feat: replace Postman collection with REST Client .rest file (#495)

- Add rest/players.rest with health check and full CRUD requests
- Add humao.rest-client to .vscode/extensions.json recommendations
- Replace postman-collections/ with rest/ in .dockerignore
- Add rest/ to .prettierignore
- Update README.md and CHANGELOG.md

Author: nanotaboada

.dockerignore

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 coverage/
 dist/
 node_modules/
-postman-collections/
+rest/
 tests/
 .codeclimate.yml
 .env

.prettierignore

@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 tests/player-test.ts
+rest/

.vscode/extensions.json

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
     // Testing
     "orta.vscode-jest",                  // Jest - JavaScript testing framework
+    "humao.rest-client",                 // REST Client - Send HTTP requests from .rest files
 
     // Formatting & Language Support
     "redhat.vscode-xml",                 // XML Language Support - XML language server

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -44,12 +44,17 @@ This project uses football/soccer terminology for release names:
 
 ### Added
 
+- `rest/players.rest` HTTP file with health check, POST, GET (all, by ID, by squad number), PUT, and DELETE requests for VS Code REST Client (`humao.rest-client`)
+- `humao.rest-client` added to `.vscode/extensions.json` recommended extensions
+
 ### Changed
 
 ### Deprecated
 
 ### Removed
 
+- `postman-collections/` directory and Postman JSON collection replaced by `rest/players.rest`
+
 ### Fixed
 
 ### Security

README.md

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ Proof of Concept for a RESTful API made with [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) [LTS
 ## Features
 
 - 🏗️ **Modern TypeScript architecture** - Native ESM, strict mode, layered architecture with interface-based contracts
-- 📚 **Interactive API exploration** - Auto-generated OpenAPI docs with Swagger UI and Postman collection
+- 📚 **Interactive API exploration** - Auto-generated OpenAPI docs with Swagger UI and `.rest` HTTP file for VS Code REST Client
 - ⚡ **Performance optimizations** - In-memory caching with node-cache, Sequelize ORM, and efficient SQLite operations
 - 🧪 **Comprehensive integration tests** - Full endpoint coverage with Jest/Supertest and automated reporting to Codecov
 - 📖 **Token-efficient documentation** - AGENTS.md + auto-loaded Copilot instructions for AI-assisted development
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ src/
 ├── docs/               # Swagger configuration & doc generation
 └── middlewares/        # Custom middleware (swagger CSP)
 
+rest/                   # HTTP request files for VS Code REST Client
 tests/                  # Integration tests with supertest
 scripts/                # Docker entrypoint & healthcheck scripts
 storage/                # Pre-seeded SQLite database
@@ -164,6 +165,8 @@ Interactive API documentation is available via Swagger UI at `http://localhost:9
 
 For complete endpoint documentation with request/response schemas, explore the [interactive Swagger UI](http://localhost:9000/swagger/). You can also access the OpenAPI JSON specification at `http://localhost:9000/swagger.json`.
 
+Alternatively, use [`rest/players.rest`](rest/players.rest) with the [REST Client](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=humao.rest-client) extension for VS Code to send requests directly from the editor.
+
 ## Prerequisites
 
 Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed: