PM-ALTR 🚀

A feature-rich, open-source Postman alternative built entirely in Python + PyQt6.

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Features

Category	Detail
Tabbed interface	Open unlimited request tabs, reorder/close freely
HTTP methods	GET · POST · PUT · PATCH · DELETE · HEAD · OPTIONS
Query params	Add/remove/toggle rows in a dedicated Params table
Request headers	Fully editable key-value table per tab
Body types	none · json · form-data · x-www-form-urlencoded · text/plain
Authentication	None · Basic Auth · Bearer Token
SSL verify toggle	Per-tab checkbox (default in Settings)
Follow redirects toggle	Per-tab checkbox (default in Settings)
Proxy support	HTTP/HTTPS proxy config in Settings; per-tab on/off toggle
cURL import	Paste any cURL command → automatically populates all fields
cURL export	Serialises current request to cURL → copies to clipboard
Response body	Auto-prettify + syntax highlight when JSON (Pygments/Monokai)
Response headers	Dedicated Headers tab in response panel
Response metrics	Status code · response time (ms) · response size
Raw view	Full HTTP response headers + body as plain text
Request history	SQLite-backed; dockable sidebar; search; double-click to restore
Collections	Organize requests into collections; create/rename/delete; import/export JSON
OpenAPI import	Import OpenAPI 3.x specs (JSON/YAML) as collections with pre-filled requests
Network diagnostics	DNS resolution · TCP connect time · ping RTT · packet loss

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Quick Start

1. Clone / Download

git clone https://github.com/Shavell/pm-altr.git
cd pm-altr

2. Create virtual environment & install deps

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate          # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run

python main.py

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Usage Guide

Sending a request

1. Open the app — a New Request tab appears automatically.
2. Select the HTTP method from the dropdown.
3. Type or paste the URL.
4. Add query params in the Params sub-tab.
5. Add/modify headers in the Headers sub-tab.
6. Choose a body type in Body and enter your payload.
7. Click Send.

Multiple tabs

Use File → New Tab (Ctrl+T) to open another request in parallel. Tabs are independent.

Importing a cURL command

1. cURL → Import cURL… (Ctrl+I)
2. Paste your curl command and click OK.
3. All fields (URL, method, headers, cookies, body, auth) are populated automatically.

Example cURL commands you can paste:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "John Doe", "age": 30}' \
  "https://echo.free.beeceptor.com/sample-request"

curl "https://echo.free.beeceptor.com/sample-request?author=beeceptor"

curl 'https://app.beeceptor.com/api/v1/whoami' \
  -H 'accept: */*' \
  -H 'cache-control: no-cache' \
  -H 'user-agent: Mozilla/5.0'

Exporting a cURL command

cURL → Export cURL (copy) (Ctrl+E) — the cURL representation of the current tab is copied to your clipboard.

Authentication

Select the Auth sub-tab in the request panel:

• Basic — username + password (sent as Authorization: Basic …)
• Bearer — paste your token (sent as Authorization: Bearer …)

Proxy

1. Open File → Settings… (Ctrl+,).
2. Configure HTTP proxy and/or HTTPS proxy URLs (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080).
3. Tick Enable proxy and click OK.
4. Toggle proxy per-tab with the Use Proxy checkbox in the request bar.

SSL & Redirects

• SSL Verify — uncheck to skip certificate verification (useful for self-signed certs).
• Follow Redirects — uncheck to stop at the first redirect.

History

The left History dock shows all past requests. Double-click any entry to restore it in a new tab. Use the search box to filter by URL or method. Clear All wipes the database.

Toggle visibility with View → Toggle History (Ctrl+H).

Collections & OpenAPI

The Collections dock (tabbed alongside History on the left) lets you organize requests into named groups.

• New collection: Click + New and enter a name.
• Save a request to a collection: Click the 💾 Save to Collection button in any request tab, choose a collection, and give it a name.
• Load a request: Double-click any request in the collection tree to open it in a new tab.
• Import a JSON collection: Click 📥 Import → Import JSON Collection… and pick a .json file.
• Import an OpenAPI spec: Click 📥 Import → Import OpenAPI Spec… and pick a .json or .yaml file. Each path+method becomes a request with pre-filled headers, query params, body, and auth.
• Export a collection: Select a collection and click 📤 Export to save it as JSON.
• Right-click context menu: Rename or delete collections; delete individual requests.

Toggle visibility with View → Toggle Collections (Ctrl+L).

Network Diagnostics

Every tab has a Network Diagnostics panel on the right side of the request area. Click ▶ Run Diagnostics after setting a URL (or after sending a request) to see:

• Resolved IP addresses
• DNS lookup time
• TCP connect latency
• Ping avg / min / max (ICMP if available, TCP fallback otherwise)
• Packet loss %

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Project Structure

pm-altr/
├── main.py                        # Entry point
├── requirements.txt
├── README.md
└── src/
    ├── core/
    │   ├── http_client.py         # HTTP execution, metrics, proxy, auth
    │   ├── curl_parser.py         # cURL ↔ request model conversion
    │   ├── history_manager.py     # SQLite history (stored in ~/.pm-altr/)
    │   ├── collection_manager.py  # Collections + OpenAPI import (SQLite)
    │   └── network_diagnostics.py # DNS/TCP/ping diagnostics
    └── ui/
        ├── main_window.py         # QMainWindow, tab management, menus
        ├── request_panel.py       # URL bar, params, headers, body, auth
        ├── response_panel.py      # Metrics, prettified body, headers, raw
        ├── network_debug_panel.py # Diagnostics runner
        ├── history_panel.py       # Dockable history list
        ├── collection_panel.py    # Collection browser tree
        └── settings_dialog.py     # Proxy + default settings

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Dependencies

Package	Purpose
PyQt6	GUI framework
requests	HTTP client
pygments	Syntax highlighting for JSON responses
ping3	ICMP ping for network diagnostics
dnspython	Advanced DNS utilities
pyyaml	YAML OpenAPI spec parsing

Install all with:

pip install -r requirements.txt

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Building a Single Binary

You can package PM-ALTR into a standalone executable using PyInstaller.

1. Install PyInstaller

source venv/bin/activate
pip install pyinstaller

2. Build

# macOS
pyinstaller pm-altr.spec --clean --noconfirm

# Windows
pyinstaller pm-altr-win.spec --clean --noconfirm

3. Output

Platform	Output	Description
macOS	dist/pm-altr	Single executable binary
macOS	dist/PM-ALTR.app	macOS app bundle (Finder)
Windows	dist/pm-altr.exe	Single executable (.exe)

4. Run

# macOS — standalone binary
./dist/pm-altr

# macOS — app bundle
open dist/PM-ALTR.app

# Windows
dist\pm-altr.exe

Note: The pm-altr.spec file is pre-configured with console=False (no terminal window) and upx=True (compression enabled). The dist/ and build/ directories are excluded via .gitignore.

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CI/CD

Two GitHub Actions workflows are included:

Workflow	Trigger	What it does
CI (ci.yml)	Push/PR to main	Lint (flake8), verify imports, test cURL parser — on Python 3.11/3.12/3.13
Release (release.yml)	Push a tag v*	Build binaries for macOS + Windows + Linux, create GitHub Release with artifacts

Creating a release

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

This automatically builds all three platforms and publishes the binaries as a GitHub Release.

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Data Storage

History and settings are persisted at:

~/.pm-altr/
├── history.db       # Request/response history + collections (SQLite)
├── settings.json    # Proxy, SSL, redirect preferences
└── tabs.json        # Last open tabs (restored on startup)

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License

MIT