Import OpenAPI & Swagger

Yaak can import OpenAPI and Swagger specifications to automatically generate requests for your API. This is perfect for quickly exploring a new API or setting up a workspace from existing API documentation.

Supported Formats

Yaak supports importing:

• OpenAPI 3.0 — JSON and YAML
• OpenAPI 3.1 — JSON and YAML
• Swagger 2.0 — JSON and YAML

Under the hood, Yaak converts OpenAPI specs to Postman Collection format using the openapi-to-postmanv2 library, then imports them using the Postman importer. This means you get the same robust import capabilities.

What Gets Generated

When you import an OpenAPI/Swagger spec, Yaak creates:

• Requests for each endpoint — One request per path/method combination
• Folder structure — Requests organized by API tags
• Request parameters — Path, query, and header parameters with example values
• Request bodies — JSON body templates based on schema definitions
• Authentication — Security schemes converted to Yaak auth configurations

Import an OpenAPI Spec

1. Open Yaak and go to Settings (gear icon) → Import/Export
2. Click Import
3. Select your OpenAPI or Swagger file (JSON or YAML)
4. Yaak will generate a workspace with all your API endpoints

Import from URL

If your API spec is hosted online, download it first:

curl -o api-spec.json https://api.example.com/openapi.json

Then import the downloaded file into Yaak.

Working with Generated Requests

After importing, you’ll have a workspace full of pre-configured requests.

Set Up Your Base URL

Create an environment with your actual API URL to replace any template variables in the imported requests.

Add Authentication

If the API requires authentication:

1. Select the workspace or a folder
2. Configure authentication that will inherit to all requests
3. Common setups include Bearer tokens or API keys

Customize Request Bodies

Generated request bodies are templates based on the schema. Replace placeholder values with real data:

{
  "name": "string",
  "email": "string",
  "active": true
}

Tips for Large APIs

For APIs with many endpoints:

• Use folders — Yaak organizes requests by tags, making large APIs navigable
• Favorite requests — Mark frequently-used endpoints for quick access
• Use search — Press Cmd/Ctrl + P to quickly find any request

Popular APIs with OpenAPI Specs

Many services publish OpenAPI specifications:

• Stripe — stripe.com/docs/api
• GitHub — docs.github.com/en/rest
• Twilio — twilio.com/docs/openapi

Search for “[service name] OpenAPI spec” to find downloadable specifications.

Need Help?

If you encounter issues importing your OpenAPI spec, check our troubleshooting guide or report issues on GitHub.