How to create Postman Environment Variables?

Introduction

When we think about integration testing or API testing then Postman always comes into the picture. Worried about using the same request format again and again across different requests in Postman?
Do not worry, to ease the usage of Postman for testing or development. Today, we are going to learn about Postman environment variables. We will learn what is Postman environment variables, how we use them, why we use them, best practices for using them, etc.

What is Postman?

Postman is a powerful platform that is specialized for APIs. To test APIs, build and use APIs all these things can be done in Postman. Postman provides a user-friendly interface where you can send requests to API and view responses in real-time. To know more about API testing using Postman.

What are Postman Environment Variables?

Postman Environment Variables consist of key-value pairs of data that store as variables. All the different types of requests in Postman can use them. It allows you to save API requests and responses as Collections and reuse them across various requests. Also, these collections can be shared with other team members too and they can use them to automate API testing.

Why are Postman Environment Variables important?

It can provide several benefits, a few of which are as followed:

It simplifies API testing and development.
We can reuse the values from the variable
It allows easy switching between two variables.
It enables running API tests on different environments without modifying the requests.

Types of Variables in Postman

There are several types of variables in Postman,

Setting Up Postman Environment Variables

To create a new environment variable in your postman, please follow the below steps:

Open Postman and select the workplace where you want to create an environment variable.
Now click on the “Environments” tab.
There are several ways to create an environment and one of them is just to click on the “+” icon beside the search bar.
Now, rename it with a specific and descriptive name.
Now, add some variables and values with specific names. And Save it.

Using Postman Environment Variables in Requests

In URLs

To use environment variables in the request URL please follow the below steps:

Add the variable in the request URL in the format of {{variable_name}}.
Please ensure that you add the variable to the environment.
Once the request is sent the value of the variable will be substituted in the URL.

In Request Body

To use environment variables in the request body please follow the below steps:

Add the variable in the request body in the format of {{variable_name}}.
Please ensure that you add the variable to the environment.
Once the request is sent the value of the variable will be substituted in the request body.

Best Practices for Using Postman Environment Variables

Use the variable names more descriptive and informative.
Use variables that are specific to each environment to avoid errors when switching between environments.
Use the Postman console to debug and test your scripts that use variables.

Conclusion

Postman environment variables are a powerful feature that can simplify your API testing process. By using environment variables, you can reuse values across requests and collections, reduce duplication and errors, and improve your testing efficiency. We hope this article has provided you with a better understanding of variables and how to use them effectively.

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