Karve is a native Windows workspace for developers who already keep API requests as .http or .rest files across their repositories. Instead of importing those requests into a proprietary collection, Karve works directly with the files on disk. They remain plain text, stay next to the code they exercise, diff cleanly in Git, and continue to work in Visual Studio, VS Code REST Client, JetBrains HTTP Client, and other compatible tools.
Karve adds the workspace features that basic IDE runners usually lack: virtual folders across multiple repos, tabs with session restore, per-file environments, persistent searchable request and response history, and a structured response viewer for JSON, raw bodies, headers, timing, and the exact resolved request that was sent.
Karve also includes an opt-in MCP server. When enabled, AI coding agents such as Claude Code can find, run, fix, and author requests in the real workspace, while resolved URLs, environment values, and stored request history stay inside Karve and never reach the agent. The server is off by default and listens on localhost only.
The application is built natively with WinUI 3 for Windows 10 and Windows 11, with x64 and ARM64 support. Requests run locally from the user's machine, no account is required, and there is no subscription. Karve starts with a 15-day free trial and is purchased once.
A startup from Seoul, South Korea that is founded by Pavel Osadchuk.
Native Performance
Built with WinUI 3 on .NET 10 and compiled with Native AOT. Cold start is under two seconds. Native x64 and ARM64 builds, so it runs properly on Snapdragon X laptops. Not Electron.
Offline Functionality
No sign-in, no cloud sync, no telemetry beyond Sentry crash reports. Requests run from your machine and never pass through a vendor server.
Files
Requests stay as plain text files on disk, in your repositories, in the standard .http format. No import, no proprietary collection, no export needed if you leave. The same files keep working in Visual Studio, VS Code REST Client, and JetBrains HTTP Client.
Easy to Use
Each request file can carry its own .env environment, with a global active environment injected into {{variable}} resolution. Switch environments without editing the request.
Persistent Storage
Every send is stored locally in SQLite with the full request and response, searchable across sessions and re-openable later. History never leaves the machine.
Structured Data Output
JSON tree, raw body, headers, timing, and the exact resolved request that was actually sent, including which variable values were substituted.
Windows developers who already keep API requests as .http or .rest files next to their code, most of them working in .NET, and most of them using Visual Studio, VS Code, or a JetBrains IDE. They tend to be backend and full-stack engineers who treat requests as part of the repository rather than as something living in a SaaS account, and small teams that want request files reviewed in pull requests like any other code. A growing part of the audience runs AI coding agents locally and wants those agents to exercise real API requests without handing over tokens and environment values.
Karve does not own your requests. It reads and writes the .http and .rest files already sitting in your repositories, so requests stay plain text, diff in Git, and keep working in Visual Studio, VS Code REST Client, and JetBrains IDEs. There is no import step and no proprietary collection format. What Karve adds is the workspace those files never had: virtual folders that gather request files from many repos without moving them, per-file .env environments, tabs with session restore, a structured response viewer, and a persistent searchable history of every request and response. It also ships an opt-in MCP server, so AI coding agents can operate that workspace while resolved URLs, environment values, and stored history stay inside Karve.
Three reasons, and they are all about ownership. First, your data stays yours in a format you can read: no cloud sync, no account, no login wall in front of an HTTP client, and nothing to export if you stop using Karve, because the files were never converted in the first place. Second, it is a real native Windows application built with WinUI 3 rather than a browser in a window, which shows up as sub-second cold start, low memory use, native ARM64 builds, and correct behavior with Mica, dark mode, and DPI scaling. Third, it is a one-time purchase instead of a per-seat subscription.
Karve is also honest about where it does not win. If one repository and one .http file is your whole workflow, VS Code REST Client is free and excellent, and Karve is file-compatible with it. Karve earns its place when those files spread across several repositories and environments. It is Windows only, and there is no WebSocket or gRPC support today.
Karve started from a simple annoyance: my API requests already lived as .http files (the format Visual Studio, VS Code REST Client and JetBrains use) in my microservices' repos, but the moment they spread across projects there was no workspace for them, just a runner buried in each editor. That was quite annoying and every tool to launch them was slow and heavy (especially my daily driver - VS)
So I built a workspace, a tool, and made three stubborn choices:
Files stay files. Karve doesn't import your requests into a proprietary database. It organizes the .http/.rest files you already have, from any repo, without moving them. They keep diffing, branching, and reviewing like code.
Native or nothing. It's Windows native WinUI 3 app: cold start under 2 seconds, Mica themes, x64 and ARM64. No Electron shell, no cloud. Requests never leave your PC.
Your agent can drive it, without seeing your secrets. Karve ships a built-in MCP server, so Claude Code (or any MCP client) can find, run, fix, and author requests in your real workspace. But it only ever sees your requests as raw text with {{placeholders}} - resolved URLs, environment values, and stored history never cross to the agent. Off by default, because I'm not sure if it's coold or not, one toggle in Settings, localhost only.
We have collected here some useful links to help you find out if Karve is good.
Check the traffic stats of Karve on SimilarWeb. The key metrics to look for are: monthly visits, average visit duration, pages per visit, and traffic by country. Moreoever, check the traffic sources. For example "Direct" traffic is a good sign.
Check the "Domain Rating" of Karve on Ahrefs. The domain rating is a measure of the strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It shows the strength of Karve's backlink profile compared to the other websites. In most cases a domain rating of 60+ is considered good and 70+ is considered very good.
Check the "Domain Authority" of Karve on MOZ. A website's domain authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). It is based on a 100-point logarithmic scale, with higher scores corresponding to a greater likelihood of ranking. This is another useful metric to check if a website is good.
The latest comments about Karve on Reddit. This can help you find out how popualr the product is and what people think about it.
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