Set up the Postman MCP Server

The Postman MCP Server supports both remote servers through streamable HTTP and local servers with STDIO. The remote server is available at https://mcp.postman.com/ and https://mcp.eu.postman.com for the EU, and the local server is available in the Postman MCP Server GitHub repository. You can also fork the Postman MCP collection from the Postman Public Workspace.

Postman also offers servers as an npm package and as a Docker image.

Before getting started, ensure that you have a valid Postman API key.

Remote server

The remote Postman MCP server offers the following tool configurations through streamable HTTP:

• Minimal - (Default) This mode only includes essential tools for basic Postman operations, available at https://mcp.postman.com/minimal and https://mcp.eu.postman.com/minimal for EU users.
• Full - Includes all available Postman API tools (100+ tools), available at https://mcp.postman.com/mcp and https://mcp.eu.postman.com/mcp for EU users.

Install in Cursor

Click the button to install the remote Postman MCP Server in Cursor:

After installing, ensure that the Authorization header uses the Bearer $POSTMAN-API-KEY format.

To access Full mode, change the url value to https://mcp.postman.com/mcp in the mcp.json file.

Install in Visual Studio Code

To install the remote Postman MCP Server in VS Code, click the install button or use the Postman VS Code Extension:

To access Full mode, change the url value to https://mcp.postman.com/mcp in the mcp.json file.

Manual installation

You can use the Postman MCP Server with MCP-compatible extensions in Cursor VS Code, such as GitHub Copilot, Claude for VS Code, or other AI assistants that support MCP. To do so, add the following JSON block to the mcp.json configuration file:

{
    "servers": {
        "postman-api-http-server": {
            "type": "sse",
            "url": "https://mcp.postman.com/{minimal OR mcp}",
            // Use "https://mcp.postman.com/mcp" for full or "https://mcp.postman.com/minimal" for minimal mode.
            // For the EU server, use the "https://mcp.eu.postman.com" URL.
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:postman-api-key}"
            }
        }
    },
    "inputs": [
        {
            "id": "postman-api-key",
            "type": "promptString",
            "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
        }
    ]
}

Start the server. When prompted, enter your Postman API key.

Install in Claude Code

To install the MCP server in Claude Code, run the following command in your terminal:

For Minimal mode:

claude mcp add --transport http postman https://mcp.postman.com/minimal --header "Authorization: Bearer <POSTMAN_API_KEY>"

For Full mode:

claude mcp add --transport http postman https://mcp.postman.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer <POSTMAN_API_KEY>"

Local server

If remote MCP servers aren’t supported by your MCP host, you can install the Postman MCP Server to your local machine.

STDIO is a lightweight solution that’s ideal for integration with editors and tools like Visual Studio Code. Install an MCP-compatible VS Code extension, such as GitHub Copilot, Claude for VS Code, or other AI assistants that support MCP.

To run the server as a Node application, install Node.js before getting started.

The local server supports the following tool configurations:

• Minimal - (Default) Only includes essential tools for basic Postman operations.
• Full - Includes all available Postman API tools (100+ tools). Use the --full flag to enable this configuration.

Use the --region flag to specify the Postman API region (us or eu), or set the POSTMAN_API_BASE_URL environment variable directly. By default, the server uses the us option.

Install in Cursor

Click the button to install the local Postman MCP Server in Cursor:

By default, the server uses Full mode. To access Minimal mode, remove the --full flag from the mcp.json configuration file.

Install in Visual Studio Code

Click the button to install the local Postman MCP Server in VS Code:

By default, the server uses Full mode. To access Minimal mode, remove the --full flag from the mcp.json configuration file.

Manual installation

You can manually integrate your MCP server with VS Code to use it with extensions that support MCP. To do so, create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project and add the following JSON block to it:

{
    "servers": {
        "postman-api-mcp": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "@postman/postman-mcp-server",
                "--full" // (optional) Use this flag to enable full mode.
                "--region us" // (optional) Use this flag to specify the Postman API region (us or eu). Defaults to us.
            ],
            "env": {
                "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "${input:postman-api-key}"
            }
        }
    },
    "inputs": [
        {
            "id": "postman-api-key",
            "type": "promptString",
            "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
        }
    ]
}

Claude integration

To integrate the local Postman MCP Server with Claude, check the latest Postman MCP server release and get the .mcpb file:

• Minimal - postman-api-mcp-minimal.mcpb
• Full - postman-api-mcp-full.mcpb

For more information, see the Claude Desktop Extensions documentation.

Install in Claude Code

To install the MCP server in Claude Code, run the following command in your terminal:

For Minimal mode:

claude mcp add postman -- npx @postman/mcp-server@latest --env POSTMAN_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY

For Full mode:

claude mcp add postman -- npx @postman/mcp-server@latest --full --env POSTMAN_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY

Use as a Gemini CLI extension

To install the MCP server as a Gemini CLI extension, run the following command in your terminal:

gemini extensions install https://github.com/postmanlabs/postman-mcp-server

Install in Docker

To use the Postman MCP Server in Docker, you can use one of the following methods:

• To install the Postman MCP Server in Docker, see the Postman MCP Server at Docker MCP Hub. Click + Add to Docker Desktop to automatically install it.

• To run the Postman MCP Server image in Docker, run the following command in your terminal. Docker automatically discovers, downloads, and runs the Postman MCP Server image:

  docker run -i -e POSTMAN_API_KEY="<your-secret-key>" mcp/postman
  

• To build and run the server in Docker manually, run the docker build -t postman-api-mcp-stdio . command. Then, run one of the following commands, replacing $YOUR-POSTMAN-API-KEY with your Postman API key:

  • Minimal - docker run -i -e POSTMAN_API_KEY="<your-secret-key>" postman-api-mcp-stdio
  • Full - docker run -i -e POSTMAN_API_KEY="<your-secret-key>" postman-api-mcp-stdio --full