Is Insomnia Down? How to Check Insomnia REST Client Status

Quick Answer: To check if Insomnia is down, visit apistatuscheck.com/api/insomnia for real-time monitoring of Insomnia's cloud services, or check Kong's official status page. Common signs include sync failures, cloud login errors, workspace loading issues, plugin failures, and import/export problems. For local-only functionality, Insomnia can operate offline without cloud services.

When your API development workflow grinds to a halt because Insomnia won't sync, load your workspaces, or authenticate, every minute of troubleshooting delays your sprint. As one of the most popular REST API clients and a major Postman alternative, Insomnia (owned by Kong) serves millions of developers worldwide. Whether you're experiencing sync failures, workspace corruption, or cloud connectivity issues, quickly determining if the problem is on Insomnia's end or yours can save hours of frustration and keep your development pipeline moving.

How to Check Insomnia Status in Real-Time

1. API Status Check (Fastest Method)

The quickest way to verify Insomnia's cloud service status is through apistatuscheck.com/api/insomnia. This real-time monitoring service:

• Tests Insomnia cloud endpoints every 60 seconds
• Monitors authentication services and sync functionality
• Tracks historical uptime over 30/60/90 days
• Provides instant alerts when cloud services are degraded
• Detects API gateway issues affecting Kong-hosted services

Unlike manually checking various endpoints, API Status Check performs automated health checks against Insomnia's production cloud infrastructure, giving you immediate visibility into service availability without the guesswork.

2. Kong Official Status Page

Since Kong acquired Insomnia, cloud services are part of Kong's broader infrastructure. Check status.konghq.com for:

• Current operational status for Insomnia Cloud
• Active incidents affecting sync or authentication
• Scheduled maintenance windows
• Component-specific status (Sync, Auth, Cloud Storage)
• Historical incident reports and post-mortems

Pro tip: Subscribe to status notifications specifically for "Insomnia" components to receive immediate alerts via email or SMS when cloud service incidents occur, filtering out unrelated Kong API Gateway updates.

3. GitHub Issues and Community Forums

The Insomnia community is highly active. Check for widespread issues:

• Insomnia GitHub Issues - Look for recent bug reports
• Insomnia Community Discussions - Active troubleshooting threads
• Search Twitter/X for "#insomnia down" or "insomnia not working"
• Check Reddit's r/webdev or r/apis for user reports

If multiple users are reporting identical issues simultaneously, it's likely a service-side problem rather than a local configuration issue.

4. Test Local vs Cloud Functionality

Insomnia operates in hybrid mode—local features work offline while cloud features require connectivity:

Test local functionality:

• Create a new request in a local workspace
• Send a simple GET request to https://httpbin.org/get
• View response and history

If local requests work but cloud features fail, the issue is specifically with Insomnia's cloud services, not the application itself.

Test cloud functionality:

• Attempt to sync a workspace (refresh icon in workspace dropdown)
• Try logging in/out of your Insomnia account
• Create a new cloud-synced workspace
• Share a workspace with team members

5. Check Network Connectivity and Firewall Rules

Before concluding Insomnia is down, verify your environment:

# Test connectivity to Insomnia cloud services
curl -I https://api.insomnia.rest

# Check DNS resolution
nslookup api.insomnia.rest

# Verify SSL/TLS connectivity
openssl s_client -connect api.insomnia.rest:443 -servername api.insomnia.rest

Corporate firewalls, VPNs, or proxy configurations can block Insomnia's cloud endpoints. If curl succeeds but Insomnia fails, the issue may be application-specific rather than network-wide.

Common Insomnia Issues and How to Identify Them

Sync Failures and Conflicts

Symptoms:

• "Failed to sync workspace" error messages
• Infinite sync spinner that never completes
• Conflict resolution dialogs appearing repeatedly
• Changes not appearing across devices
• Workspace shows "offline" status despite internet connectivity

What it means: Insomnia's cloud sync service uses a conflict resolution system. When sync fails consistently across multiple workspaces and devices, it typically indicates backend issues with Kong's sync infrastructure rather than workspace corruption.

Distinguishing sync outages from conflicts:

• Outage: All workspaces fail to sync, error messages mention server/network issues
• Conflict: Specific workspace has conflicts, other workspaces sync normally

Cloud Login and Authentication Issues

Common error scenarios:

• "Unable to authenticate" despite correct credentials
• Login button does nothing or hangs indefinitely
• Session expires immediately after login
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) codes not accepted
• OAuth redirects fail or loop infinitely

Gateway errors:

• 401 Unauthorized - Auth service cannot validate credentials
• 403 Forbidden - Account access restricted (possible service degradation)
• 502 Bad Gateway - Kong's auth service unreachable
• 504 Gateway Timeout - Authentication taking too long to process

What to check first:

1. Try logging in via web browser at app.insomnia.rest
2. Verify email/password on Kong's account portal
3. Check if password reset emails are being delivered
4. Test with different network connection (mobile hotspot)

If web login works but desktop app fails, the issue may be client-specific rather than a full authentication outage.

Workspace Loading Failures

Signs your workspaces won't load:

• Application launches but shows empty workspace list
• "Failed to load workspaces" error on startup
• Workspaces visible but requests/collections are empty
• Application crashes when opening specific workspaces
• Database corruption errors in logs

Local vs cloud workspace issues:

• Local workspaces: Stored in ~/.config/Insomnia/ (Linux/Mac) or %APPDATA%\Insomnia\ (Windows)
• Cloud workspaces: Cached locally but synced from Kong's servers

Diagnostic steps:

# Check local database health (Mac/Linux)
ls -lah ~/.config/Insomnia/
cat ~/.config/Insomnia/insomnia.app.db

# View application logs for errors
# Mac: ~/Library/Logs/Insomnia/
# Linux: ~/.config/Insomnia/logs/
# Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Insomnia\logs\

If cloud workspaces fail to load but local workspaces open normally, this points to cloud service degradation rather than application corruption.

Plugin System Failures

Indicators plugins are affected:

• Installed plugins show "failed to load" errors
• Plugin actions produce errors or do nothing
• Plugin marketplace won't load or search
• Recently installed plugins cause crashes
• Theme plugins revert to default appearance

Plugin architecture issues: Insomnia's plugin system relies on both local execution and cloud-hosted plugin registry. During outages:

• Registry down: Cannot browse, search, or install new plugins
• Cloud plugins down: Plugins requiring cloud APIs fail
• Local plugins: Should continue working unless they depend on external services

Workaround for plugin issues:

// Disable problematic plugins temporarily
// Navigate to: Preferences → Plugins → Installed
// Toggle off plugins causing issues

// Manual plugin installation (offline mode)
// Download plugin from npm or GitHub
// Place in: ~/.config/Insomnia/plugins/

Import/Export Problems

Common import/export failures:

• Export produces empty or corrupted files
• Import hangs or shows "invalid format" errors
• Postman collection imports fail to parse
• OpenAPI/Swagger spec imports produce incomplete workspaces
• HAR file imports missing requests or headers

Causes during outages:

• Cloud workspace export requires sync service availability
• Import validation may call cloud APIs for schema checking
• Large collection imports timeout if connectivity is degraded

Emergency export workaround:

# Direct database export (backup everything)
# Mac/Linux
cp -r ~/.config/Insomnia/ ~/insomnia-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Windows
xcopy "%APPDATA%\Insomnia" "%USERPROFILE%\insomnia-backup" /E /I

# Export individual workspace JSON
# File → Export → Current Workspace → JSON

Team Collaboration Features Down

Signs affecting team features:

• Cannot invite team members to workspaces
• Team member changes not syncing
• Shared workspace permissions not applying
• Organization billing/subscription issues
• Enterprise SSO authentication failing

Team features are entirely cloud-dependent. If these fail while core application works, it's definitively a Kong cloud service issue.

The Real Impact When Insomnia Goes Down

API Development Workflow Disruption

Every hour of Insomnia downtime directly impacts development velocity:

• Backend developers: Cannot test API endpoints during implementation
• Frontend developers: Blocked on API integration and debugging
• QA teams: Unable to reproduce and document API-related bugs
• DevOps engineers: Cannot verify webhook deliveries or test automation

For a development team of 10, a 4-hour outage means 40 developer-hours lost—equivalent to $4,000-$8,000 in loaded salary cost.

Team Collaboration Breakdown

Modern API development is collaborative. When Insomnia cloud features fail:

• Shared workspaces inaccessible: Teams lose centralized request libraries
• Real-time sync broken: Changes made by team members don't propagate
• Documentation outdated: API documentation features rely on cloud sync
• Onboarding blocked: New team members cannot access shared collections

Recovery complexity: After resolution, teams must manually reconcile changes made during the outage, potentially recreating requests or merging conflicting workspace versions.

Testing Pipeline Halted

Insomnia integrates into automated testing workflows:

• CI/CD pipeline integration: Inso CLI may fail if cloud sync is required
• Pre-commit hooks: Automated API testing blocked
• Scheduled smoke tests: Cannot execute if workspace access fails
• Contract testing: OpenAPI validation and sync disrupted

Each broken pipeline adds delay to deployment cycles, cascading into missed release windows and delayed feature launches.

Loss of Historical Request Data

Insomnia's history tracking depends on local storage and cloud sync:

• Request history lost: Cannot review previous API calls for debugging
• Environment variable changes: Difficult to identify when values changed
• Timeline reconstruction: Cannot trace API behavior over time for incident analysis

This historical data loss can extend troubleshooting time significantly when investigating production incidents that require understanding past API interactions.

Forced Context Switching and Productivity Loss

When Insomnia becomes unavailable, developers must:

1. Stop development work to investigate the issue (15-30 minutes)
2. Switch to alternative tools like cURL, Postman, or HTTPie (30-60 minutes to set up)
3. Recreate request collections from memory or documentation (hours)
4. Re-learn different tool interfaces (productivity loss continues for days)

The cognitive overhead of context switching costs far more than the raw downtime duration.

Client Deliverable Delays

For agencies and consultancies:

• API demos fail during client presentations
• Integration milestones missed due to testing delays
• Documentation delivery postponed if using Insomnia's export features
• Professional reputation damaged from technical difficulties

A single failed demo can cost thousands in lost business, far exceeding the actual technical impact.

What to Do When Insomnia Goes Down

1. Switch to Local-Only Mode

Insomnia's core functionality works offline. Disable cloud features temporarily:

Steps to go local-only:

1. Export cloud workspaces (before full outage if possible):

   File → Export → Current Workspace → JSON
   

2. Create local workspaces for critical requests:

   Workspace dropdown → Create Local Workspace
   

3. Disable auto-sync to prevent sync error popups:

   Preferences → Data → Disable Automatic Sync
   

4. Work entirely locally until cloud services restore:

   • All request execution works normally
   • Environment variables function locally
   • Code generation and GraphQL features work
   • Only sync, sharing, and team features unavailable

Reconnecting after outage: Once services restore, re-enable sync and Insomnia will reconcile local changes with cloud state automatically (though conflicts may require manual resolution).

2. Export Workspace Backups Immediately

Automated backup script:

#!/bin/bash
# Save as: ~/scripts/backup-insomnia.sh

BACKUP_DIR=~/insomnia-backups
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)

# Create backup directory
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"

# Copy entire Insomnia config directory
cp -r ~/.config/Insomnia/* "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/"

# Keep only last 10 backups
ls -t "$BACKUP_DIR" | tail -n +11 | xargs -I {} rm -rf "$BACKUP_DIR/{}"

echo "Backup complete: $BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"

Run this script daily via cron:

0 9 * * * ~/scripts/backup-insomnia.sh

Manual export best practices:

• Export workspaces as JSON (most portable format)
• Store backups in version control (Git) for team access
• Include environment files in backups
• Document environment variable values securely (use secret management)

3. Use Alternative API Testing Tools

Immediate alternatives requiring minimal setup:

cURL (command line):

# Simple GET request
curl -X GET https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

# POST with JSON body
curl -X POST https://api.example.com/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"John Doe","email":"john@example.com"}'

# Save response to file
curl https://api.example.com/data -o response.json

# Follow redirects and show headers
curl -L -i https://api.example.com/endpoint

HTTPie (friendlier syntax):

# Install: brew install httpie (Mac) or apt install httpie (Linux)

# GET request
http GET api.example.com/users Authorization:"Bearer TOKEN"

# POST JSON
http POST api.example.com/users name="John Doe" email=john@example.com

# Upload file
http --form POST api.example.com/upload file@document.pdf

Postman (full GUI alternative):

• Download from postman.com
• Import Insomnia collections: File → Import → select exported JSON
• Note: Postman uses different format, some conversion required
• See our Is Postman Down? guide for Postman-specific issues

Bruno (offline-first, open-source):

• Download from usebruno.com
• Git-based storage (no cloud dependency)
• Similar UI to Insomnia
• Import Insomnia collections directly

Hoppscotch (browser-based):

• Access at hoppscotch.io
• No installation required
• Works entirely in browser
• Self-hostable for team use

4. Implement Request Collection Version Control

Store Insomnia workspaces in Git to eliminate cloud dependency:

Git-based workflow:

# Create repository for API collections
mkdir -p ~/api-collections
cd ~/api-collections
git init

# Export Insomnia workspace
# File → Export → JSON → save to api-collections/

# Commit to Git
git add workspace-name.json
git commit -m "Backup workspace before outage"
git push origin main

# Share with team
# Team members clone repo and import JSON files

Automated sync script:

#!/bin/bash
# Export all Insomnia workspaces to Git automatically

WORKSPACE_DIR=~/.config/Insomnia
EXPORT_DIR=~/api-collections/insomnia-workspaces
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Parse workspaces from Insomnia database
# (Simplified - actual implementation needs proper parsing)
cd "$EXPORT_DIR"

# Use Insomnia CLI (inso) if available
inso export spec "workspace-name" > workspace-name.json

git add .
git commit -m "Auto-backup: $DATE"
git push

This approach provides team-wide backup, version history, and eliminates cloud sync dependency entirely.

5. Use Inso CLI for Automation

The Inso CLI (Insomnia CLI) can run independently of the GUI:

# Install Inso
npm install -g @kong/insomnia-inso

# Export workspace spec
inso export spec "My Workspace" --output openapi.yaml

# Run request collection tests
inso run test "Test Suite" --env production

# Lint OpenAPI spec
inso lint spec workspace-name.yaml

# Generate Kong config from spec
inso generate config workspace-name.yaml --output kong.yaml

Benefits during outages:

• CLI works with local workspace files (no cloud required)
• Can integrate into CI/CD pipelines
• Provides automation for testing and validation
• Generates documentation from local sources

6. Monitor and Document the Outage

Create incident log:

## Insomnia Outage - 2026-02-05

**Detection:** 09:15 AM PST
**Impact:** Cloud sync and authentication unavailable
**Affected services:**
- Workspace sync
- Team collaboration
- Cloud workspace access

**Workarounds implemented:**
- Switched to local-only mode
- Exported critical workspaces to Git
- Team using Bruno as temporary alternative

**Timeline:**
- 09:15 - First sync failures noticed
- 09:20 - Confirmed Kong status page shows incident
- 09:30 - Team notified, workarounds distributed
- 10:45 - Services restored (Kong status update)
- 11:00 - Verified sync working, incident closed

**Resolution:** Kong infrastructure issue affecting Insomnia cloud services. Resolved in 1.5 hours.

**Actions:**
- Schedule daily workspace backups to Git
- Document team disaster recovery process
- Subscribe to Kong status notifications

Share findings with team:

• Update team chat with status
• Document workarounds in wiki/documentation
• Create playbook for future outages
• Review and improve backup procedures

7. Post-Outage Recovery

Once Insomnia services restore:

1. Verify cloud connectivity:

   # Test Insomnia API
   curl -I https://api.insomnia.rest
   

2. Re-enable sync:

   • Preferences → Data → Enable Automatic Sync
   • Click sync icon on each workspace
   • Resolve any conflict dialogs

3. Verify team access:

   • Confirm team members can access shared workspaces
   • Test permission changes applied correctly
   • Verify recent changes synced properly

4. Audit for data loss:

   • Compare local exports with cloud versions
   • Check for missing requests or collections
   • Verify environment variables intact

5. Update disaster recovery documentation:

   • Document what worked/didn't work
   • Update team playbook with lessons learned
   • Improve backup and monitoring procedures

6. Consider architectural changes:

   • Evaluate offline-first tools (Bruno, local Git storage)
   • Implement redundant backup systems
   • Set up monitoring/alerting for Insomnia status

Frequently Asked Questions

How often does Insomnia go down?

Insomnia's cloud services experience occasional outages, typically 2-4 times per year with durations ranging from 30 minutes to a few hours. Most outages are partial (affecting sync or authentication) rather than complete service failures. The desktop application's core functionality (local request execution) is rarely affected since it operates independently of cloud services. Kong's infrastructure acquisition has generally improved reliability.

Can I use Insomnia completely offline?

Yes! Insomnia's core features work entirely offline in local workspaces. You can create requests, send API calls, manage environments, use plugins, generate code, and work with GraphQL—all without internet connectivity. Only cloud-dependent features are unavailable offline: workspace sync across devices, team collaboration, cloud storage, and marketplace plugin browsing. For solo developers or teams using Git-based workflow, Insomnia is fully functional offline.

What's the difference between local and cloud workspaces?

Local workspaces: Stored entirely on your machine in ~/.config/Insomnia/, never sync to cloud, work offline, private to your device, lost if device fails unless manually backed up.

Cloud workspaces: Stored on Kong's servers, sync across devices, enable team collaboration, accessible from any device with login, backed up by Kong, require internet connectivity for sync but cached locally for offline work.

You can convert between types: right-click workspace → "Move to Cloud" or "Move to Local."

How do I migrate from Insomnia to Postman?

1. Export from Insomnia: File → Export → Current Workspace → JSON (select Insomnia JSON format)
2. Convert format: Use insomnia-to-postman converter or manually convert
3. Import to Postman: File → Import → Upload Files → select converted JSON
4. Verify migration: Check requests, environments, authorization settings
5. Note limitations: Some Insomnia-specific features (plugins, certain auth types) may not transfer perfectly

For detailed Postman guidance, see our Is Postman Down? guide.

Does Insomnia have an official status page?

Yes, Insomnia status is included on Kong's official status page at status.konghq.com. Look for components labeled "Insomnia Cloud" or "Insomnia Sync." You can subscribe to incident notifications specifically for Insomnia-related services. Additionally, apistatuscheck.com/api/insomnia provides automated, real-time monitoring with faster detection than manual status page updates.

Can I self-host Insomnia's sync service?

No official self-hosted sync solution exists from Kong. However, alternatives include:

• Git-based workflow: Export workspaces as JSON, store in Git repository, team members import locally
• Bruno: Offline-first API client with Git-native storage (no cloud sync needed)
• Network share: Store Insomnia config directory on shared network drive (risk of database corruption with concurrent access)
• Inso CLI: Automate exports and store centrally

For enterprise teams requiring full control, consider Bruno or Postman's self-hosted options rather than trying to replicate Insomnia's sync infrastructure.

What dependencies does Insomnia have that could fail?

Cloud services (Kong-hosted):

• Authentication API (login, account management)
• Sync service (workspace synchronization)
• Cloud storage (workspace data persistence)
• Plugin registry (marketplace, plugin discovery)
• Collaboration API (team features, permissions)

External dependencies:

• NPM registry (plugin installation)
• GitHub (plugin updates, issue tracking)
• DNS resolution (api.insomnia.rest)
• SSL/TLS certificate authorities

Local dependencies:

• Electron framework (application runtime)
• Local database (SQLite for workspace storage)
• Node.js runtime (plugin execution)
• Operating system APIs (networking, file system)

Understanding these dependencies helps isolate failure points during troubleshooting.

How do I set up monitoring for Insomnia issues?

Automated monitoring:

1. Subscribe to API Status Check alerts:

   • Visit apistatuscheck.com/api/insomnia
   • Configure email, Slack, Discord, or webhook notifications
   • Set alerting thresholds (latency, downtime duration)

2. Enable Kong status notifications:

   • Go to status.konghq.com
   • Click "Subscribe to Updates"
   • Select email or SMS
   • Filter to Insomnia components only

3. GitHub issue watching:

   • Watch Kong/insomnia repository for new issues
   • Enable notifications for issues labeled "bug" or "outage"

4. Custom health checks:

   # Add to crontab for periodic checks
   */5 * * * * curl -f https://api.insomnia.rest/health || echo "Insomnia API down" | mail -s "Alert" you@example.com
   

Internal monitoring: Monitor your application's API testing pipeline—if Inso CLI jobs start failing, it may indicate Insomnia infrastructure issues.

Should I stay with Insomnia or switch to alternatives?

Stick with Insomnia if:

• You rely on local-only workspaces (offline-first workflow)
• You prefer open-source software (Insomnia is open-source, Postman is not)
• Kong integration is valuable (if using Kong Gateway)
• You value lightweight, fast performance
• GraphQL support is critical (Insomnia excels here)

Consider alternatives if:

• Cloud reliability is mission-critical (Postman has more robust infrastructure)
• You need advanced team collaboration features (Postman has more mature offerings)
• Enterprise support is required (Kong support vs Postman Enterprise)
• You want offline-first with Git-native storage (try Bruno)

Most developers successfully use Insomnia by implementing robust local backup strategies and treating cloud features as convenience rather than dependency. For related API development tool status, see our guides on Postman, GitHub, and npm.

Stay Ahead of Insomnia Outages

Don't let API client downtime disrupt your development workflow. Subscribe to real-time Insomnia alerts and get notified instantly when cloud service issues are detected—before your entire team loses productivity.

API Status Check monitors Insomnia 24/7 with:

• 60-second health checks of cloud services
• Instant alerts via email, Slack, Discord, or webhook
• Historical uptime tracking and incident reports
• Multi-service monitoring for your entire development stack

Start monitoring Insomnia now →

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Last updated: February 5, 2026. Insomnia status information is provided in real-time based on active monitoring. For official incident reports, refer to status.konghq.com.