Environments and variables

Hardcoding hostnames and tokens into requests works right up until the second environment shows up. Echo gives you environments and variables so one request can serve development, staging and production without editing anything.

Environments belong to spaces

Environments are scoped to a space, so each project keeps its own set. A space for your internal platform can have development and production environments, while a client project next to it keeps a completely separate list. Nothing leaks between them.

Use variables in requests

Reference a variable anywhere in a request with the {{variable}} syntax, in the URL, headers or body. Echo highlights variables live as you type, so you can see at a glance whether a reference resolves, and autocomplete suggests variable names so you do not have to remember exact spelling.

Keep secrets out of plain sight

Environments support secret variables for values like API keys and tokens. Combined with Echo's local database encryption at rest, your credentials are treated with more respect than a plain text file ever gives them.

Switch the active environment

A global active-environment picker controls which environment your requests resolve against. Switch it once and every request in the space follows, which beats editing URLs one by one.

Compare mode

Sometimes the question is not "does this work" but "does this work the same everywhere". Compare mode answers it directly:

  1. Take any request you want to verify.
  2. Run it in compare mode and pick up to 4 environments.
  3. Echo fires the same request against all of them in parallel.
  4. Read the responses side by side, with synced scrolling so the same section stays aligned in every pane.

For JSON responses, Echo computes a structural diff that marks what was added, removed and modified between environments. A field that staging returns and production does not is impossible to miss.

Compare mode is the fastest way to catch configuration drift, version mismatches between deployments, and the classic "it works in dev" conversation.

Next steps

  • Organize the requests that use these environments: /docs/echo/collections-and-sharing
  • Chain requests and pass extracted values between steps: /docs/echo/automation
  • Import environments you already have in Postman: /docs/echo/import-export