Yaak

About

Yaak is a desktop API client for building, sending and debugging requests to REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket and Server-Sent Events APIs. It is for backend and frontend developers, QA engineers and teams who want a quick, uncluttered alternative to cloud-centric tools like Postman, one that keeps their requests on their own machine. Yaak was created by Gregory Schier, who built the popular Insomnia API client and sold it in 2019, then grew frustrated as API tools filled up with accounts, cloud services and bloat. Yaak is his answer: built with Rust and Tauri for speed, it handles thousands of requests without lag, stores work locally, sends zero telemetry and needs no account. Collaboration happens through Git, with one YAML file per request, folder and environment, and secrets can be encrypted with keys kept in the OS keychain. It has shipped steady monthly releases since January 2024 and has grown to around 19,000 stars on GitHub. Highlights: • Supports REST, GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket and SSE • Request chaining and value reuse through template functions, without scripts • Built-in Git UI to branch, commit and diff requests stored as YAML files • Optional encryption of secrets with keys in the OS keychain • Plugin system for custom auth, importers and template functions • Imports from Postman, Insomnia, Bruno, OpenAPI/Swagger and curl • Agent-friendly CLI and an MCP server plugin for AI coding tools • Light and dark themes, plus a detailed view of redirects and headers Yaak is free for personal use. Using it at work requires a commercial license after a 30-day trial: Individual is US$79 per year or US$399 one-time for life, and Business is US$149 per user per year with SSO and SCIM. Subscriptions include a fallback license for the last version released while active, and purchasing-power-parity discounts are offered. The source is MIT licensed. Yaak runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

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