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Introduction

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This Postman guide was written by developers, for developers.

What is Postman?

Postman provides an API development environment for developers. It allows developers to easily create, share, test, and document APIs. As an API development environment, developers can construct and save requests, issue simple to complex responses, create collections, and switch between testing environments. The purpose of this guide is to provide developers with a good understanding of what Postman is and what this application can do.


Is this guide for you?

This guide was designed for developers with some basic understanding of request/response and knowledge of an API. By following a guide with detailed steps and visual aid, you will learn the basic operation of Postman. In this documentation we will go over 5 features that will provide you with immediate benefits to you and to your team.


By the end of this guide, you will be:

  • Composing Requests
  • Working with Requests
  • Working with Environments and Variables
  • Creating/Running with Postman Collections
  • Testing With Postman


Software Versions

This guide was written with Postman Version 7.19.1 on the desktop application and NOT the web application. There are separate instructions for the web application of Postman. The desktop application can be used on macOS, Windows x32/x64, and Linux x64.


Prerequisites

To get the most out of this guide, you will need:

  • A computer installed with either:
    • macOS 10.10 or higher
    • Windows 8 or higher
    • Linux
  • A keyboard and mouse or trackpad
  • Stable internet connection
  • Web browser (preferably Google Chrome)
  • Familiarity with computer functionality and overall GUI (Graphical User Interface) layouts


Users should have basic understanding of:

  • CRUD or BREAD
  • URL construction
  • Query parameters
  • Cookies
  • Request headers


Certain styling does:

Italics: Alternatives to the instructions provided

Bold: Headers and Steps

Blue Text: Represents website links

Disclaimer: We will be using “pretty” as the default view for output. There are other options that you can choose which we will go over briefly.


How to Get Postman

Step 1) Go to the Postman website

Step 2) Create a Postman account:

  1. Click Sign In button at top of the navigation bar
  2. Click the Create Account option

Step 3) Click Download on the homepage

Step 4) Run the installer appropriate to your platform

Step 5) Set up your workspace by selecting the tools you need:

  1. Click Save My Preferences, a Startup Screen should appear