Set up the Postman API MCP server

The Postman API MCP server supports SSE/HTTP and STDIO. The SSE/HTTP server is located at https://mcp.postman.com/mcp, and the STDIO server is available in Postman's postman-api-mcp GitHub repository.

Before getting started, fork the Postman API MCP server from the Postman Public Workspace. You'll also need to generate a Postman API key.

Set up SSE/HTTP in VS Code

Before getting started, add your Postman API key in the request's Authorization tab. Then, perform the following to set up and use SSE/HTTP in VS Code or Claude.

Other AI integrated development environments, like Cursor, follow similar setup instructions.

VS Code

1. Install an MCP-compatible VS Code extension, such as GitHub Copilot, Claude for VS Code, or other AI assistants that support MCP.

2. Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project.

3. Add the following information to the .vscode/mcp.json file to setup the streamable HTTP transport:

   {
       "servers": {
           "postman-api-http-server": {
               "type": "sse",
               "url": "https://mcp.postman.com/mcp",
               "headers": {
                   "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:postman-api-key}"
               }
           }
       },
       "inputs": [
           {
               "id": "postman-api-key",
               "type": "promptString",
               "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
           }
       ]
   }
   

4. Start the server. You can do this from the MCP setup file in VS Code. When prompted, enter your Postman API key.

Claude

In Claude, you'll need to use a proxy to send the Authorization header to the MCP server. Open the claude_desktop_config.json file, add the following code, replacing $YOUR-POSTMAN-API-KEY with your Postman API key, then restart Claude:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "postman-api": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.postman.com/mcp",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer $YOUR-POSTMAN-API-KEY"
            ]
        }
    }
}

STDIO setup

The Postman API MCP STDIO server is a lightweight, ideal integration solution for editors and tools such as VS Code or Cursor. To get started, perform the following:

1. Create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project and add the following code:

   {
       "servers": {
           "postman-api-mcp": {
               "type": "stdio",
               "command": "node",
               "args": [
                   "${workspaceFolder}/dist/src/index.js"
               ],
               "env": {
                   "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "${input:postman-api-key}"
               }
           }
       },
       "inputs": [
           {
               "id": "postman-api-key",
               "type": "promptString",
               "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
           }
       ]
   }
   

2. Install an MCP-compatible VS Code extension, such as GitHub Copilot, Claude for VS Code, or other AI assistants that support MCP.

3. Configure your extension to use the MCP server:

   1. Clone the postman-api-mcp GitHub repository.
   2. In the repository's root folder, run the npm install && npm run build command. This compiles the server code in the dist folder.
   3. Replace ${workspaceFolder} in the mcp.json file with the full path to the Postman API MCP repository. When prompted, enter your Postman API key.

Docker setup

You can run the Postman API MCP STDIO server in Docker. To do this, perform the following:

1. Run the docker build -t postman-api-mcp-stdio . command.
2. Run the docker run -i -e POSTMAN_API_KEY="$YOUR-POSTMAN-API-KEY" postman-api-mcp-stdio command, replacing $YOUR-POSTMAN-API-KEY with your Postman API key.