1.2Getting Started with Postman

1. Import the API Spec

Most APIs provide an OpenAPI (Swagger) specification. Importing it into Postman auto-generates a collection with every endpoint, request body schema, and example parameters.

File > Import > OpenAPI/Swagger URL or file

This gives you an instant starting point: every endpoint is documented with expected parameters and response schemas.

2. Set Up Environments

Environments hold variables that switch between dev/staging/production without modifying requests.

Variable	Dev	Staging	Production
{{base_url}}	http://localhost:3000	https://api.staging.example.com	https://api.example.com
{{auth_token}}	(dev token)	(staging token)	(read-only prod token)
{{timeout}}	5000	10000	10000

Switch environments with the dropdown in the top-right corner. All requests using {{base_url}} automatically point to the correct server.

3. Organize Collections

Structure collections to mirror the API structure:

My API Collection/
  Auth/
    POST Login
    POST Refresh Token
    POST Logout
  Users/
    GET List Users
    GET Get User by ID
    POST Create User
    PUT Update User
    DELETE Delete User
  Orders/
    GET List Orders
    POST Create Order
    GET Get Order by ID