Ask HN: What you use for quick API checks?

[igtumt]

I often find myself needing to quickly check an API response — just to see what it returns or grab a specific field.

For more complex stuff, tools like Postman are great, but for quick checks they sometimes feel a bit heavy. On the other hand, using curl or writing a quick script also breaks the flow a bit.

Curious what others here use for this kind of “quick inspection” workflow.

Do you have a go-to tool or habit for this?

[dhruv3006]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I still use curl sometimes,but for anything beyond a basic GET, the monolithic nature of tools like Postman feels way too heavy. I recommend checking out Voiden, - all Markdown files and uses composable blocks, this makes it easy for quick, version-controlled tests. Good for the "quick checks" but also for more advanced workflows (collection runner, scripting etc).

[igtumt]

That looks interesting, I like the Markdown idea.

I usually try to avoid installing tools just for quick checks, so I tend to prefer things that work instantly without setup.

Do you use it more for repeatable workflows, or also for quick “check and move on” stuff?

[igtumt]

For daily use any advise?

[nikolasdimi]

postman is great for complex stuff - what kind of complex stuff?

[igtumt]

I was thinking about things like POST/PUT requests, adding headers or auth, maybe testing flows.

For that, tools like Postman make sense.

But for quick checks like “what does this return?”, I usually just want to check and move on.