Converting to Bell

Bell can import your existing API definitions from popular API tools, converting them into runnable .bel files.

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From Postman

Step 1: Export your collection

1. Open Postman and find the collection you want to convert.
2. Click the … menu next to the collection name.
3. Select Export → Collection v2.1.
4. Save the JSON file (e.g. my-api.postman_collection.json).

Step 2: Run bell postman

bell postman my-api.postman_collection.json

This creates a bell/ folder with one .bel file per request. Folders in the collection become subdirectories:

bell/
  users/
    get_users.GET.bel
    create_user.POST.bel
  auth/
    login.POST.bel

Use -o to write to a different directory:

bell postman my-api.postman_collection.json -o ./api

What gets converted

Postman	Bell
Request URL	url
Path variables	{variable} interpolation
Query parameters	param
Request headers	headers { ... }
Request body (JSON)	body { ... }
HTTP method	GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE
Collection folders	Subdirectories
syntax	{variables} syntax

INFO

Environment variables and pre-request scripts are not converted automatically. Add them manually after conversion — see Syntax for how to define environments and variables.

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From OpenAPI Coming Soon

Coming Soon

bell openapi is not yet available in the current release. It will be included in an upcoming version.

Step 1: Have your spec ready

Bell accepts OpenAPI 3.x specs in JSON or YAML format. Swagger 2.0 is not supported.

Step 2: Run bell openapi

bell openapi my-api.openapi.json

YAML specs work the same way:

bell openapi my-api.yaml -o ./bell

Bell reads the spec and generates one .bel file per operation, grouped by tag (falling back to the first path segment). If the spec defines servers, Bell also generates an env.json:

bell/
  env.json
  users/
    list_users.GET.bel
    create_user.POST.bel
    get_user.GET.bel
  posts/
    list_posts.GET.bel

What gets converted

OpenAPI	Bell
servers[].url	env.json + import + path
operationId	File name (e.g. list_users.GET.bel)
tags[0]	Subdirectory name
Path parameters {id}	Bell variable declaration + {id} in path
Query parameters	param
Header parameters	header
requestBody schema	body { ... } with example values
Security schemes	Commented # header "Authorization" ...
2xx response code	expect response.status === N

Generated files

Given a spec with two servers and a GET /users/{userId} operation tagged Users:

env.json

{
  "production": {
    "url": "https://api.example.com"
  },
  "staging": {
    "url": "https://staging.api.example.com"
  }
}

users/get_user.GET.bel

### Get a user

import "../env.json"
env "production" | "staging"

userId = "example"

path "/users/{userId}"

GET

expect response.status === 200

Running bell run users/get_user.GET.bel will prompt you to choose an environment, then make the request against the corresponding base URL.

INFO

After conversion, review each file and replace placeholder values ("example", "YOUR_TOKEN", etc.) with real data. See Syntax for authentication patterns and environment setup.

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From a curl command Coming Soon

Coming Soon

bell curl is not yet available in the current release. It will be included in an upcoming version.

Convert a curl command directly to a .bel file — useful for turning API docs examples or clipboard history into runnable Bell files.

bell curl 'curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"name\":\"alice\"}"'

# or pipe from clipboard
pbpaste | bell curl

By default the result is printed to stdout. Use -o to write a file:

bell curl 'curl https://api.example.com/users' -o get_users.GET.bel

curl flag	Bell output
-X METHOD	HTTP method line
Positional URL	url
-H "Key: Value"	headers { ... }
-d / --data	body { ... }
-u user:pass	header "Authorization" "Basic ..."

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From a HAR file Coming Soon

Coming Soon

bell har is not yet available in the current release. It will be included in an upcoming version.

HAR (HTTP Archive) is the format exported from Chrome or Firefox DevTools → Network tab → Save all as HAR. It captures real traffic, making it the fastest way to turn "I saw this request in DevTools" into a reproducible Bell file.

bell har network-export.har -o ./bell

Bell filters out static assets (images, fonts, CSS, JS), browser-internal URLs, and preflight OPTIONS requests. Cookie headers are stripped by default.

Options:

Flag	Description
--filter <pattern>	Keep only URLs matching a substring or regex
--dedupe	Keep only the last request per unique method + path
--include-cookies	Include Cookie headers (stripped by default)

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From Insomnia Coming Soon

Coming Soon

bell insomnia is not yet available in the current release. It will be included in an upcoming version.

Bell can convert an Insomnia v4 export to .bel files, preserving folder structure, authentication, and variables.

Step 1: Export your collection

In Insomnia, go to Application menu → Export Data → Export all workspaces and save the JSON file.

Step 2: Run bell insomnia

bell insomnia Insomnia_export.json -o ./bell

Insomnia	Bell
Request	.bel file
Folder (request_group)	Subdirectory
syntax	{variable} syntax
JSON body	body { ... }
Bearer auth	header "Authorization" "Bearer {token}"
Basic auth	header "Authorization" "Basic ..."
API key (header)	header "{key}" "{value}"

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From a .http file Coming Soon

Coming Soon

bell http is not yet available in the current release. It will be included in an upcoming version.

The REST Client VS Code extension uses .http files that many teams already have in their repos. Bell converts them directly.

bell http requests.http -o ./bell

Each ### block in the file becomes its own .bel file. references are converted to Bell's {variable} syntax, and @variable = value declarations at the top of the file become Bell variables.

### Get a user
GET https://api.example.com/users/1
Authorization: Bearer {{token}}

###

### Create a user
POST https://api.example.com/users
Content-Type: application/json

{"name": "alice"}