Parity & gap report

Inventory comparison for Windows App v26.8.5 and VS Code Extension v0.2.58. Both share the React webview for API / Runner / DB. Columns: Windows / VS Code use ✅ available, ⚠️ partial, ❌ absent. Gap summarizes deltas; Workaround lists practical alternatives.

Getting started / install / workspaces

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Getting started	NSIS / Store APPX installer	✅	❌	Windows-only installers	Install VS Code extension from Marketplace / VSIX
Getting started	Marketplace / VSIX install	❌	✅	VS Code-only distribution	Use Windows app from download
Getting started	Welcome dialog (Import / Create)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Workspaces	Default root under Documents	✅	⚠️	Paths differ by host	Open/import the same folder explicitly
Workspaces	New / Open / Import / Manage / Switch	✅	✅	Full parity	Also use `qasignoff.*Workspace` commands in VS Code
Workspaces	Duplicate-as / Reveal / Close / Favorite	✅	⚠️	Desktop menu richer	Use Reveal in Explorer command + OS file manager
Workspaces	Unsaved / relocate dialogs	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Getting started	Desktop update banner / auto-update	✅	❌	Windows-only updates	Marketplace auto-updates the extension

Interface chrome

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
UI	Mode tabs API / Runner / DB	✅	✅	Full parity	—
UI	Mode tab Git	✅	❌	Windows only	VS Code Source Control + terminal Git
UI	App menu File/Edit/View/Help	✅	❌	Windows only	Command Palette + VS Code menus
UI	Workspace menu	✅	✅	Full parity	—
UI	Import, Logs, Help, Settings, Env switcher	✅	⚠️	Settings overlay desktop-first	Preferences + webview settings; see Settings gaps
UI	Topbar layout	✅	✅	Full parity	—
UI	Activity Bar + sidebar welcome	❌	✅	VS Code only	—
UI	Status bar `Signoff Studio`	❌	✅	VS Code only	—
UI	VS Code theme bridge	❌	✅	VS Code only	Windows uses in-app themes
UI	Dirty title indicator (●)	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Collections & tree

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Collections	Tree (folders + requests)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Request / collection tabs	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	History footer	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Request context menu	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Folder context menu	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Collection context menu	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Collection workspace tabs	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Collections	Create / Import / Run / Duplicate / Export / Delete / Sync OpenAPI / Mock	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Request builder & response

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Requests	Params / Auth / Headers / Body / Pre-request / Tests / Settings	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	HTTP methods	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Body modes (None/JSON/Form/Multipart/GraphQL/Binary/Raw)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Save / unsaved dialogs	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Asserts editor / generator	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Variable extract dialog	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Response examples CRUD	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	Generate code modal	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Requests	AI assist bar (BYOK)	✅	✅	Full parity	Configure providers first
Response	Stream / Pretty / Raw / Headers / Explorer / Checks	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Response	Restore response panel command	⚠️	✅	Command is VS Code-only	Re-open layout manually on Windows

Environments & secrets

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Environments	Environment switcher	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Environments	Environments page CRUD	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Environments	`{{variable}}` resolution	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Environments	Secret masking / strip on commit	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Environments	Import Bruno / Postman / Signoff env	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Import / export

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Import	Signoff Collection	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	Postman v2.0 / v2.1	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	OpenAPI 3.x / Swagger 2.0	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	Bruno	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	Thunder Client (+ Git Sync)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	Insomnia v4 / v5	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	Hoppscotch	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Import	cURL	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Export	Signoff / Postman v2.1 / Bruno / OpenAPI 3	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Authentication

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Auth	none, inherit, bearer, basic, api-key	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	oauth2 (auth code+PKCE, client creds, refresh, password, implicit)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	oauth1, digest, custom	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	aws-signature (SigV4)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	hawk	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	ntlm	⚠️	⚠️	UI present; not supported yet	Use alternate auth or external gateway
Auth	OAuth local callback host	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Auth	Inherited auth collection/folder/request	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Scripting

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Scripts	Pre-request + Tests (request)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Scripts	Collection/folder ScopeScriptStudio	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Scripts	QuickJS `qa.*` dialect	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Scripts	Aliases `pm.` / `bru.` / `pw.*`	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Scripts	`qa.db` / `qa.load` / `qa.files` / `qa.ui`	⚠️	⚠️	Host-gated APIs	Prefer portable `qa.*` HTTP asserts in shared collections

Runner

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Runner	Collection / folder scope picker	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Runner	Modes Manual / Scheduled / CLI / Background	✅	⚠️	Scheduled desktop-preferred	CLI/ `cron` for unattended; keep panel open for webview schedules
Runner	Run / Pause / Resume / Stop / Restart	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Runner	Plan tree, dashboard, report, inspector, results	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Runner	RunConfig (iterations, delay, timeout, bail, retry, workers, SSL, reports)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Runner	Test data CSV/JSON	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Runner	Reports json/html/pdf/junit/csv	✅	✅	Full parity	Set `SIGNOFF_CHROME_PATH` for PDF if needed
Runner	Run history panel	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Load testing

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Load	Load panel (VUs, duration, ramp, thresholds)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Load	CLI `load` subcommand	✅	✅	Full parity	Run from any terminal with backend package

Monitors / scheduler

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Monitors	Create/edit schedules (once/daily/weekly/monthly/cron)	✅	⚠️	Fires only while UI open on both; desktop better for always-on	Windows Store app; or OS/CI cron + CLI
Monitors	Environment + timezone pickers	✅	✅	Full parity (UI)	—
Monitors	Fires only while app/panel open	⚠️	⚠️	By design on both	Keep app open; prefer Windows for always-on
Monitors	Failure desktop notify	✅	❌	Windows only	Watch Runner history / CI notifications
Monitors	Store app recommendation notice	✅	✅	Full parity (copy)	Follow link to Microsoft Store

OpenAPI mock

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Mock	Start/stop from folder/collection	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Mock	Mock toolbar + logs	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Mock	CLI `npm run mock`	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Cookies & utilities

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Utilities	Search, Cookies, Console, Dev Tools, Preferences	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Utilities	Cookie jar persistence path	⚠️	⚠️	Different files per host	Re-auth per host or share tokens via env secrets
Utilities	Diagnostic logs page	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Database workbench

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
DB	Drivers Sample/Postgres/MySQL/SQL Server/Oracle/SQLite	✅	✅	Full parity	—
DB	Connections CRUD, test, vault	✅	✅	Full parity	—
DB	SQL editor, schema intel, multi results	✅	✅	Full parity	—
DB	Transactions, kill session, export results	✅	✅	Full parity	—
DB	Driver overlays update/rollback	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Git workbench

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Git	Status, stage, commit, fetch, pull, push	✅	❌	Windows only	VS Code Source Control
Git	Branches / remotes / clone / init	✅	❌	Windows only	Terminal `git` / IDE Git
Git	Git import panel	✅	❌	Windows only	Clone externally → Open/Import Workspace

Settings

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Settings	Full Settings overlay (General…About)	✅	❌	Windows only overlay	Use Preferences + webview AI/settings where exposed
Settings	In-app Preferences (console, appearance)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Settings	VS Code `contributes.configuration`	❌	❌	None by design	No `settings.json` keys — configure in-product
Settings	Proxy / certificates / updates / security / AI	✅	⚠️	Desktop-complete; VS Code partial	Configure proxy at OS/VS Code level; AI in webview

AI assist

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
AI	BYOK OpenAI/Anthropic/Azure/Gemini/compat	✅	✅	Full parity (capability)	Windows Settings UI is richer for tokens
AI	Autocomplete modes	✅	✅	Full parity	—

MCP & CLI

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
CLI	`qasignoff-runner` run flags	✅	✅	Full parity	—
CLI	`qasignoff-runner` load flags	✅	✅	Full parity	—
CLI	mock CLI	✅	✅	Full parity	—
CLI	MCP tools list_/run_	✅	✅	Full parity	Local stdio only
CLI	workspace:normalize	✅	✅	Full parity	—

VS Code host commands

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
VS Code	`qasignoff.open`	❌	✅	VS Code only	Launch Windows app
VS Code	`newWorkspace` / `openWorkspace` / `importWorkspace` / `manageWorkspaces` / `switchWorkspace`	❌	✅	VS Code only	Windows workspace menu
VS Code	`qasignoff.restoreResponsePanel`	❌	✅	VS Code only	Reopen response pane in layout
VS Code	`explorer.runCollection` / `runRequest` / `revealInExplorer`	❌	✅	VS Code only	Tree context menus in webview
VS Code	Contributed keybindings	❌	❌	None	Bind command IDs in `keybindings.json`

Protocols (summary)

Module	Feature	Windows	VS Code	Gap	Workaround
Protocols	REST	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Protocols	GraphQL (+ introspect, graphql-ws)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Protocols	WebSocket	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Protocols	SSE	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Protocols	gRPC (call / list / reflect)	✅	✅	Full parity	—
Protocols	MQTT	✅	✅	Full parity	—

Headline gaps (operator view)

Git workbench — Windows only; use VS Code SCC otherwise.
Always-on monitors — UI must stay open; Windows Store app recommended; desktop failure notify is Windows-only.
Settings overlay — full proxy/certs/updates/security/AI token UI is Windows-first; VS Code has no contributed configuration.
NTLM auth — shown but not implemented on either host.
Cookie jars — separate persistence paths per host.

Need something else? See the FAQ. Questions: [email protected]. Bugs: [email protected].

Parity & gap report

Parity & gap report

Getting started / install / workspaces

Interface chrome

Collections & tree

Request builder & response

Environments & secrets

Import / export

Authentication

Scripting

Runner

Load testing

Monitors / scheduler

OpenAPI mock

Cookies & utilities

Database workbench

Git workbench

Settings

AI assist

MCP & CLI

VS Code host commands

Protocols (summary)

Headline gaps (operator view)

Related