Directives are special instructions that control Sendpad behavior. There are two kinds:
File-level directives — @key = value at the top of the file (before the first ###)Request-level directives — # @directive comment lines after the request (or after the body)
Directive File types Description @key = value.http .flow .wsDefine a file-scoped variable # @cookies off.http .flow .wsDisable cookie jar for this entire file # @format offany Disable format-on-save for this file
Directive Description # @name <id>Name a step for use in flow reporting # @skipSkip this request step entirely # @retry <n>Retry this step up to N times on failure
Directive Description # @extract <var> = <jsonpath>Extract a value from the response body using JSONPath # @extract event <var> = <name>Extract the last payload of a named SSE event
# @extract first = $.users[0].name
# @extract token = $.auth.access_token
# @extract event completion = completion # SSE
Directive Description # @assert status == <code>Assert HTTP status code equals # @assert status != <code>Assert status does not equal # @assert status >= <n>Assert status is at least # @assert status < <n>Assert status is less than # @assert body contains <text>Assert response body contains substring # @assert body equals <value>Assert response body exactly equals (both sides trimmed) # @assert body matches <regex>Assert response body matches regex # @assert header[<name>] contains <text>Assert a response header value
# @assert body contains "success" # substring — passes if "success" appears anywhere
# @assert body equals OK # exact match — passes only if body is exactly "OK"
# @assert body equals {{expected}} # variables are resolved before comparing
# @assert body matches ^\{
# @assert header[content-type] contains json
body equals trims whitespace from both sides before comparing. Use it for simple response values (OK, true, null) or a full body captured in a variable.
Override global timeout, SSL, redirect, and proxy settings for a single request. These directives take precedence over the Settings panel for that request only.
Directive Description # @timeout <duration>Override request timeout. Duration: 500ms, 5s, 1.5s, 2m, 1h # @no-verifySkip SSL certificate verification for this request # @verify-ssl on|offExplicitly enable or disable SSL verification # @follow-redirects on|offEnable or disable redirect following # @proxy <url>Route this request through a specific HTTP/S proxy
### Internal service — self-signed cert
GET https://internal.corp/metrics
### Capture redirect location without following
GET {{baseUrl}}/auth/login
# @proxy http://proxy.corp.local:8080
POST {{baseUrl}}/api/data
Directive Description # @persist <var>Write an extracted variable to <env>.env.local # @persist <KEY> = <value>Write a literal value to <env>.env.local
Directive Description # @file <field> = <path>Attach a file as a multipart field # @field <name> = <value>Add a plain-text multipart field # @body = <path>Use a file as the raw request body
Directive Description Tier KEY = valuePlain variable Free @extends <path>Inherit from another .env; later extends + overrides in the current file win Pro
Sensitive values live in <name>.env.local (auto-gitignored). Sendpad auto-masks variables whose name matches token/secret/key/password/auth, or that appear only in .env.local. No directive needed.
See .env reference .
SSE applies to any .http / .flow request whose response is Content-Type: text/event-stream (auto-detected).
Directive Description # @expect event <name>Require an SSE event of this type # @expect event <name> within <ms>Require the event within a timeout # @extract event <var> = <name>Capture the last payload of the named event # @sse-timeout <ms>Override the default stream timeout # @sse-reconnect on|offAuto-reconnect on disconnect (default: off)
Directive Description @broker = <mqtt-url>Broker URL (required) — mqtt://, mqtts://, ws://, wss:// @client-id = <id>Optional client ID (default: auto-generated) @username = <u>Optional username @password = <p>Optional password — reference {{VAR}} from .env.local for real credentials @clean-session on|offSession handling (default: on) @keepalive <seconds>Keepalive interval
Directive Description # @subscribe <topic>Subscribe to a topic # @publish <topic>Publish to a topic; body follows # @qos 0|1|2Quality-of-service for the next publish/subscribe # @retain on|offRetain flag on the next publish # @expect within <ms>Timeout for the next received message # @assert body contains <text>Assert on received payload
See the .mqtt reference .
Directive Description @port <n>Bind the mock server to a port @base-path <path>Prefix all routes with this path @cors <origin>CORS allow-origin for all routes @forward <upstream>Forward non-matching requests to an upstream URL @delay <ms>Default delay for every matched response
Directive Description ### METHOD <path>Declare a route — e.g. ### GET /users/:id # @match <expression>Additional match condition (query, header, body) # @status <code>Response status # @header <name>: <value>Response header # @delay <ms>Response delay # @repeat <n>Response returned only first N requests # @template <var>Declare a dynamic template variable for the body
See the .mock reference .
Directive Description @url = <wss-url>WebSocket URL (required) @headersBegin connection headers — one header per line, indented @protocol = <name>Sec-WebSocket-Protocol value@reconnect on|offAuto-reconnect on disconnect (default: off) @timeout = <ms>Connection timeout in milliseconds
Directive Description # @name <label>Name this message step # @expect within <ms>Timeout for the next < receive (default: 5000ms) # @extract <var> = <jsonpath>Extract from received message # @assert body contains <text>Assert received message content # @assert body matches <regex>Regex assertion on received message # @close [code] ["reason"]Send a WebSocket close frame # @binary <path>Send a binary frame from a file # @pause <ms>Wait before the next step
