Select data from a complex JSON response

Selecting and processing data from responses is a fundamental function in Postman Flows. Understanding how to pull data from specific fields in a response is vital to designing effective flows. For example, you might want to extract an address field from several levels down in a complex JSON object from an API response.

Recipe

The following recipe shows how to extract a specific field from a complex JSON response:

1. Create a flow module and add an HTTP Request block with a GET request to the following URL:

   https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0000320193.json
   

   This will return a large, multi-leveled JSON object describing details about Apple Inc.

2. Connect a Select block to the HTTP Request block’s Success port.

3. Run the flow and click Enter path… in the Select block. A dropdown list appears showing the top-level fields in the JSON object from the response.

4. In the dropdown list, click the arrow next to body to view its nested fields.

5. Scroll down the body object and click the arrow next to the addresses field. More nested fields appear.

6. Click the arrow next to mailing to view its nested fields and select street1. The dropdown list closes and the following path appears in the Select block:

   body.addresses.mailing.street1
   

7. Run the flow and click the Select block’s Output tab view the street1 field’s value.

Pulling specific data from a complex JSON response lets you isolate that data so you can use it in the flow’s logic.

Try it out

To see this recipe’s completed flow, check out Cookbook: Select data from a complex JSON response. You can also clone this flow to your workspace to experiment with it.