CLI: Configuration

This page covers configuration options shared across nouto run and nouto benchmark.

SSL / TLS

Disable certificate verification

Skip SSL certificate validation for self-signed or internal certificates:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --insecure

Custom CA certificate

Provide a custom CA certificate file:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --cacert /path/to/ca.pem

Client certificates (mTLS)

For mutual TLS authentication, provide a JSON config file:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --client-cert-config certs.json

The config file format:

{
  "cert": "./client-cert.pem",
  "key": "./client-key.pem",
  "passphrase": "optional-passphrase"
}

Paths in the config file are resolved relative to the config file’s directory.

Proxy

Explicit proxy

nouto run collection.nouto.json --proxy http://proxy.corp:8080
nouto run collection.nouto.json --proxy socks5://user:pass@proxy:1080

Environment variable proxy

If no --proxy flag is set, the CLI checks these environment variables in order:

1. HTTPS_PROXY / https_proxy
2. HTTP_PROXY / http_proxy

The NO_PROXY / no_proxy variable specifies hostnames or CIDRs that bypass the proxy.

Disable proxy

Force direct connections even when proxy environment variables are set:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --noproxy

Cookies

The CLI automatically handles cookies within a run session (in-memory, not persisted). Cookies received via Set-Cookie headers are stored and sent with subsequent requests to matching domains.

To disable automatic cookie handling:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --disable-cookies

Environment Files

Nouto environment file

Load a Nouto environment JSON file exported from the VS Code extension or desktop app:

nouto run collection.nouto.json \
  --env environments.json \
  --env-name Production

.env file

Load variables from a dotenv-format file:

nouto run collection.nouto.json --env-file .env.local

The .env file uses standard KEY=VALUE format:

BASE_URL=https://api.example.com
API_KEY=sk-test-12345
# Comments are supported
DB_HOST="localhost"

Variable Overrides

Override individual variables from the command line:

nouto run collection.nouto.json \
  --env-var baseUrl=https://staging.api.com \
  --env-var token=$API_TOKEN

--env-var has the highest priority and overrides all other variable sources.

Priority order

Variables are resolved in this order (highest to lowest):

1. --env-var overrides
2. Data file row
3. Active environment variables
4. Collection/folder variables
5. Global variables
6. .env file variables (--env-file)
7. Dynamic variables ({{$uuid.v4}}, {{$timestamp.iso}}, etc.)

Tags

Filter which requests run using tags (tags are set on requests in the collection):

# Only run requests tagged with ALL specified tags (AND logic)
nouto run collection.nouto.json --tags smoke

# Skip requests tagged with ANY specified tag (OR logic)
nouto run collection.nouto.json --exclude-tags slow,experimental

# Combine both
nouto run collection.nouto.json --tags regression --exclude-tags flaky

Reporter Options

Multiple reporters

Generate multiple report formats in a single run:

nouto run collection.nouto.json \
  --reporter-json results.json \
  --reporter-junit results.xml \
  --reporter-html report.html

The CLI reporter always runs unless --silent is set.

Strip sensitive data from reports

nouto run collection.nouto.json \
  --reporter-json results.json \
  --reporter-skip-headers \
  --reporter-skip-body

Flag	Effect
--reporter-skip-headers	Omit request and response headers
--reporter-skip-request-body	Omit request bodies
--reporter-skip-response-body	Omit response bodies
--reporter-skip-body	Omit both request and response bodies