REST Express

Overview

REST Express is a Unity Editor tool that turns Postman collections into production-ready C# API clients. It ships with:

• an API Importer window where you send real requests inside Unity,
• a Script Generator that produces clean async / coroutine C# code,
• a shared runtime for logging, retries, and multipart uploads.

If your game or app talks to a REST backend, REST Express removes the boilerplate between your Postman collection and your MonoBehaviour.

Requirements

• Unity 2020.3 LTS or newer (through Unity 6000)
• .NET 4.x scripting runtime
• A Postman Collection v2.1 JSON export
• Any render pipeline — REST Express is editor + runtime code only

Installation

Unity Asset Store (recommended)

1. Visit the REST Express listing on the Unity Asset Store.
2. Click Add to My Assets, then open Window → Package Manager → My Assets in Unity.
3. Select REST Express and click Import.

Git UPM

Add the following to Packages/manifest.json:

{
  "dependencies": {
    "com.simpleyetefficient.rest-express": "https://github.com/simple-yet-efficient/rest-express.git"
  }
}

Quick start

1. Import your Postman collection

Open Window → REST Express → API Importer. Drag your Postman v2.1 JSON into the window, or click Import Collection… and browse to it. The collection tree populates immediately — folders, requests, variables, and all.

2. Test endpoints in the Editor

Select any request in the tree, fill in the path / query / body, and press Send. You'll see the response, headers, and status code formatted inline. History is persisted per collection so you can replay a request from yesterday without re-filling the body.

3. Generate a typed C# client

Open Window → REST Express → Script Generator. Pick a namespace, choose Async (Task) or Coroutine (IEnumerator), and click Generate. You'll get:

• one static class per folder,
• one method per request,
• strongly typed request / response models derived from your sample payloads.

Drop the generated code into your project and call it from anywhere.

Minimal example

using SyE.RestExpress.Generated;

async void SignIn()
{
    var response = await AuthApi.LoginAsync(new LoginRequest {
        email = "me@example.com",
        password = "hunter2",
    });

    if (response.IsSuccess) {
        PlayerPrefs.SetString("token", response.Data.token);
    } else {
        Debug.LogError($"Login failed: {response.StatusCode} — {response.Error}");
    }
}

Feature reference

Authentication headers

REST Express reads Bearer, Basic, and API Key auth directly from Postman collections. Tokens stored at the collection level are injected automatically into generated clients via a RestExpressOptions object.

Multipart & file uploads

File uploads work both in the Importer (pick a local file path) and in generated clients (Stream, byte[], or FileInfo arguments).

Error handling

Every generated method returns a RestResponse<T> wrapper with IsSuccess, StatusCode, Data, and Error. No exceptions thrown on HTTP failures — you stay in control.

Logging

Toggle logs from Tools → REST Express → Enable / Disable Logging. When enabled, every request prints method, URL, timing, and status to the Unity Console.

Best practices

• Commit your Postman collection to the repo next to the generated code — keep them in lockstep.
• Regenerate after every schema change. The Script Generator is idempotent; re-running it will overwrite only the generated files inside Assets/_Generated/RestExpress/.
• Wrap generated clients behind a small façade in your game code so you can swap transport later (mocks in tests, CDNs in prod).

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Nothing imports	Collection is v1.0	Re-export from Postman as Collection v2.1
403 on every request	Missing token header	Set collection-level auth in Postman or pass a RestExpressOptions
Coroutines don't compile	.NET 3.5 runtime	Switch to .NET 4.x in Player Settings
Files don't upload on WebGL	Browser CORS	Add Access-Control-Allow-Origin to the server's response

Support

• Issues & feature requests: github.com/simple-yet-efficient/rest-express/issues
• Email: support@simpleyetefficient.com

REST Express is MIT-licensed. You can read the source, fork it, and ship modifications in your own projects.