One app.
Every tool a backend developer
touches daily.
TakeRest replaces Postman, DBeaver, Redis Insight, MinIO Browser, GitHub Desktop, and Docker Desktop — without the Electron tax, without forced accounts, and without your credentials ever leaving your machine.
Your credentials never leave your machine. No account required.
You're running six apps right now.
Each one is a bloated Electron shell eating RAM, slowing down your machine, and scattering your work across disconnected silos.
Test an API
Postman
Query a database
DBeaver
Browse Redis keys
Redis Insight
Manage S3 buckets
MinIO Browser
Commit some code
GitHub Desktop
Check container logs
Docker Desktop
TakeRest collapses all of that into one app.
Switch to a project and everything — connections, requests, queries, docs, branches, containers — is right there. Context-switched in one click instead of six.
Built on Electrobun, Not Electron
Every competitor in this space is built on Electron. Electrobun uses Bun as its runtime and native WebKit for rendering — no bundled Chromium.
Six Electron apps
- ✕ Slow startup — each one boots a full Chromium instance
- ✕ 300MB+ per app just for the bundled browser
- ✕ 6× the RAM, 6× the dock clutter
- ✕ Work scattered across disconnected silos
TakeRest on Electrobun
- Starts in a fraction of the time of comparable Electron apps
- Ships as a small binary — no 300MB Chromium bundled inside
- Dramatically less memory — one app instead of six, lighter too
- Feels native on macOS, Windows, and Linux
The Repo Is the Source of Truth
Most tools treat your work as their data. TakeRest treats your Git repository as home. Everything lives in a .takerest/ folder at the repo root — versioned alongside your code.
my-saas-project/
├──src/
├──.env
└──.takerest/
├──requests/
├──auth/login.md
└──users/get-user.md
├──queries/
└──analytics/monthly-revenue.md
├──schema/
├──users.md
└──_snapshot_2024-01-15.md
├──docs/api-overview.md
└──mindmaps/system-architecture.excalidraw
PRs become richer
A developer adds a new endpoint. Their PR diff includes the code change, a new request file, and an updated schema snapshot. Reviewers see everything in one place.
Onboarding becomes trivial
New hire clones the repo, opens TakeRest, points it at the folder. Every query, request, schema, and document is right there. No "ask Sarah for the Postman collection."
Git blame on your queries
Who wrote that gnarly analytics query? git blame. When did the login request change? git log. Free, because you're already in a Git repo.
Branching is workflow branching
Working on a feature branch? Your new API requests live on that branch too. Merge the feature, merge the requests. The tooling state matches the code state.
---
method: POST
url: /api/auth/login
auth: bearer
env: {{BASE_URL}}
---
# Login
Creates a session and returns a JWT token.
## Body
```json
{
"email": "{{USER_EMAIL}}",
"password": "{{USER_PASSWORD}}"
}
```
## Notes
Rate limited to 5 attempts per minute.Login
Creates a session and returns a JWT token.
Body
{
"email": "{{USER_EMAIL}}",
"password": "{{USER_PASSWORD}}"
}
Notes
Rate limited to 5 attempts per minute.
Everything in one place
Nine tools, one app, one workflow.
REST Client
Send HTTP requests with full control. Bearer & basic auth built in. Env vars from your .env files — no manual re-entry. Import from Postman, OpenAPI, or curl.
- Request chaining across calls
- Response history in the repo
- GraphQL & gRPC planned
Database
Connect to PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite. Full schema explorer, CodeMirror query editor, and one-click schema-to-Markdown snapshots.
- Schema drift detection
- Export results as CSV or JSON
- Migration file viewer from Git
Cache
Connect to Redis, Valkey, KeyDB. Type-aware key browser, TTL visualization, Pub/Sub monitor, and CLI passthrough for power users.
- Color-coded keys near expiry
- All Redis-compatible stores
- CLI passthrough
Object Storage
Browse AWS S3, MinIO, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2. File preview, drag-and-drop upload, and presigned URLs in one click.
- Image, text & JSON preview
- Bucket policy viewer
- Any S3-compatible store
Git
Stage, commit, push, pull, branch — without leaving the app. Find a bug while testing an API, fix it, commit, all in one context.
- Diff viewer for changed files
- Branch switcher
- No system Git required
Docker
Container list with start, stop, restart and log streaming. Docker Compose viewer with one-click up and down. Port mapping visualizer.
- First-class log streaming
- Image and volume browser
- Compose up/down
Docs
Block editor powered by BlockNote for internal API docs, runbooks, and notes. Output is clean Markdown — renders perfectly on GitHub without the app.
- No proprietary format
- Readable on GitHub
- Versioned in Git
Mindmaps
Built-in Excalidraw for architecture diagrams. Files saved as .excalidraw JSON — renders natively on GitHub. Version control your diagrams alongside your code.
- Portable JSON format
- Renders on GitHub natively
- System sketches & diagrams
.env Management
Auto-detects .env, .env.local, and .env.production. Variables inject into requests automatically. Secret values never leave your machine.
- No secret values committed
- Real-secret detection
- Multi-env support
Powered by Bun's Built-ins
TakeRest's entire connectivity layer is Bun itself. No bundled native drivers. No node_modules full of platform-specific binaries.
HTTP requests
Bun native fetch
SQLite
bun:sqlite — zero addon
PostgreSQL, MySQL
Bun SQL — native wire
Redis, Valkey
Bun Redis — native client
S3, MinIO, R2
Bun S3 — native client
Git
isomorphic-git — pure JS
Docker
dockerode — pure HTTP
UI
React + TanStack + Tailwind
Bun
Runtime, SQLite, Postgres, Redis, S3
Electrobun
Desktop app framework, native WebKit
React
Component model
TanStack Router
File-based, fully type-safe routing
CodeMirror 6
Embedded code editor
isomorphic-git
Pure JS — no system Git required
Why TakeRest wins
The deeper differentiator is the file model. None of these tools store your work in your Git repo as readable Markdown.
Postman
Their weakness
Cloud-first, account-gated, credentials in their cloud
TakeRest
Local-first, no account required, .env-aware
DBeaver
Their weakness
Java app, dated UI, no API or container tooling
TakeRest
Integrated, modern, part of a full workflow
Redis Insight
Their weakness
Redis only, Electron
TakeRest
One of many tools, lighter runtime
MinIO Browser
Their weakness
Browser-based, no integration with other tools
TakeRest
Integrated, offline capable
Docker Desktop
Their weakness
Bloated, controversial licensing changes
TakeRest
Lightweight companion, not a replacement
GitHub Desktop
Their weakness
Git only
TakeRest
Git as part of a connected developer workflow
Security by design
Your credentials never leave your machine. Secrets stay in your .env files. The entire codebase is auditable. This is the answer to the question every security-conscious team asks before adopting a new tool.
Open Source
TakeRest is fully open source. No vendor lock-in, no forced accounts, no cloud subscription. Fork it, audit it, run it on your own infrastructure — forever.
Go from six open apps to only one.
TakeRest is pre-1.0 and moving fast. Star the repo to follow along.
