Create an MCP request for your collection

With Postman and the Model Context Protocol (MCP), you can use Postman as your MCP client and send requests to MCP servers. You can use these requests to help you build and test your MCP server, or evaluate one from the community.

Postman supports the MCP standard input and output (STDIO) and HTTP with server-sent events (SSE) transport layers, and tools, prompts, and resources primitives.

Create a new MCP request

To create a new MCP request, do the following:

1. Choose an existing workspace or create a new one.

2. Select New > MCP. Postman opens a new MCP request in a new tab.

3. Select the server's communication method:

   • To use standard input and output, select STDIO.
   • To use streamable HTTP with server-sent events, select HTTP.

4. Enter the server's command and arguments (STDIO), or URL (HTTP with SSE).

   Tip: Alternatively, you can paste an MCP server's JSON configuration.

5. In the Capabilities section, select Load Methods. If prompted, review the consent prompt and grant or deny Postman access to your computer. Postman connects to the server and displays the server's methods.

6. List the server's methods:

   • To list the tools methods, select the Tools tab.
   • To list the prompts methods, select the Prompts tab.
   • To list the resources methods, select the Resources tab.

   You can also Search for a method.

7. Select a method and define its arguments. Postman creates your JSON Message for you.

8. If the server requires authorization, set it up:

   • To set up STDIO authorization, select the Environment tab and add your authorization key-value pairs.

     Important: Use variables to protect your sensitive data. To learn more, see Variable types.

   • To set up SSE authorization, select the Authorization tab, select an Auth Type, and edit your authorization details. To learn more, see Add API authorization details to requests in Postman.

9. Select Run.

When your request succeeds, Postman returns your JSON response. Postman also lists Server Events. You can use the steps in the following section to save your new MCP request to a collection.

Save your new MCP request

If you don't have any multi-protocol collections in your workspace, Postman opens a save request dialog that asks you for a request and collection name. Otherwise, Postman displays more options, such as the option to add your new MCP request to an existing collection.

To save your new MCP request, do the following:

1. Select Save. Postman opens a save request dialog.
2. Name your new MCP request.
3. If you don't have any multi-protocol collections in your workspace, name your collection and skip to the last step.
4. (Optional) Select Add description and describe your new MCP request.
5. To save your new request to an existing collection, select a collection. To save your request to an existing folder, select a folder. If you want to search for a collection or folder, enter your search term in the search box.
6. If you want to create a new collection, select New Collection, name your collection, and select Create. If you want to create a new folder, select New Folder, name your folder, and select Create.
7. Select Save.

Your new MCP request is ready to use to interact with an MCP server. You can also change your request settings.