Set up a local Postman MCP server

The local server is based on STDIO transport and is hosted locally on an environment of your choice. 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. The local server only supports API key authentication (with a Postman API key or Bearer token).

Before you begin

Local servers only support API key authentication, so you’ll need to generate a Postman API key. For an overview of the server, remote versus local, and when to use each configuration, see Use AI agents with the Postman API.

Supported configurations

The local server supports the same tool configurations as the remote server, enabled with a command-line flag:

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.

Use the --quiet flag to suppress the server’s startup logging. This is useful with hosts that treat anything the server writes to output as an error.

Claude Code

To install the MCP server in Claude Code, run one of the following commands in your terminal:

$
claude mcp add postman --env POSTMAN_API_KEY=<POSTMAN_API_KEY> -- npx @postman/postman-mcp-server@latest

Cursor

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

Manual installation

To manually integrate your MCP server with Cursor and VS Code, create a .vscode/mcp.json file in your project and add one of the following JSON blocks to it. You can optionally include the --region flag to specify the Postman API region (us or eu). Defaults to us (in the args array, specify it as "--region", "eu").

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{
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    "servers": {
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        "postman-api-mcp": {
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            "type": "stdio",
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            "command": "npx",
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            "args": [
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                "@postman/postman-mcp-server"
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            ],
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            "env": {
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                "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "${input:postman-api-key}"
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            }
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        }
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    },
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    "inputs": [
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        {
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            "id": "postman-api-key",
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            "type": "promptString",
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            "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
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        }
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    ]
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}

Visual Studio Code

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

Manual configuration

You can manually integrate your MCP server with VS Code to use it with extensions that support MCP. Add the optional --region flag to specify the Postman API region (us or eu). Defaults to us (in the args array, specify it as "--region", "eu").

To create a manual configuration, create a mcp.json file in your project and add one of the following JSON blocks to it:

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{
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    "servers": {
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        "postman": {
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            "type": "stdio",
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            "command": "npx",
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            "args": [
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                "@postman/postman-mcp-server"
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            ],
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            "env": {
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                "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "${input:postman-api-key}"
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            }
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        }
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    },
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    "inputs": [
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        {
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            "id": "postman-api-key",
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            "type": "promptString",
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            "description": "Enter your Postman API key"
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        }
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    ]
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}

Claude

To integrate the local Postman MCP server with Claude, check the latest Postman MCP server release and get the .mcpb file for the tool configuration you want:

• Minimal — postman-mcp-server-minimal.mcpb
• Code — postman-mcp-server-code.mcpb
• Full — postman-mcp-server-full.mcpb
• Learn — postman-mcp-server-learn.mcpb

For more information, see the Claude Desktop Extensions documentation.

Codex CLI

To install the local server, use the API key installation method. Set the POSTMAN_API_KEY environment variable and invoke the MCP server using npx. To send traffic to the Postman API EU region, add --region eu after @postman/postman-mcp-server (for example, -- npx @postman/postman-mcp-server --region eu --full).

$
codex mcp add postman --env POSTMAN_API_KEY=<POSTMAN_API_KEY> -- npx @postman/postman-mcp-server

Antigravity CLI

To install the MCP server in Antigravity CLI, do the following:

1. Run the agy plugin install https://github.com/postmanlabs/postman-antigravity-cli-extension command.
2. Run the agy command.
3. Run the /postman:use-local command.
4. Restart your Antigravity CLI session.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Use the Copilot CLI to interactively add the MCP server:

$
/mcp add

Manual installation

Copy one of the following JSON configurations into the ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json file. The tools field enables the server’s tools for the agent:

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{
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    "mcpServers": {
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        "postman": {
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            "type": "local",
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            "command": "npx",
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            "args": [
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                "@postman/postman-mcp-server"
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            ],
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            "env": {
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                "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "<POSTMAN_API_KEY>"
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            },
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            "tools": ["*"]
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        }
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    }
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}

Kiro

To install the local Postman MCP Server in Kiro, click the install button for the version that you want to use:

Minimal	Code	Full	Learn

To install the Postman MCP server with Kiro powers, go to Kiro Powers and navigate to API Testing with Postman in the Browse powers section. Then, click Add to Kiro.

Manual installation

To install the Postman MCP Server manually, do the following:

1. Launch Kiro and click the Kiro ghost icon in the left sidebar.

2. Add an MCP Server and select either User Config or Workspace Config to install the Postman MCP server.

3. Add the following JSON block to the mcp.json configuration file:

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   {
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       "mcpServers": {
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           "postman": {
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               "command": "npx",
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               "args": [
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                   "@postman/postman-mcp-server"
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               ],
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               "env": {
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                   "POSTMAN_API_KEY": "<POSTMAN_API_KEY>"
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               },
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               "disabled": false,
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               "autoApprove": []
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           }
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       }
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   }

   Add the flag for the tool configuration you want to the args array — "--code", "--full", or "--learn". Omit it for Minimal.

Docker

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="<POSTMAN_API_KEY>" mcp/postman

Manual installation

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:

$
docker run -i -e POSTMAN_API_KEY="<POSTMAN_API_KEY>" postman-api-mcp-stdio

Telemetry

By default, local servers don’t gather telemetry data and require that you opt in to share usage data with Postman. Sharing this data helps Postman improve the MCP server. You can opt in at any time with one of the following methods:

• Use the --env POSTMAN_MCP_TELEMETRY=true option when starting the server.
• Add "POSTMAN_MCP_TELEMETRY": "true" to the env object in your JSON configuration file (for example, .vscode/mcp.json).