Show HN: OpenAPI DevTools – Chrome extension that generates an API spec (github.com)

Article summary

The article introduces OpenAPI DevTools, a Chrome extension that generates OpenAPI specifications in real-time for any website or application. The extension automatically converts network requests into a specification, allowing users to view and download the specification. The tool is useful for discovering API behavior and can be used for reverse engineering or learning from undocumented APIs. The extension has features such as automatic merging of new request and response headers, bodies, and query parameters per endpoint.

Main themes

• API documentation
• Reverse engineering
• OpenAPI specifications
• Chrome extension
• API discovery
• Request formats
• Browser compatibility
• Developer tools

What commenters say

• The extension is useful for reverse engineering or learning from undocumented APIs.
• The tool has limitations, such as ignoring non-JSON requests like gRPC protobuf.
• Adding support for other request formats like application/x-www-form-urlencoded and multipart/form-data would be beneficial.
• The extension's simplicity is both an advantage and a disadvantage, as it makes it easy to use but also limits its functionality.
• The tool has the potential to be used for generating OpenAPI specifications from existing HAR files.
• Some users have suggested improvements, such as documenting auth headers and saving token values.
• The extension's algorithm uses the chrome.devtools.network API, which may make it difficult to port to other browsers like Firefox.
• The tool's ability to generate OpenAPI specifications in real-time makes it a valuable resource for developers working with APIs.