Postman

Setup

If ~/postman/ doesn't exist, read setup.md silently and start naturally.

When to Use

User needs to test APIs, create Postman collections, manage environments, or run automated API tests with Newman.

Architecture

Data lives in ~/postman/. See memory-template.md for structure.

~/postman/
├── memory.md           # Projects, preferences, common patterns
├── collections/        # Postman collection JSON files
└── environments/       # Environment JSON files

Quick Reference

| Topic | File | |-------|------| | Setup | setup.md | | Memory template | memory-template.md | | Collection format | collections.md | | Newman automation | newman.md |

Core Rules

1. Collection Structure First

2. Environment Variables Always

{
  "key": "base_url",
  "value": "https://api.example.com",
  "enabled": true
}

3. Pre-request Scripts for Auth

// Get token and set for collection
pm.sendRequest({
    url: pm.environment.get("auth_url"),
    method: 'POST',
    body: { mode: 'raw', raw: JSON.stringify({...}) }
}, (err, res) => {
    pm.environment.set("token", res.json().access_token);
});

4. Test Assertions Required

pm.test("Status 200", () => pm.response.to.have.status(200));
pm.test("Has data", () => pm.expect(pm.response.json()).to.have.property("data"));

5. Newman for CI/CD

newman run collection.json -e environment.json --reporters cli,json

Collection Format

Minimal Collection

{
  "info": {
    "name": "My API",
    "schema": "https://schema.getpostman.com/json/collection/v2.1.0/collection.json"
  },
  "item": [
    {
      "name": "Get Users",
      "request": {
        "method": "GET",
        "url": "{{base_url}}/users",
        "header": [
          { "key": "Authorization", "value": "Bearer {{token}}" }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

With Tests

{
  "name": "Create User",
  "request": {
    "method": "POST",
    "url": "{{base_url}}/users",
    "body": {
      "mode": "raw",
      "raw": "{\"name\": \"{{$randomFullName}}\", \"email\": \"{{$randomEmail}}\"}",
      "options": { "raw": { "language": "json" } }
    }
  },
  "event": [
    {
      "listen": "test",
      "script": {
        "exec": [
          "pm.test('Created', () => pm.response.to.have.status(201));",
          "pm.test('Has ID', () => pm.expect(pm.response.json().id).to.exist);"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Environment Format

{
  "name": "Development",
  "values": [
    { "key": "base_url", "value": "http://localhost:3000", "enabled": true },
    { "key": "token", "value": "", "enabled": true }
  ]
}

Newman Commands

| Task | Command | |------|---------| | Basic run | newman run collection.json | | With environment | newman run collection.json -e dev.json | | Specific folder | newman run collection.json --folder "Users" | | Iterations | newman run collection.json -n 10 | | Data file | newman run collection.json -d data.csv | | HTML report | newman run collection.json -r htmlextra | | Bail on fail | newman run collection.json --bail |

Common Traps

Dynamic Variables

Postman built-in variables for test data:

| Variable | Example Output | |----------|----------------| | {{$randomFullName}} | "Jane Doe" | | {{$randomEmail}} | "jane@example.com" | | {{$randomUUID}} | "550e8400-e29b-..." | | {{$timestamp}} | 1234567890 | | {{$randomInt}} | 42 |

OpenAPI to Postman

Import OpenAPI/Swagger specs: 1. Export OpenAPI JSON/YAML 2. In Postman: Import > File > Select spec 3. Collection auto-generated with all endpoints

Or via CLI:

npx openapi-to-postmanv2 -s openapi.yaml -o collection.json

Security & Privacy

Data that stays local:

This skill does NOT:

Related Skills

Feedback

User needs to test APIs, create Postman collections, manage environments, or run automated API tests with Newman.

If ~/postman/ doesn't exist, read setup.md silently and start naturally.