Additional Postman Features

[ postman ]

Let’s look at several Postman features that make the testing process even more convenient:

collections
environments and variables
authorization

Collections

Collections allow you to group requests and run them by clicking the

You can configure the number of iterations (Iterations), delay (Delay), test data (Data) and schedule the runs (Schedule runs).

You can also simulate load by running collections in the section Performance.

Collections can be exported (Export) and imported (Import) in JSON format, making it easy to share them with colleagues.

Postman collections with core features highlighted

Environments and variables

The same application may be deployed on several servers for development, integration, system, load testing, and production use.

This means the application exists across multiple environments:

environment for integration testing: used to test component interaction
environment for system testing: functional testing of the entire system

Each environment has its own configuration: application URL, test users, and more.

Environment variables allow you to reuse the same collections for different environments by assigning variable values (Variable) and selecting the environment to use, for example, System Testing Environment.

Authorization

The authorization tab allows you to select the authorization type and user data via a graphical interface. Authorization can be set at the collection level; in this case, requests will inherit the authorization type by default as 'Inherit auth from parent'.

Pay attention to the host variable when specifying the URL — its value will be substituted automatically based on the selected environment.

Postman authorization inherit auth from parent

Task

Let’s make the task more challenging — this time, access to the resource is limited by permissions (see Authorization). The request must include the user's authentication data.

Send a request using the following API details:

POST https://www.tester-today.com/postman-auth
Header Authorization with type Basic Auth
If the user is not authenticated, the server must return a response status with code 401
If the user is not authorized, the server must return a response status with code 403

Use your account credentials for authentication.

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