolved via libopenapi.

Circular References:

Handled with depth limit (max 5 levels) to prevent infinite loops.

Example Generation:

Schema examples are generated from:

example field (if present)
default field
Type-based placeholders ("string", 0, true, etc.)

Postman Import/Export

Import Postman collections and environments, or export LazyCurl collections to Postman format.

Supported Formats

Format	Support
Postman Collection v2.1	✅ Full
Postman Collection v2.0	✅ Full
Postman Environment	✅ Full

TUI Import (`Ctrl+P`)

Press Ctrl+P to open import modal
Enter path to Postman export file
File type auto-detected (collection vs environment)
Confirm to import

CLI Import

# Import collection
lazycurl import postman collection.json

# Import environment (auto-detected)
lazycurl import postman environment.json

# Auto-detect format (postman or openapi)
lazycurl import collection.json

# Preview without saving
lazycurl import postman collection.json --dry-run

# JSON output for scripting
lazycurl import postman collection.json --json

Collection Conversion

Structure Mapping:

Postman	LazyCurl
Collection	Collection
Folder	Folder
Request	Request
Variables	Variables (same `{{var}}` syntax)

Request Conversion:

Postman Field	LazyCurl Field
`request.method`	`method`
`request.url`	`url`
`request.header`	`headers`
`request.body.raw`	`body`
`request.auth`	`auth`

Authentication Mapping:

Postman Auth	LazyCurl Auth
`bearer`	Bearer Token
`basic`	Basic Auth
`apikey`	API Key

Environment Conversion

Postman environments map directly to LazyCurl environments:

// Postman Environment
{
  "name": "Development",
  "values": [
    {"key": "base_url", "value": "http://localhost:3000", "enabled": true},
    {"key": "token", "value": "secret", "enabled": true}
  ]
}

Becomes:

// LazyCurl Environment
{
  "name": "Development",
  "variables": {
    "base_url": {"value": "http://localhost:3000", "active": true},
    "token": {"value": "secret", "active": true}
  }
}

Export to Postman

Export LazyCurl collections to Postman format for sharing with team members using Postman.

Via TUI:

Select collection in Collections panel
Use export command (coming soon)

Exported Format:

Postman Collection v2.1 format
Compatible with Postman import

Best Practices

Importing Large Collections

For large OpenAPI specs or Postman collections:

Use --dry-run first to preview
Review the collection structure
Import to a dedicated workspace

Variable Compatibility

cURL to LazyCurl: Shell variables ($VAR) auto-convert to {{VAR}}
Postman to LazyCurl: Variables use same syntax, direct mapping
OpenAPI to LazyCurl: Server variables become environment variables

Team Collaboration

Share OpenAPI specs - Source of truth for API definition
Export to Postman - For team members preferring Postman
Commit collections to Git - Version control your API tests

Troubleshooting

OpenAPI Import Errors

Error	Solution
"Unsupported version: 2.0"	Upgrade to OpenAPI 3.x
"Failed to parse"	Validate YAML/JSON syntax
"Missing required field"	Check OpenAPI spec validity

Postman Import Errors

Error	Solution
"Unrecognized format"	Ensure file is Postman export
"Version not supported"	Use Collection v2.0 or v2.1

cURL Parse Errors

Error	Solution
"Invalid URL"	Check URL format
"Missing method"	Add `-X METHOD` flag