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 Postman’s MCP server GitHub repository. You can also fork the Postman MCP collection from the Postman Public Workspace.

Before getting started, you’ll need to generate a Postman API key.

Remote server

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

• Minimal - This mode (https://mcp.postman.com/minimal) provides the 37 essential tools for common Postman operations.
• Full - Use this mode (https://mcp.postman.com/mcp) to access all available Postman tools.

Other AI-integrated development environments will follow similar setup instructions.

Cursor integration

Ensure that the Authorization header uses the Bearer $POSTMAN-API-KEY format.

Click the following button to integrate the Postman MCP server with Cursor:

VS Code integration

By default, the server provides 37 tools. Use Full (https://mcp.postman.com//mcp) mode to access all 106 tools.

You can integrate the Postman MCP server with MCP-compatible extensions, such as GitHub Copilot, Claude for VS Code, or other AI assistants that support MCP. To install the Postman MCP server in VS Code, you can use the Postman VS Code extension.

To integrate with other MCP-compatible extensions, do the following:

1. Install an MCP-compatible extension.

2. Create a “mcp.json” file in your project’s .vscode directory.

3. Add the following to the .vscode/mcp.json file to set up the streamable HTTP transport:

   {
       "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"
           }
       ]
   }
   

4. Start the server. You can do this from the MCP setup file in VS Code.

5. When prompted, enter your Postman API key.

Local server

The local Postman MCP server is a lightweight STDIO integration solution ideal for editors and tools such as VS Code or Cursor.

By default, the server provides 37 tools. Use the --full flag to access all 106 tools.

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.

VS Code integration

To get started with the local Postman MCP Server, do the following:

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

   {
       "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"
           }
       ]
   }
   

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-mcp-server GitHub repository.
   2. In the repository’s root folder, run the npm install 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 MCP repository.
   4. When prompted, 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:

• postman-api-mcp-minimal.mcpb - Contains the 37 essential tools for common Postman operations.
• postman-api-mcp-full.mcpb - Contains all available Postman tools.

For more information, see Anthropic’s Claude Desktop Extensions documentation.

Docker setup

To run the local Postman MCP server in Docker, do the following:

1. Run the docker build -t postman-api-mcp-stdio . command.
2. 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