Shripi
Exporting API Requests from Chrome DevTools
Chrome DevTools has built-in export options. Here's what they do, where they fall short, and how to get cleaner output.
What Chrome DevTools can export
Chrome DevTools Network panel supports two native export options:
- Copy as cURL (bash) — Right-click any request → Copy → "Copy as cURL (bash)". Exports a single request as a cURL command.
- Save all as HAR with content — Right-click anywhere in the network list → "Save all as HAR with content". Exports the full session as a HAR 1.2 file.
The problems with DevTools "Copy as cURL"
The DevTools cURL export works, but produces output you typically need to clean up before using:
1. Browser noise headers
The exported cURL includes every browser-injected header: sec-fetch-dest, sec-fetch-mode, sec-fetch-site, sec-ch-ua, user-agent, accept-encoding, accept-language. Most API servers ignore these, but they clutter the command and can cause issues if the server validates them.
2. Raw secrets in the output
The full Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGci... value is included in the export. If you paste this into Slack, a GitHub comment, or a Notion doc, the token is exposed.
3. Only cURL format
DevTools can't export to Python, JavaScript fetch, Postman, or JSON. You're on your own for those conversions.
4. One request at a time
The "Copy as cURL" option only applies to a single selected request. You can't batch-export multiple requests as a Postman collection or HAR directly from the right-click menu.
How Shripi improves the DevTools export workflow
Shripi sits alongside Chrome DevTools and improves specifically the export step:
| DevTools "Copy as cURL" | Shripi export | |
|---|---|---|
| Browser noise headers | Included | Stripped in clean mode |
| Authorization header | Full raw value | Redacted by default |
| Sensitive cookies | Included | Redacted by default |
| Export formats | cURL only | cURL, Python, Fetch, Postman, HAR, JSON, CSV |
| Multi-request export | One at a time | Full session as Postman / HAR |
| Env var placeholders | — | ✓ (Pro) |
When to use DevTools vs Shripi
DevTools is still the right tool for inspecting request details, analyzing performance, debugging CORS, and viewing call stacks. Its Network panel is more feature-rich than Shripi's for pure inspection work.
Shripi is the right tool when you want to export a request as usable code. The key differences: automatic redaction, clean output, and multiple format options that DevTools doesn't have.
The typical workflow: use DevTools to understand what's happening, then switch to Shripi to export the request you want to work with.