# Your first request (/docs/get-started/first-request) This page takes you from an empty Echolot to a sent request and a read response. It uses [the demo API](/docs/tutorials/demo-api) at `https://demo.echolot.dev`, a pretend outdoor-gear shop that answers without any setup. ## 1. Create a workspace [#1-create-a-workspace] A workspace is a folder that holds your requests, one file each. Create one first. In the welcome window, choose **New Workspace…** (or **File › New Workspace…**, ⌥⌘N). Name it, for example `Alpenglow.echolot`, pick where to keep it, and choose **Create**. The workspace opens in its own window. It is empty, so the page says **This workspace is empty**. ## 2. Make a request [#2-make-a-request] Choose **New Request** on the page, or press ⌘N. A request named **New Request** appears in the sidebar with its name selected. Type `List products` and press Return. Click the address field at the top of the page (it reads **Enter a URL, use \{\{variables\}\}**) and type: ```txt https://demo.echolot.dev/v1/products?category=tents&per_page=5 ``` The method is **GET**, which is what you want. The **Params** tab now lists `category` and `per_page`; you can edit them there or in the address. You don't need to save. Echolot writes the request to a `.req.toml` file in the workspace folder a moment after you stop typing, and the workspace name at the bottom of the sidebar says **All changes saved**. Paste it into the address field. Echolot fills in the method, address, headers, body and auth from it, and lists anything it could not use under the address bar. ## 3. Send it [#3-send-it] Press ⌘R, or choose **Send**. ⌘↩ sends too. While it runs, **Send** becomes **Cancel** (⌘.). ## 4. Read the response [#4-read-the-response] The response pane sits beside the request (or below it, if you choose the stacked layout). - **The line above the response** shows the status (`200 OK`), the time and the size. Rest the pointer on it for the details: the sizes, the time each phase took (DNS, Connect, TLS, Waiting, Transfer), the TLS connection and any redirects. - **Body** shows the body. The **View** choices above it switch between the ways to read it: **Text**, **JSON** (formatted), **JSON Tree**, and for other content **XML**, **Form**, **MessagePack** or **Preview**. Echolot picks the first one from the content type. ⌘F finds text in the body. - **Headers** lists the response headers. The demo API puts the total in `X-Total-Count` and the next pages in `Link`. - **Cookies** lists the cookies the response set. - **Raw** and **Hex** show the bytes as received. **Wire** shows the whole exchange as it went over the network, sent and received. - **Tests** shows the results of the request's checks, once it has some. Every response is also kept in the request's [history](/docs/workspaces/history) (⌘Y), so you can come back to it and compare it with the next one. ## 5. Add a check [#5-add-a-check] Checks run after every send and tell you when an API stops answering as it should. 1. Open the request's **Tests** tab. 2. Choose **Generate from Response…**. Echolot proposes checks from the response you just got: the status, the content type, values in the JSON. 3. Tick the ones you want and choose **Add N Tests** (the button counts the checks you ticked). 4. Send again. The **Tests** tab of the response shows each check passed or failed. [Scripts and tests](/docs/requests/scripts-and-tests) covers every kind of check. ## Next steps [#next-steps] - Send a body: create another request, set the method to **POST**, the address to `https://demo.echolot.dev/echo/anything`, and type some JSON on the **Body** tab. The demo echoes back what it got. - Copy the request as a cURL command with **Request › Copy as cURL** (⌥⌘C), or generate code for it with **Request › Generate Code…** (⌥⌘G). - Put the server address in a variable and add environments: [Environments](/docs/workspaces/environments). - Learn your way around: [The window](/docs/get-started/the-window). - Follow a longer walk-through: [Your first workspace](/docs/tutorials/first-workspace). It accepts 120 requests a minute from each address (10 a minute for its large, slow and streaming endpoints). Over the limit it answers `429 Too Many Requests` with a `Retry-After` header; wait that many seconds and send again.