Import and export

Echo can bring requests from another API client, keep a collection beside your source code and generate documentation for readers. These operations have different outputs and different treatment of secrets.

Import a collection or environment

  1. Export from your current tool and keep the original file.
  2. Open the import section in Echo's Settings, select the destination space and source file. Echo detects the format.
  3. Review the preview, item counts and warnings before confirming.
  4. Open an imported request, select its environment and check its URL, authentication, body and scripts before sending.

Postman collections and environments are supported. Inherited Postman authentication is copied into the imported requests where supported; it does not create editable collection authentication in Echo. Binary bodies and file references cannot simply move between computers and can be skipped with a warning. Unsupported authentication also produces a warning. Reattach files and correct credentials before using those requests.

Insomnia exports and Bruno collections provide other migration paths. Their data models are different, so review the import result instead of assuming every source feature survives an export and reimport.

Start from OpenAPI or cURL

Import an OpenAPI 3 document in JSON or YAML to create requests from its operations. Check the generated URLs, parameters, bodies and security settings. A specification describes an API; importing it does not prove the server implements it.

The cURL import assist uses AI and requires a Pro AI seat. Open it from the command palette or new-request menu and paste the command. Review the proposed URL, method, headers and body before creating the request. Check credentials and referenced files before sending. See AI features for access and data handling.

Choose an export format

Postman export keeps collections available to that tool, and environment export creates a separate Postman environment file. Postman environment exports include secret values, marked as secret in the file. Treat them as credentials, not as safe attachments.

OpenAPI export produces an OpenAPI 3.1 JSON document for HTTP operations. Other protocols are counted as excluded; this is not a backup of the entire workspace. Review the export result and generated specification. Secret environment values are omitted from server-variable values, but credentials written literally in requests still need your review.

From the collection's menu, link an empty folder you can write to. Echo writes readable JSON files for the collection, requests and environments. Use a separate folder for each linked tree; overlapping links are refused.

The folder panel reports changes in Echo, on disk or on both sides. Export sends Echo's version to the folder; import brings the folder's version into Echo. If both changed, review the conflict and explicitly choose which version to apply. Automatic import is optional. Unlinking stops the association without deleting your collection or the folder's files.

Secret variable values are omitted from this folder format, while secret references can remain. This protection is different from Postman environment export. Keep credentials in variables and inspect scripts, bodies and headers before committing files. Echo does not commit or push to Git. The same folder format can be used by the desktop CLI.

Export Markdown to DocuVault

Sign in, select a collection and choose its documentation export. Echo generates Markdown and uploads it to DocuVault. An existing document with the same generated name receives a new version. Check the completion message and the resulting file before sharing it.

Run the export again after changing the collection. The uploaded document is a snapshot, not a live view that follows every edit automatically.

For a synced collection, the publication panel lets authorized users on a paid Echo plan publish a version, copy its URL, refresh the publication, rotate the link or revoke it. Anyone with the public link can read the document. Review examples and credentials before publishing.

Changing the collection requires publishing again to update that snapshot. Rotating the link replaces the URL callers use; revoking stops access through the publication. Neither action recalls a copy someone already downloaded. This is separate from the DocuVault file.

For reusable request configuration, continue with environments. For C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, Python or JSON Schema conversion, see contracts.