volt

volt is a terminal-native API client inspired by lazygit and lazydocker. Run it inside any project directory and it automatically discovers your routes, lets you edit and fire requests, and renders the response — all without leaving the terminal.

Volt-Working.mp4

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Features

Route discovery Volt scans your current working directory and automatically detects routes from:

Backend	Frontend
axum	next.js (App Router + Pages Router)
actix-web	react-router
express / fastify	vue-router
fastapi	sveltekit
	angular

Request editing

• Edit headers, query params, auth, and request body per route
• Supports JSON, plain text, and form-urlencoded body types
• Base URL editor with history — navigate previous URLs with ↑ / ↓
• Per-route drafts are preserved across panes

Response viewing

• Syntax-aware highlighting for JSON, HTML, and XML responses
• JSON is automatically pretty-printed
• Status code, latency, and response size shown on every request
• Five view modes: Auto, JSON, HTML, Text, Raw — switch with /
• Clipboard copy with y

Customization

• Themes: Personalize Volt's look with built-in themes: Vesper (default), Dracula, Gruvbox, Tokyo-Night, Catppuccin, and Poimandres.
• Interactive Selector: Run volt --themes to open an interactive menu and switch themes on the fly.
• Dynamic UI: UI accents and the VOLT header automatically adapt to your chosen theme's primary color.
• Version Check: Run volt --version or volt -V to check your current version.
• Auto-Update: Run volt update to automatically check for and install the latest version from GitHub.

Broad Directory Protection

• Volt automatically detects when it's opened in a high-level directory (like a User Home or Root) and pauses recursive scanning to prevent lag, guiding you to open a specific project instead.

Persistence

• Custom routes saved to .volt_routes.json in your project root — routes, base URLs, and hit counts survive restarts
• App config stored in .volt.toml

Workflow

• Works in directories with routes defined — opens the TUI with routes and you can add custom ones immediately (any directory functionality coming soon)
• Resizable panes via click-and-drag
• Mouse support throughout

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Installation

Linux / macOS

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frypan05/Volt/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

The script installs to $HOME/.local/bin by default. Change it with the DIR variable:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frypan05/Volt/main/scripts/install.sh | DIR=/usr/local/bin bash

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/frypan05/Volt/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Homebrew

brew tap frypan05/volt
brew install frypan05/volt/volt

After installing

Navigate to any project and run:

cd your-project
volt

Run in dev mode

cargo run

Volt scans the current working directory and lists detected routes. By default requests target http://localhost:3000; edit the base URL with u.

Keybindings

• Tab: rotate focus across panes
• Shift+Tab: reverse focus
• j/k or arrows: move selection and switch tabs
• 1-4: jump to Headers, Body, Params, Auth
• i: edit the active tab buffer
• u: edit base URL
• r: execute current request
• c: copy response body
• Esc: leave insert mode
• q: quit

Input formats

• Headers: Header-Name: value
• Params: key=value
• Auth: raw Authorization header value, for example Bearer <token>
• Body: JSON is validated automatically when the content starts with { or [.

Remote execution usage

Volt supports SSH-based remote execution for APIs that are only reachable from internal networks.

What remote execution does

• Runs HTTP requests from a remote machine via SSH
• Helps you reach VPC-only APIs, private staging systems, and Kubernetes services
• Keeps the UI and request editing workflow the same

Remote setup in .volt.toml

base_url = "http://localhost:3000"

[remote.production]
host = "prod-bastion.example.com"
user = "ubuntu"
port = 22
identity = "~/.ssh/volt_prod"

[remote.staging]
host = "staging-internal.company.com"
user = "deploy"
port = 22
identity = "~/.ssh/staging_key"

Remote CLI usage

volt --remote-list
volt --remote production
volt --remote staging

If you select a remote profile, Volt uses the remote executor and shows it in the UI status bar.

Expected workflow

1. Add remote profiles to .volt.toml
2. Run volt --remote production
3. Type an internal URL, such as http://internal-api.svc.cluster.local/users
4. Press Enter to execute the request from the remote host
5. Review the response in the TUI

Limitations

• Route discovery uses fast heuristics instead of full AST parsing.
• The insert mode is intentionally lightweight and optimized for request payload editing.
• Large responses are rendered inline; future versions should add paging and streaming.

In Queue Features:

• Graph QL support
• Graph based route discovery