Importing Postman & Insomnia Collections

Aethrix can import API collections from Postman, Insomnia, and Bruno — converting them into fully executable Aethrix test automation projects. Folders become test suites, requests become test cases, and scripts are preserved with compatibility sandboxes so they can run verbatim.

How to Import

1. In the Test Automation toolbar, click Import Collection (download).
2. The Import Collection wizard opens with three steps.

Step 1 — Source

Field	Description
Collection file or folder	Browse to a Postman/Insomnia file or a Bruno collection folder
Output folder	Where the generated .aprj project is written

Supports Postman (.postman_collection.json), Bruno (collection folder), and Insomnia (Insomnia_*.json / .yaml).

Step 2 — Options

Option	Description
Flatten folders into a single test suite	Ignore folder hierarchy and place all requests under one suite
Generate typed object models from requests (recommended)	Build typed models for best fidelity
OpenAPI / Swagger spec (optional)	Provide a real spec for the highest type fidelity; otherwise Aethrix infers models from requests and example responses

Step 3 — Import

Shows a live log and a summary such as:

{0} request(s): {1} typed / {2} generic, {3} response schema(s) inferred.

When finished, choose Open Project to load the result into the workspace, or Close.

Supported Formats

Source	Format	File Pattern
Postman	Collection v2.1	*.postman_collection.json
Insomnia	Export v4 (JSON or YAML)	Insomnia_*.json, Insomnia_*.yaml, Insomnia_*.yml
Bruno	Collection directory	*.bru (folder with bru.json manifest)

What Gets Converted

Postman

Source Element	Aethrix Result
Collection info.name	Project name
Folders (nested item arrays)	Test suites (preserving hierarchy)
Requests (item with request)	Test cases with Send Request steps
request.method + request.url	HTTP method and URL
request.header	Request headers
request.body (raw, formdata, urlencoded, graphql)	Request body with content type
request.auth (bearer, basic, apikey, oauth2, digest)	Authentication configuration; OAuth2 produces a pre-step
event.listen: "prerequest"	Pre-request JavaScript step
event.listen: "test"	Post-response JavaScript step
Collection variable array	Default test environment variables
{{variableName}} syntax	${variableName} syntax

Insomnia

Source Element	Aethrix Result
Workspace name + description	Project name and description
request_group resources	Test suites (with parentId hierarchy)
request resources	Test cases with Send Request steps
Headers, query parameters	Request headers and URL query params
Body (by mimeType)	Request body
Authentication	Authentication configuration; OAuth2 produces a pre-step
pre_request_script.text	Pre-request JavaScript step
after_response_script.text	Post-response JavaScript step
environment resources	Named test environments
{{var}} in URLs, headers, bodies	${var} syntax

Script Handling

Postman and Insomnia scripts receive special treatment during import:

Structured Assertion Extraction

Common assertion patterns are detected and converted into native Aethrix assertion steps attached to the Send Request step:

Postman Patterns

Script Pattern	Extracted Assertion
pm.response.to.have.status(200)	HttpStatusCode equals
pm.expect(pm.response.code).to.equal(200)	HttpStatusCode equals
pm.response.to.have.header("Name")	Header exists
pm.response.to.have.header("Name", "Value")	Header equals
pm.expect(json.path).to.eql(value)	JsonPath equals
pm.expect(body).to.include("text")	Body contains
pm.expect(json.field).to.exist	JsonPath exists

Insomnia Patterns

Insomnia uses the same assertion library as Postman. API calls (insomnia.response, insomnia.environment, etc.) are rewritten to Postman equivalents during analysis, and the same extraction patterns apply.

Variable Extraction

pm.environment.set("key", expr) and pm.collectionVariables.set("key", expr) calls are detected. When the expression is a simple .json().field access, a Data Transfer step is created to extract the JSON path value into the named variable.

Remaining Script Content

Script lines that do not match a known detection pattern remain as raw JavaScript in a JavaScript Test Step. At runtime, these scripts execute against the pm or insomnia compatibility sandboxes, which provide the expected API surface.

Variable Translation

Postman/Bruno-style {{variableName}} syntax is automatically converted to Aethrix ${variableName} syntax in URLs, headers, bodies, and script content.

Compatibility Sandboxes

At runtime, every JavaScript test step has access to three sandbox objects:

Object	Source	Purpose
aethrix	Native	Use for new scripts — full Aethrix assertion API
pm	Postman	Postman-compatible API for imported collection scripts
insomnia	Insomnia	Insomnia-compatible API for imported collection scripts

The pm and insomnia sandboxes are compatibility layers — they allow imported scripts to execute without modification. For new scripts, prefer aethrix.*.

See the JavaScript API Reference for the complete API surface.

Limitations

• Only Postman Collection v2.1 format is supported (not v1 or v2.0)
• Only Insomnia v4 export format is supported
• Complex scripts using dynamic property access or non-standard patterns may not produce structured assertions — they execute verbatim but assertions won't appear as separate steps
• Postman collectionVariables map to Aethrix environment variables (not a separate scope)
• Bruno assertion extraction is limited to res.status, res.headers, and res.body patterns

Importing cURL Commands

In addition to collections, you can paste a raw cURL command:

1. In the API Playground toolbar, click Import cURL.
2. The Import cURL window (ImportCurlWindow) opens with a multi-line text area. Paste the full command, e.g. curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/users -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"Ada"}'.
3. Click Import — Aethrix parses method, URL, headers, and body (including --data-raw and --header variants) and creates a new request under Imported cURL Requests.

:::info Screenshot needed — light/dark 📸 import-curl-window-light.png and import-curl-window-dark.png — Import cURL window with pasted command and parsed preview :::

See Also

• JavaScript Test Step →
• JavaScript API Reference →
• Importing API Specifications →
• Creating Your First Test →