How to Migrate from Postman to Bruno

Bruno is the Git-native alternative to Postman. Instead of syncing to a cloud account, API collections live as files in your Git repo. Version-controlled, offline-first, and open source. Here's how to migrate.

Why Bruno?

• Git-native — collections are plain text files in your repo
• Offline-first — no cloud sync, no account required
• Fast — Electron app, but leaner than Postman
• No cloud lock-in — your requests are just files
• Free forever — MIT license, desktop app

Step 1: Export from Postman

1. Open Postman → select collection
2. Click ⋯ → Export → Collection v2.1
3. Save the JSON file

Step 2: Install Bruno

Download from usebruno.com for Mac, Windows, or Linux.

Or via package manager:

# macOS
brew install bruno

# npm (cross-platform)
npm install -g @usebruno/cli

Step 3: Import Postman Collection

1. Open Bruno
2. Click Import Collection
3. Select Postman Collection
4. Choose your exported JSON file
5. Select a folder in your project to store the collection

Bruno converts Postman's JSON into .bru files — plain text, one file per request:

# get-users.bru
meta {
  name: Get Users
  type: http
  seq: 1
}

get {
  url: {{baseUrl}}/api/users
  body: none
  auth: bearer
}

auth:bearer {
  token: {{authToken}}
}

headers {
  Content-Type: application/json
}

Step 4: Set Up Environments

Create environment files in your collection folder:

# environments/development.bru
vars {
  baseUrl: http://localhost:3000
  authToken: dev-token-here
}

# environments/production.bru
vars {
  baseUrl: https://api.example.com
  authToken: prod-token-here
}

Step 5: Commit to Git

# Your API collection is now plain text files
git add api-collection/
git commit -m "Import API collection from Postman"

This is Bruno's killer feature — your entire API test suite is version-controlled alongside your code. Every team member has the same requests, synced via Git. No cloud account needed.

Key Differences

Postman	Bruno
Cloud-synced collections	Git-native file-based
JSON format (opaque)	.bru format (readable)
Account required	No account
{{variable}}	{{variable}} (same!)
Pre-request scripts	✅ JavaScript scripting
Test scripts	✅ Assertions
Mock servers	❌
Team collaboration	Git (push/pull)
Environments in cloud	Environment files in repo

What You'll Gain

• Version control — requests in Git, reviewable in PRs
• Team sync via Git — no cloud account or subscription
• Offline work — no internet needed
• Security — no API keys sent to cloud
• Plain text — readable, diffable, greppable

What You'll Lose

• Cloud sync (replaced by Git)
• Mock servers
• API monitoring
• Postman's collaboration UI

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Compare API testing tools on OSSAlt — workflow, collaboration, and data ownership side by side.