Version Control Sync

Index

Introduction

Version Control Sync is a feature included with Insomnia Plus and Insomnia Teams. Sync provides the following abilities on top of Insomnia:

  • The ability to snapshot the contents of a request collection
  • The ability to revert a request collection to a previous snapshot
  • The ability to share snapshots across devices or with members of your team
  • The ability to create and work on separate branches

The main features of sync can be accessed from the dropdown at the top right of the application, when you are inside a Request Collection.

Getting started

To start using Version Control Sync, navigate to the Request Collection you want to enable sync for, and press the Setup Sync button at the top right of the application.

This will bring up a dropdown, press "Create Local Project"

You have now enabled sync for your request collection. See the documentation below for how to push changes, and share the request collection with a team.

Creating Snapshots

Snapshots represent all data in a request collection (requests, folders, environments) at a specific point in time. Besides the data within the request collection, a snapshot also contains the author who created it, the time it was created, and a message from the author describing the changes.

Creating a snapshot requires two actions. (1) Describing the changes contained within the snapshot and (2) Selecting which changes to include.

Writing a Snapshot Message

Snapshot messages should describe the included changes in as much detail as possible, as this description will help identify the snapshot if you ever need to revert back to it.

Adding Changes to a Snapshot

Changes made to a request collection can be added on a granular level. Modifications and deletions to existing requests, folders, etc (AKA objects) will appear under Modified Objects, while new additions will appear under Unversioned Objects and are unselected by default.

Sharing Snapshots

Once a snapshot is created, it can be shared to your Insomnia account or team. There are two ways to push snapshots:

  1. Use the Create and Push option when creating the snapshot
  2. Push unsynced snapshots from within the main sync menu

If there are new snapshots available that do not yet exist on your device (eg. from a team these will be available to pull down from within the sync menu.

Working with Branches

All snapshots created for Sync are stored a branch. Branches are identified by name and each one maintains a list of snapshots that have been created for it (ie. its history). Branches can be created or deleted at any time, shared with team members, and even merged together.

Branches can be useful for many reasons, but the two main use cases are the following:

  • Separating personal work from other team members
  • Working on experimental changes that may or may not exist long-term

Branches are managed within the branches dialog. Here, you can create local branches, merge branches, and fetch remote branches.

Sharing a Request Collection

Request Collections can be shared with a team via the main sync menu. To get started sharing workspaces with your team, see Team Collaboration.

Reverting to a Previous Snapshot

At any time, it is possible to revert the current workspace to a previous snapshot.

Note: Restoring a snapshot will not modify the branch's history. Any changes made by the restore will need to be snapshotted if desired.