Postman Quick Reference Guide

Documentation
Release Version 1.6.1 - February 2020

Valentin Despa

Feb 07, 2020

 Contents:

1 Cheatsheet 1
1.1 Postman Cheatsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Dynamic variables 9
2.1 Dynamic variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Simple solutions to common problems 17

3.1 Request creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 Assertions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3 Schema validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.4 JavaScript libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.5 Workflows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.6 Newman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4 Online course 33
4.1 Postman online course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

i
ii
 CHAPTER 1

Cheatsheet

1.1 Postman Cheatsheet

Thank you for downloading this cheat sheet. This guide refers to the Postman App, not the Chrome extension.
Please report any problems with it.
Postman Cheat Sheet is based on the official Postman documentation and own experience.
For a detailed documentation on each feature, check out https://www.getpostman.com/docs.

1.1.1 Variables

All variables can be manually set using the Postman GUI and are scoped.
The code snippets can be used for working with variables in scripts (pre-request, tests).
Learn more about the different variables scopes in this tutorial.

Getting variables in the Request Builder

Depending on the closest scope:

Syntax: {{myVariable}}
Examples:
Request URL: http://{{domain}}/users/{{userId}}
Headers (key:value): X-{{myHeaderName}}:foo
Request body: {"id": "{{userId}}", "name": "John Doe"}

Global variables

General purpose variables, ideal for quick results and prototyping.

Please consider using one of the more specialized variables below. Delete variables once they are no longer
needed.
When to use:

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• passing data to other requests

Setting

pm.globals.set('myVariable', MY_VALUE);

Getting

pm.globals.get('myVariable');

Alternatively, depending on the scope:

pm.variables.get('myVariable');

Removing
Remove one variable

pm.globals.unset('myVariable');

Remove ALL global variables (rather unusual)

pm.globals.clear();

Collection variables

When to use:
• good alternative to global variables or environment variables
• for URLs / authentication credentials if only one environment exists
Setting

pm.collectionVariables.set('myVariable', MY_VALUE);

Getting

pm.collectionVariables.get('myVariable');

Removing

pm.collectionVariables.unset('myVariable');

Environment variables

Environment variables are tied to the selected environment. Good alternative to global variables as they have a
narrower scope.
When to use:
• storing environment specific information
• URLs, authentication credentials
• passing data to other requests
Setting

pm.environment.set('myVariable', MY_VALUE);

Getting

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pm.environment.get('myVariable');

Depending on the closest scope:

pm.variables.get('myVariable');

Removing
Remove one variable

pm.environment.unset("myVariable");

Remove ALL environment variables

pm.environment.clear();

Examples:

pm.environment.set('name', 'John Doe');

console.log(pm.environment.get('name'));
console.log(pm.variables.get('name'));

Data variables

Exist only during the execution of an iteration (created by the Collection Runner or Newman).
When to use:
• when multiple data-sets are needed
Setting
Can only be set from a CSV or a JSON file.
Getting

pm.iterationData.get('myVariable);

Depending on the closest scope:

pm.variables.get('myVariable');

Removing
Can only be removed from within the CSV or JSON file.

Local variables

Local variables are only available withing the request that has set them or when using Newman / Collection runner
during the entire exection.
When to use:
• whenever you would like to override all other variable scopes—for whatever reason. Not sure though then
this is needed.
Setting

pm.variables.set('myVariable', MY_VALUE);

Getting

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pm.variables.get('myVariable', MY_VALUE);

Removing
Local variables are automatically removed once the tests have been executed.

Dynamic variables

All dynamic variables can be combined with strings, in order to generate dynamic / unique data.
Example JSON body:

{"name": "John Doe", "email": "john.doe.{{$timestamp}}@example.com"}

If you want to use dynamic variables in scripts, you can use the replaceIn starting with Postman v7.6.0.

pm.variables.replaceIn('{{$randomFirstName}}'); // returns a String

For more details please see the section dedicated to Dynamic variables

Logging / Debugging variables

Open Postman Console and use console.log in your test or pre-request script.
Example:

var myVar = pm.globals.get("myVar");

console.log(myVar);

1.1.2 Assertions

Note: You need to add any of the assertions inside a pm.test callback.
Example:

pm.test("Your test name", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(jsonData.value).to.eql(100);
});

Status code

Check if status code is 200:

pm.response.to.have.status(200);

Checking multiple status codes:

pm.expect(pm.response.code).to.be.oneOf([201,202]);

Response time

Response time below 100ms:

pm.expect(pm.response.responseTime).to.be.below(9);

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Headers

Header exists:

pm.response.to.have.header(X-Cache');

Header has value:

pm.expect(pm.response.headers.get('X-Cache')).to.eql('HIT');

Cookies

Cookie exists:

pm.expect(pm.cookies.has('sessionId')).to.be.true;

Cookie has value:

pm.expect(pm.cookies.get('sessionId')).to.eql(’ad3se3ss8sg7sg3');

Body

Any content type / HTML responses

Exact body match:

pm.response.to.have.body("OK");
pm.response.to.have.body('{"success"=true}');

Partial body match / body contains:

pm.expect(pm.response.text()).to.include('Order placed.');

JSON responses
Parse body (need for all assertions):

const response = pm.response.json();

Simple value check:

pm.expect(response.age).to.eql(30);
pm.expect(response.name).to.eql('John);

Nested value check:

pm.expect(response.products.0.category).to.eql('Detergent');

XML responses
Convert XML body to JSON:

const response = xml2Json(responseBody);

Note: see assertions for JSON responses.

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Skipping tests

You can use pm.test.skip to skip a test. Skipped tests will be displayed in reports.
Simple example
pm.test.skip("Status code is 200", () => {
pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

Conditional skip
const shouldBeSkipped = true; // some condition

(shouldBeSkipped ? pm.test.skip : pm.test)("Status code is 200", () => {

pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

Failing tests

You can fail a test from the scripts without writing an assertion:
pm.expect.fail('This failed because ...');

1.1.3 Postman Sandbox

pm

this is the object containing the script that is running, can access variables and has access to a read-only copy of
the request or response.

pm.sendRequest

Allows to send simple HTTP(S) GET requests from tests and pre-request scripts. Example:
pm.sendRequest('https://httpbin.org/get', (error, response) => {
if (error) throw new Error(error);
console.log(response.json());
});

Full-option HTTP POST request with JSON body:

const payload = { name: 'John', age: 29};

const options = {
method: 'POST',
url: 'https://httpbin.org/post',
header: 'X-Foo:foo',
body: {
mode: 'raw',
raw: JSON.stringify(payload)
}
};
pm.sendRequest(options, (error, response) => {
if (error) throw new Error(error);
console.log(response.json());
});

Form-data POST request (Postman will add the multipart/form-data header):

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const options = {
'method': 'POST',
'url': 'https://httpbin.org/post',
'body': {
'mode': 'formdata',
'formdata': [
{'key':'foo', 'value':'bar'},
{'key':'bar', 'value':'foo'}
]
}
};
pm.sendRequest(options, (error, response) => {
if (error) throw new Error(error);
console.log(response.json());
});

Sending a file with form-data POST request

Due to security precautions, it is not possible to upload a file from a script using pm.sendRequest. You cannot
read or write files from scripts.

1.1.4 Postman Echo

Helper API for testing requests. Read more at: https://docs.postman-echo.com.

Get Current UTC time in pre-request script

pm.sendRequest('https://postman-echo.com/time/now', function (err, res) {

if (err) { console.log(err); }
else {
var currentTime = res.stream.toString();
console.log(currentTime);
pm.environment.set("currentTime", currentTime);
}
});

1.1.5 Workflows

Only work with automated collection runs such as with the Collection Runner or Newman. It will NOT have any
effect when using inside the Postman App.
Additionaly it is important to note that this will only affect the next request being executed. Even if you put this
inside the pre-request script, it will NOT skip the current request.
Set which will be the next request to be executed
postman.setNextRequest(“Request name");
Stop executing requests / stop the collection run
postman.setNextRequest(null);

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 CHAPTER 2

Dynamic variables

2.1 Dynamic variables

Dynamic variables can be used in the request builder like this:

If you want to use dynamic variables in scripts, you can use the replaceIn starting with Postman v7.6.0.

pm.variables.replaceIn('{{$randomFirstName}}');

pm.variables.replaceIn('{{$randomFirstName}} {{$randomLastName}}');

The replaceIn method will return a String with the resolved variables.
Before Postman 7.2, only the following dynamic variables were available:

Variable Description Example

name
$guid Generates a GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) in 15aacbb1-1615-47d8-b001-
v4 e5411a044761
$timestamp Returns the current timestamp 1561013396
$randomInt Generates random integer between 0 and 1000 764

Starting with version 7.2, Postman is using the faker.js library and added more variables. If used multiple times,
they can return different values per request. Note: the autocomplete support in the Request Builder might be
missing.

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Variable name Description Examples Comment
1
$randomZipCode ZIP Code 83932, 40260-4447
$randomCity City East Ryanfurt, Jenkinsview
$randomCityPrefix City prefix Port, West, East, Lake, New
$randomCitySuffix City suffix mouth, borough, town, berg
2
$randomStreetName Street name Mckenna Pines, Schiller Highway, Van-
dervort Pike
3
$randomStreetAddress Street with number 98165 Tanya Passage, 0695 Monahan
Squares
$randomStreetSuffix Street suffix Field, Bridge, Keys, Greens, Route
4
$randomStreetPrefix Street prefix a, b, c
5
$randomSecondaryAddress Additional address information Suite 760, Apt. 636, Suite 043
6
$randomCounty County Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire
$randomCountry Country Belgium, Antarctica (the territory South
of 60 deg S)
$randomCountryCode Country code (2-letter) GY, TK, BG
7
$randomState Random state Arizona, South Dakota, Delaware
8
$randomStateAbbr Random state code (2-letter) GA, LA, AZ
$randomLatitude Latitude -79.9881, 87.8072
$randomLongitude Longitude -41.5763, 10.4960
$randomColor Color lime, azure, maroon, gold, violet
$randomDepartment Departments in a store Garden, Clothing, Grocery, Kids
$randomProductName Product name Intelligent Steel Sausages, Awesome
Rubber Cheese
9
$randomPrice Price 244.00, 301.00
$randomProductAdjective Product adjective Refined, Handcrafted, Handmade, Sleek
$randomProductMaterial Product material Frozen, Cotton, Wooden, Soft
$randomProduct Simple product name Salad, Cheese, Bike, Soap
$randomCompanyName Company name Christiansen LLC, Corwin Inc, Fahey -
Boyer
$randomCompanySuffix Company suffix LLC, Group, Inc, and Sons
$randomCatchPhrase Catch phrase Centralized upward-trending attitude
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$randomBs BS one-to-one unleash communities

$randomCatchPhraseAdjective Catch phrase adjective Total, Diverse, Horizontal
$randomCatchPhraseDescriptor Catch phrase descriptor leading edge, dynamic, attitude-oriented

Chapter 2. Dynamic variables

Continued on next page
 Table 1 – continued from previous page
Variable name Description Examples Comment
$randomCatchPhraseNoun Catch phrase noun Graphical User Interface, matrix, bench-
mark
$randomBsAdjective BS adjective compelling, vertical, revolutionary
$randomBsBuzz BS buzz strategize, redefine, streamline
$randomBsNoun BS noun systems, bandwidth, paradigms
$randomDatabaseColumn Database column status, title, name, password, createdAt
$randomDatabaseType Database column type enum, mediumint, double, timestamp

2.1. Dynamic variables

$randomDatabaseCollation Database collation utf8_general_ci, utf8_bin
$randomDatabaseEngine Database engine MEMORY, InnoDB, CSV, MyISAM
$randomDatePast Date in the past Wed Mar 06 2019 04:17:52 GMT+0800
(WITA)
$randomDateFuture Date in the future Wed Nov 20 2019 20:26:40 GMT+0800
(WITA)
10
$randomDateBetween ??? Invalid Date
$randomDateRecent Recent date Thu Jun 20 2019 13:29:11 GMT+0800
(WITA)
$randomMonth Month February, April
$randomWeekday Weekdat Saturday, Monday
$randomBankAccount Bank account (8-digit) 58484223, 18983115
$randomBankAccountName Bank account name Home Loan Account, Investment Ac-
count
$randomCreditCardMask Masked credit card number (4-digit) 7333, 6202
$randomCurrencyAmount Amount 297.80, 529.26
$randomTransactionType Transaction type invoice, deposit, withdrawal, payment
$randomCurrencyCode Currency code THB, HTG USD, AUD
$randomCurrencyName Currency name Pound Sterling, Bulgarian Lev
$randomCurrencySymbol Currency symbol $, , Kč
11
$randomBitcoin ??? 1XEW2WNQXFLUPQJU8F3D6OCJHV9UR
12
$randomBankAccountIban IBAN PK46Y5057900541310025311
13
$randomBankAccountBic BIC YQCIFMA1762
$randomAbbreviation Abbreviation RSS, SQL, TCP, HTTP, SMS
$randomAdjective Adjective virtual, solid state, digital
$randomNoun Noun microchip, interface, system, firewall
Continued on next page

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Variable name Description Examples Comment
$randomVerb Verb connect, parse, navigate, synthesize
$randomIngverb Verb with -ing bypassing, copying, programming
$randomPhrase Phrase We need to copy the online CSS mi-
crochip!
$randomImage Image URL http://lorempixel.com/640/480/people
$randomAvatarImage Avatar image URL https://s3.amazonaws.com/uifaces/faces/
twitter/jacksonlatka/128.jpg
$randomImageUrl Image URL http://lorempixel.com/640/480
$randomAbstractImage Abstract image http://lorempixel.com/640/480/abstract
$randomAnimalsImage Image with animals http://lorempixel.com/640/480/animals
$randomBusinessImage Business-related image http://lorempixel.com/640/480/business
$randomCatsImage Image with cats http://lorempixel.com/640/480/cats
$randomCityImage Image with a city http://lorempixel.com/640/480/city
$randomFoodImage Image with food http://lorempixel.com/640/480/food
$randomNightlifeImage Image with nightlife http://lorempixel.com/640/480/nightlife
$randomFashionImage Image with fashion http://lorempixel.com/640/480/fashion
$randomPeopleImage Image with people http://lorempixel.com/640/480/people
$randomNatureImage Image with nature http://lorempixel.com/640/480/nature
$randomSportsImage Image with sport http://lorempixel.com/640/480/sports
$randomTechnicsImage Image with tech http://lorempixel.com/640/480/technics
$randomTransportImage Image with transportation http://lorempixel.com/640/480/transport
$randomImageDataUri Image as data URI data:image/svg+xml;charset=UTF-8,
%3Csvg%20 . . .
14
$randomEmail Email from popular email providers [email protected],
[email protected]
$randomExampleEmail Example email [email protected],
[email protected]
$randomUserName Username Minerva42, Shania_Nitzsche
$randomProtocol HTTP Protocol http, https
$randomUrl URL http://daphney.biz, https://ansley.com
$randomDomainName Domain name adaline.org, murray.name, abdul.biz
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$randomDomainSuffix Top Level Domain (TLD) extension com, net, biz, name, org
$randomDomainWord Word that can be used within a domain guadalupe, willa, jose
name

Chapter 2. Dynamic variables

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 Table 1 – continued from previous page
Variable name Description Examples Comment
$randomIP IP v4 147.236.215.88, 139.159.148.94
$randomIPV6 IP v6 64d7:f61e:d265:167f:3971:9ae3:6853:3c48
$randomUserAgent Browser User-agent Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 10.0;
Windows NT 5.2; Trident/5.1)
$randomHexColor Color in hex format #010638, #010638
$randomMACAddress MAC address 15:12:78:1e:96:fe, 99:f4:aa:40:49:59
$randomPassword Password v_Ptr4aTaBONsM0,

2.1. Dynamic variables

8xQM6pKgBUndK_J
$randomLoremWord Lorem ipsum word ipsa, dolor, dicta
$randomLoremWords Lorem ipsum words debitis tenetur deserunt
$randomLoremSentence Lorem ipsum phrase Qui fugiat necessitatibus porro quasi ea
modi.
$randomLoremSlug Lorem ipsum slug sint-dolorum-expedita, modi-quo-ut
$randomLoremSentences Lorem ipsum sentance Voluptatum quidem rerum occaecati . . .
$randomLoremParagraph Lorem ipsum paragraph Asperiores dolor illo. Ex . . .
15
$randomLoremParagraphs Lorem ipsum paragraphs Saepe unde qui rerum . . .
16
$randomLoremText Lorem ipsum text Ipsam repellat qui aspernatur . . .
17
$randomLoremLines Lorem ipsum text aliquid enim reiciendis . . .
$randomFirstName First name Dillan, Sedrick, Daniela
$randomLastName Last name Schamberger, McCullough, Becker
$randomFullName Full name Layne Adams, Bridget O’Reilly III
$randomJobTitle Job title Product Usability Consultant, Product
Mobility Architect
$randomNamePrefix Personal title (used as prefix) Miss, Mrs., Mr., Ms
$randomNameSuffix Title (used as suffix) I, II, Sr., MD, PhD
$randomNameTitle Job title Product Markets Administrator, Internal 18
Functionality Producer
$randomJobDescriptor Job title descriptor Corporate, Global, International, Chief,
Lead
$randomJobArea Job area Creative, Markets, Tactics
$randomJobType Job type Administrator, Consultant, Supervisor
19
$randomPhoneNumber Phone number 946.539.2542 x582, (681) 083-2162
20
$randomPhoneNumberFormat Phone number 840-883-9861, 353-461-5243
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14
Variable name Description Examples Comment
$randomPhoneFormats Phone number format ###.###.####, 1-###-###-#### x###,
(###) ###-####
$randomArrayElement Random element from array [a,b, c] a, b, c
$randomObjectElement Random object element car, bar
$randomUUID UUID 1f9a0bc0-582c-466f-ba78-
67b82ebbd8a8
21
$randomBoolean Boolean true, false
$randomWord Word or abbreviation transmitting, PCI, West Virginia
22
$randomWords Words portal bypassing indigo, Cotton transmit-
ting
23
$randomLocale Locale en
$randomAlphaNumeric Alphanumeric character 4, a, h
$randomFileName Filename soft_smtp.wvx, calculate.grv
$randomCommonFileName Common filename mall.pdf, chair.mp4, facilitator.mp3
$randomMimeType MIME type application/x-font-bdf, applica-
tion/omdoc+xml
$randomCommonFileType Common filetype image, application, audio
$randomCommonFileExt Common file extension png, mp3, mpeg, gif
$randomFileType File type x-shader, font, audio, message
$randomFileExt File extension xsm, zirz, xar
24
$randomDirectoryPath Directory path
25
$randomFilePath File path
$randomSemver Version (using semantic version) 6.3.4, 2.8.0, 1.7.6
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Chapter 2. Dynamic variables

2.1. Dynamic variables
1 Not really useful as you cannot specify a country.
2 Limited usability as you cannot specify a country.
3 Warning: it may generate invalid data, with street numbers starting with 0. Limited usability as you cannot specify a country.
4 Not sure what a street prefix is. Unknown usage.
5 Warning: it may generate invalid data, with numbers starting with 0. Limited usability as you cannot specify a country.
6 Limited usability as you cannot specify a country.
7 Limited to US states.
8 Limited to US states.
9 Not possible to specify a format. It seems that the price is never with a subdivision (cents). Alternative: $randomCurrencyAmount.
10 Seems to be broken.
11 Does not look like a Bitcoin address.
12 May not be a valid IBAN.
13 May not be a valid BIC.
14 Better use example emails.
15 Includes \n \r characters (CR + LF).
16 Length is unpredictable. May include \n \r characters (CR + LF).
17 Length is unpredictable. May include \n characters (LF).
18 Seems to overlap with $$randomJobTitle.
19 Random format. Cannot specify a format / country.
20 Fixed format. Cannot specify another format / country
21 Warning: the output is still a string!
22 May return only one word.
23 Seems broken as it returns only “en”.
24 Seems broken.
25

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Seems broken.
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16 Chapter 2. Dynamic variables

 CHAPTER 3

Simple solutions to common problems

3.1 Request creation

3.1.1 I have an environment variable as {{url}}. Can I use it inside a script (like
pm.sendRequest)?

The following syntax will not work while writing scripts:

pm.sendRequest({{url}}/mediaitem/)

You are inside a script, so you need to use the pm.* API to get to that variable. The syntax {{url}} works only
inside the request builder, not in scripts.
Example:

var requestUrl = pm.environment.get("url") + "/mediaitem/");

pm.sendRequest(requestUrl, function (err, res) {

// do stuff
});

3.1.2 How to use pre-request script to pass dynamic data in the request body?

In the pre-request script you can simply create a JavaScript object, set the desired values and save it as a variable
()
For example if you want to send a request body that looks like:

{
"firstName": "First Name",
"lastName": "Last Name",
"email": "[email protected]"
}

You can do the following in the pre-request script:

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// Define a new object

var user = {
"firstName": "First Name",
"lastName": "Last Name",
"email": "[email protected]"
}

// Save the object as a variable.

// JSON.stringify will serialize the object so that Postman can save it
pm.globals.set('user', JSON.stringify(user));

In the request body you can simply use {{user}}. This also works just as well for nested objects:

{
"user": {{user}}
"address": {
"street": "Foo"
"number": "2"
"city": "Bar"
}
}

3.1.3 How can I modify the request headers?

You can modify the request headers from the Pre-request script as follows.
Add header

pm.request.headers.add({
key: 'X-Foo',
value: 'Postman'
});

Remove header

pm.request.headers.remove('User-Agent'); // may not always work

Update header

pm.request.headers.upsert(
{
key: "User-Agent",
value: "Not Postman"

}
);

3.1.4 How to generate random data?

Option 1 Using existing Postman random generators

If you need to create an unique string (with every request) and pass it in the request body, in the example below
there will be generated an unique GroupName everytime the request is executed.
You can use the variable {{$guid}} - this is automatically generated by Postman. Or you can use the current
timestamp, {{$timestamp}}:

{
"GroupName":"GroupName_{{$guid}}",
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(continued from previous page)

"Description": "Example_API_Admin-Group_Description"
}

This will generate something like:

{
"GroupName":"GroupName_0542bd53-f030-4e3b-b7bc-d496e71d16a0",
"Description": "Example_API_Admin-Group_Description"
}

The disadvantage of this method is that you cannot use these special variables in a pre-request script or test.
Additionally they will be only generated once per request, so using {{$guid}} more than once will generate
the same data in a request.
Option 2 Using existing JavaScript random generators
Below you will find an exemple function that you can use to generate integer number between a specific interval:

function getRandomNumber(minValue, maxValue) {

return Math.floor(Math.random() * (maxValue - minValue +1)) + min;
}

You can call the function like this:

var myRandomNumber = getRandomNumber(0, 100);

And the output will look similar to:

67

Below you will find an exemple function that you can use to generate random strings:

function getRandomString() {
Math.random().toString(36).substring(2);
}

You can call the function like this:

var myRandomNumber = getRandomString();

And the output will look similar to:

5q04pes32yi

3.1.5 How to trigger another request from pre-request script?

Option 1 You can trigger another request in the collection from the pre-request script using postman.
setNextRequest.
That can be done with:

postman.setNextRequest('Your request name as saved in Postman');

The difficulty is returning to the request that initiated the call. Additionally you need to make sure you do not
create endless loops.
Option 2 Another possibility is making an HTTP call from the pre-request script to fetch any data you might need.
Below I am fetching a name from a remote API and setting it as a variable for use in the actual request that will
execute right after the pre-request script completed:

3.1. Request creation 19

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var options = { method: 'GET',

url: 'http://www.mocky.io/v2/5a849eee300000580069b022'
};

pm.sendRequest(options, function (error, response) {

if (error) throw new Error(error);
var jsonData = response.json();
pm.globals.set('name', 'jsonData.name');
});

Tip You can generate such requests by using the “Code” generator button right below the Save button, once you
have a request that works. There you can Select NodeJS > Request and the syntax generated is very similar to
what Postman expects.
You can import this example in Postman by using this link: https://www.getpostman.com/collections/
5a61c265d4a7bbd8b303

3.1.6 How to send request with XML body from a script?

You can use the following template to send a XML request from a script. Notice that price is a Postman variable
that will be replaced.

const xmlBody = `<?xml version="1.0"?>

<catalog>
<book id="bk101">
<author>Gambardella, Matthew</author>
<title>XML Developer's Guide</title>
<genre>Computer</genre>
<price>{{price}}</price>
<publish_date>2000-10-01</publish_date>
<description>An in-depth look at creating applications
with XML.</description>
</book>
</catalog>`;

const options = {
'method': 'POST',
'url': 'httpbin.org/post',
'header': {
'Content-Type': 'application/xml'
},
body: pm.variables.replaceIn(xmlBody) // replace any Postman variables
}

pm.sendRequest(options, function (error, response) {

if (error) throw new Error(error);
console.log(response.body);
});

3.1.7 How to pass arrays and objects between requests?

Assuming your response is in JSON format, You can extract data from the response by using

var jsonData = pm.response.json();

After this you can set the whole response (or just a subset like this):

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pm.environment.set('myData', JSON.stringify(jsonData));

You need to use JSON.stringify() before saving objects / arrays to a Postman variable. Otherwise it may not work
(depending on your Postman or Newman version).
In the next request where you want to retrieve the data, just use:
• {myData}} if you are inside the request builder
• var myData = JSON.parse(pm.environment.get('myData'));
Using JSON.stringify and JSON.parse methods is not needed if the values are strings or integers or booleans.
JSON.stringify() converts a value to a JSON string while JSON.parse() method parses a JSON string, creating the
value described by the string.

3.1.8 How to read external files?

If you have some information saved on a file locally on your computer, you might want to access this information
with Postman.
Unfortunately this is not really possible. There is a way to read a data file in JSON or CSV format, which allows
you to make some variables dynamic. These variables are called data variables and are mostly used for testing
different iterations on a specific request or collection.
Possible options:
• start a local server to serve that file and to get it in Postman with a GET request.
• use Newman as a custom Node.js script and read the file using the filesystem.

3.1.9 How to add a delay between Postman requests?

To add a delay after a request, add the following in your Tests:

setTimeout(() => {}, 10000);

The example above will add a delay of 10000 milliseconds or 10 seconds.

3.2 Assertions

Assertions in Postman are based on the capabilities of the Chai Assertion Library. You can read an extensive
documentation on Chai by visiting http://chaijs.com/api/bdd/

3.2.1 How find object in array by property value?

Given the following response:

{
"companyId": 10101,
"regionId": 36554,
"filters": [
{
"id": 101,
"name": "VENDOR",
"isAllowed": false
},
{
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

"id": 102,
"name": "COUNTRY",
"isAllowed": true
},
{
"id": 103,
"name": "MANUFACTURER",
"isAllowed": false
}
]
}

Assert that the property isAllowed is true for the COUNTRY filter.

pm.test("Check the country filter is allowed", function () {

// Parse response body
var jsonData = pm.response.json();

// Find the array index for the COUNTRY

var countryFilterIndex = jsonData.filters.map(
function(filter) {
return filter.name; // <-- HERE is the name of the property
}
).indexOf('COUNTRY'); // <-- HERE is the value we are searching for

// Get the country filter object by using the index calculated above
var countryFilter = jsonData.filters[countryFilterIndex];

// Check that the country filter exists

pm.expect(countryFilter).to.exist;

// Check that the country filter is allowed

pm.expect(countryFilter.isAllowed).to.be.true;
});

3.2.2 How find nested object by object name?

Given the following response:

{
"id": "5a866bd667ff15546b84ab78",
"limits": {
"59974328d59230f9a3f946fe": {
"lists": {
"openPerBoard": {
"count": 13,
"status": "ok", <-- CHECK ME
"disableAt": 950,
"warnAt": 900
},
"totalPerBoard": {
"count": 20,
"status": "ok", <-- CHECK ME
"disableAt": 950,
"warnAt": 900
}
}
}
}
}

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You want to check the value of the status in both objects (openPerBoard, totalPerBoard). The problem is that in
order to reach both objects you need first to reach the lists object, which itself is a property of a randomly named
object (59974328d59230f9a3f946fe).
So we could write the whole path limits.59974328d59230f9a3f946fe.lists.openPerBoard.
status but this will probably work only once.
For that reason it is first needed to search inside the limits object for the lists object. In order to make the
code more readable, we will create a function for that:

function findObjectContaininsLists(limits) {
// Iterate over the properties (keys) in the object
for (var key in limits) {
// console.log(key, limits[key]);
// If the property is lists, return the lists object
if (limits[key].hasOwnProperty('lists')) {
// console.log(limits[key].lists);
return limits[key].lists;
}
}
}

The function will iterate over the limits array to see if any object contains a lists object.
Next all we need to do is to call the function and the assertions will be trivial:

pm.test("Check status", function () {

// Parse JSON body
var jsonData = pm.response.json();

// Retrieve the lists object

var lists = findObjectContaininsLists(jsonData.limits);
pm.expect(lists.openPerBoard.status).to.eql('ok');
pm.expect(lists.totalPerBoard.status).to.eql('ok');
});

3.2.3 How to compare value of a response with an already defined variable?

Lets presume you have a value from a previous response (or other source) that is saved to a variable.

// Getting values from response

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
var username = jsonData.userName;

// Saving the value for later use

pm.globals.set("username", username);

How do you compare that variable with values from another API response?
In order to access the variable in the script, you need to use a special method, basically the companion of setting
a variable. Curly brackets will not work in this case:

pm.test("Your test name", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(jsonData.value).to.eql(pm.globals.get("username"));
});

3.2.4 How to compare value of a response against multiple valid values?

Given the following API response:

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{
"SiteId": "aaa-ccc-xxx",
"ACL": [
{
"GroupId": "xxx-xxx-xx-xxx-xx",
"TargetType": "Subscriber"
}
]
}

You want to check that TargetType is Subscriber or Customer.

The assertion can look like:

pm.test("Should be subscriber or customer", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(.TargetType).to.be.oneOf(["Subscriber", "Customer"]);
});

where:
• jsonData.ACL[0] is the first element of the ACL array
• to.be.oneOf allows an array of possible valid values

3.2.5 How to parse a HTML response to extract a specific value?

Presumed you want to get the _csrf hidden field value for assertions or later use from the response below:

<form name="loginForm" action="/login" method="POST">

<input type="hidden" name="_csrf" value="a0e2d230-9d3e-4066-97ce-
˓→f1c3cdc37915" />

<ul>
<li>
<label for="username">Username:</label>
<input required type="text" id="username" name="username" />
</li>
<li>
<label for="password">Password:</label>
<input required type="password" id="password" name="password" />
</li>
<li>
<input name="submit" type="submit" value="Login" />
</li>
</ul>
</form>

To parse and retrive the value, we will use the cherrio JavaScript library:

// Parse HTML and get the CSRF token

responseHTML = cheerio(pm.response.text());
console.log(responseHTML.find('[name="_csrf"]').val());

Cheerio is designed for non-browser use and implements a subset of the jQuery functionality. Read more about it
at https://github.com/cheeriojs/cheerio

3.2.6 How to fix the error “ReferenceError: jsonData is not defined”?

If you have a script like this:

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pm.test("Name should be John", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(jsonData.name).to.eql('John');
});

pm.globals.set('name', jsonData.name);

You will get the error ReferenceError: jsonData is not defined while setting the global vari-
able.
The reason is that jsonData is only defined inside the scope of the anonymous function (the part with
function() {...} inside pm.test). Where you are trying to set the global variables is outside the function,
so jsonData is not defined. jsonData can only live within the scope where it was defined.
So you have multiple ways to deal with this:
1. define jsonData outside the function, for example before your pm.test function (preferred)

var jsonData = pm.response.json(); <-- defined outside callback

pm.test("Name should be John", function () {

pm.expect(jsonData.name).to.eql('John');
});

pm.globals.set('name', jsonData.name);

2. set the environment or global variable inside the anonymous function (I would personally avoid mixing test
/ assertions with setting variables but it would work).

pm.test("Name should be John", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(jsonData.name).to.eql('John');
pm.globals.set('name', jsonData.name); // <-- usage inside callback
});

Hope this helps and clarifies a bit the error.

3.2.7 How to do a partial object match assertion?

Given the reponse:

{
"uid": "12344",
"pid": "8896",
"firstName": "Jane",
"lastName": "Doe",
"companyName": "ACME"
}

You want to assert that a part of the reponse has a specific value. For example you are not interested in the dynamic
value of uid and pid but you want to assert firstName, lastName and companyName.
You can do a partial match of the response by using the to.include expression. Optionally you can check the
existence of the additional properties without checking the value.

pm.test("Should include object", function () {

var jsonData = pm.response.json();
var expectedObject = {
"firstName": "Jane",
"lastName": "Doe",
"companyName": "ACME"
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

}
pm.expect(jsonData).to.include(expectedObject);

// Optional check if properties actually exist

pm.expect(jsonData).to.have.property('uid');
pm.expect(jsonData).to.have.property('pid');
});

3.3 Schema validation

This section contains different examples of validating JSON responses using the Ajv schema validator. I do not
recommend using the tv4 (Tiny Validator for JSON Schema v4).

3.3.1 Response is an object

This is the JSON response:

{}

This is the JSON schema:

const schema = {
"type": "object",
};

And here is the test:

pm.test("Validate schema", () => {

pm.response.to.have.jsonSchema(schema);
});

3.3.2 Object has optional property

This is the JSON response:

{
"code": "FX002"
}

This is the JSON schema with a property named code of type String:

const schema = {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"code": { "type": "string" }
}
};

Possible types are:

• integer
• number
• boolean
• null

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• Object
• array

3.3.3 Object has required property

Given this JSON response:

{
"code": "FX002"
}

This is the JSON schema with a property named “code” of type String that is mandatory:

const schema = {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"code": { "type": "string" }
},
"required": ["code"]
};

3.3.4 Nested objects

Given this JSON response:

{
"code": "2",
"error": {
"message": "Not permitted."
}
}

This is the JSON schema with the an nested object named “error” that has a property named “message” that is a
string.

const schema = {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"code": { "type": "string" },
"error": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"message": { type: "string" }
},
"required": ["message"]
}
},
"required": ["code", "error"]
};

3.4 JavaScript libraries

Postman comes with a few built-in libraries. If you prefer to add additioal JavaScript libraries, please take a look
at the Custom libraries section.

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3.4.1 Built-in JavaScript libraries

cheerio
Simple library for working with the DOM model. Useful if you are getting back HTML.

responseHTML = cheerio(pm.response.text());
console.log(responseHTML.find('[name="firstName"]').val());

Example fetching a CSRF code form the meta tag:

const $ = cheerio.load('<meta name="csrf" Content="the code">');

console.log($("meta[name='csrf']").attr("content"));

Read more: https://github.com/cheeriojs/cheerio

crypto-js
Library which implements different crypto functions.
Hash string using SHA256

CryptoJS.SHA256("some string").toString()

HMAC-SHA1 encryption

CryptoJS.HmacSHA1("Message", "Key").toString()

AES Encryption

const encryptedText = CryptoJS.AES.encrypt('message', 'secret').toString();

AES Decryption

const plainText = CryptoJS.AES.decrypt(encryptedText, 'secret').toString(CryptoJS.

˓→enc.Utf8);

Read more: https://www.npmjs.com/package/crypto-js

3.4.2 Node.js libraries

NodeJS modules that are available inside Postman:

• path
• assert
• buffer
• util
• url
• punycode
• querystring
• string_decoder
• stream
• timers
• events

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3.4.3 Custom libraries

There is no standard way of including 3rd party JavaScript libraries.

Currently the only way is to fetch (and optionally store) the content of the JavaScript library and to use the
JavaScript eval function to execute the code.
Template:
pm.sendRequest("https://example.com/your-script.js", (error, response) => {
if (error || response.code !== 200) {
pm.expect.fail('Could not load external library');
}

eval(response.text());

// YOUR CODE HERE

});

Example loading a library using unpkg as a CDN:

pm.sendRequest("https://unpkg.com/[email protected]/papaparse.min.js", (error,
˓→response) => {

if (error || response.code !== 200) {

pm.expect.fail('Could not load external library');
}

eval(response.text());

const csv = `id,name\n1,John`;

const data = this.Papa.parse(csv); // notice the this
console.log(data);
});

Notice: in order to load a library and use it in Postman, the JavaScript code needs to be “compiled” and ready for
distribution. Usually the code will be available as a *.min.js file or within the dist or umd folder.

3.5 Workflows

3.5.1 How to extract value of an authentication token from a login response body
and pass in subsequent request as ‘Bearer Token’?

Given the response from the authentication server:

{
"accessToken": "foo",
"refreshToken": "bar"
"expires": "1234"
}

Extract the value of the token from the response in the Tests tab:
var jsonData = pm.response.json();
var token = jsonData.accessToken;

Set the token as a variable (global, environment, etc) so that it can used in later requests:
pm.globals.set('token', token);

To use the token in the next request, in the headers part the following needs to be added (key:value example
below):

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Authorization:Bearer {{token}}

3.5.2 How to read links from response and execute a request for each of them?

Given the following response:

{
"links": [
"http://example.com/1",
"http://example.com/2",
"http://example.com/3",
"http://example.com/4",
"http://example.com/5"
]
}

With the following code we will read the response, iterate over the links array and for each link will submit a
request, using pm.sendRequest. For each response we will assert the status code.

// Parse the response

var jsonData = pm.response.json();

// Check the response

pm.test("Response contains links", function () {
pm.response.to.have.status(200);
pm.expect(jsonData.links).to.be.an('array').that.is.not.empty;
});

// Iterate over the response

var links = jsonData.links;

links.forEach(function(link) {
pm.test("Status code is 404", function () {
pm.sendRequest(link, function (err, res) {
pm.expect(res).to.have.property('code', 404);
});
});
});

3.5.3 How to create request parameterization from Excel or JSON file?

TODO

3.6 Newman

3.6.1 How to set delay while running a collection?

You have a collection and have a requirement to insert a delay of 10 secs after every request.
In order to do that you can use the --delay parameter and specifiy a delay in miliseconds.

newman run collection.json --delay 10000

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3.6.2 Jenkins is showing wierd characters in the console. What to do?

If the Newman output in your CI server is not properly displayed, try adding following flags:
--disable-unicode or / and --color off
Example:

newman run collection.json --disable-unicode

3.6.3 How to pass machine name and port number dynamically when running
the tests?

Suppose, the URL to the server under the test may be different every time you get a new environment for testing,
which is common with cloud environments. i.e. the part machine_name:port_number may be different.
There can be multiple way to do it, so below is one possible solution:
You can set global variables using newman from the CLI.

newman run my-collection.json --global-var "machineName=mymachine1234" --global-

˓→var "machinePort=8080"

In your request builder, just use them as https://{machineName{}}:{{machinePort}}.

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32 Chapter 3. Simple solutions to common problems

 CHAPTER 4

Online course

4.1 Postman online course

This document is part of the online course “Postman: The Complete Guide”.
If you are not already a student of this course you are missing on a lot of training on Postman, including:
• Introduction to Postman
• Creating requests and workflows
• Writing tests
• Continuous Integration / Delivery with Jenkins or other CI/CI tools (Gitlab, TeamCity)
• Practical assignments with personal feedback
• Q&A Forum where you can get answers to your Postman problems
• and much more
If you want to register for this course, make sure you use the link below as it will give you a 75% DISCOUNT
from the regular price:
https://www.udemy.com/postman-the-complete-guide/?couponCode=PQRG10
Enjoy!

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