Automate collection runs on a schedule

Many Postman users run collections at specific times each day or week. For example, you may want to run a collection that tests the functionality of your API every day. You can use the Collection Runner to schedule collection runs to execute automatically at specified days and times.

You can also schedule collection runs using monitors. Monitors are typically used to schedule runs when you want to set up alerts like triggering on-call upon failure. Choose the Collection Runner to schedule runs for all other use cases.

When you schedule a collection run with the Collection Runner, the scheduled run is added to the collection's Runs tab. You can view, pause, edit, and delete scheduled collection runs from the collection's Runs tab.

Runs tab v10
  • Scheduled runs execute in the Postman Cloud.
  • Scheduled runs don't support requests that use files in your local working directory to send body data. Instead, upload your test data files to make them available for scheduled runs in the cloud.
  • Schedules share permissions with their collections. For example, if you have permissions to edit a collection, you'll be able to edit that collection's schedules.
  • Personal, private, and team workspaces support scheduling collection runs.
  • If you import or export a collection, its schedules don't import or export with it. However, if you delete a collection, its schedules are deleted also.
  • Scheduled collection runs have the same usage limits as monitors.

Contents

Scheduling a collection run

You can schedule a run for the requests in a collection or a folder.

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection or folder you want to schedule.

  2. On the Overview tab, select Runner icon Run.

    You can also select Runner icon Runner from the Postman footer and drag a collection from Collections or History in the sidebar.

  3. On the Functional tab, select Schedule runs.

    Schedule runs
  4. Choose any configuration options:

    • The schedule's name
    • The run's frequency
    • An environment associated with the collection (optional)
    • How many times you want the collection to run (iterations)
    • A JSON or CSV data file (optional)
    • Notification recipients (optional)
    • Advanced settings (optional)
      • Retry if run fails
      • Set request timeout
      • Set delay between requests
      • Follow redirects
      • Enable SSL validation
  5. By default, your requests run in the sequence they're listed in the collection. If you need to change the order of execution, select and drag a request to its new location in the order. You can also remove an individual request from the run by clearing the checkbox next to its name. For more information, see Changing run order.

  6. Select the Schedule Run button.

API calls made by scheduled collection runs are deducted from your maximum number of monitoring API calls. For more information about checking your monitor usage, see Managing monitor usage.

Viewing a scheduled run

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection with the scheduled run you want to view.

  2. Select the Runs tab.

    Scheduled runs tab v10
  3. Select the Scheduled runs tab, hover over your scheduled run, and Select View.

    Hover and select View v10
  4. Each column in the graph represents an individual run. Select a column to see test results and the Console log for that run. For more information see Viewing scheduled collection runs.

    Scheduled runs view results v10

Manually running a scheduled run

When a scheduled run is triggered manually, it runs in the Postman Cloud. Running scheduled runs manually is useful when you are fixing bugs or reproducing issues.

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection with the scheduled run you want to run.

  2. Select the Runs tab.

    Scheduled runs tab v10
  3. Select the Scheduled runs tab.

    Hover and select View v10
  4. Hover over your scheduled run and select View.

  5. Select the Run button.

Pausing or resuming a scheduled run

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection with the scheduled run you want to pause or resume.

  2. Select the Runs tab.

    Scheduled runs tab v10
  3. Select the Scheduled runs tab.

    Hover and select More actions v10
  4. Hover over the scheduled run you want to pause or resume and select the more actions icon More actions icon.

  5. Select Pause or Resume.

    Hover and select More actions v10

Editing a scheduled run

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection whose schedule you want to edit.

  2. Select the Runs tab.

    Scheduled runs tab v10
  3. Select the Scheduled runs tab.

    Hover and select More actions v10
  4. Hover over the scheduled run you want to edit and select the more actions icon More actions icon.

  5. Select Edit schedule and edit the scheduled run's settings.

  6. Select Save changes when you're finished editing.

Changing run order

Many Postman users use collections as repositories of requests, which they run in different sequences to represent different workflows or different variations of the same workflow. The Collection Runner already enables you to change the order of your requests and skip requests before running them. Similarly, when scheduling your collection runs, you can re-order your requests and save this custom order to be run on a schedule. This enables you to use the same collection to automate multiple test scenarios.

To change the request order in a scheduled run, do the following:

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection or folder you want to schedule.

  2. On the Overview tab, select Runner icon Run.

    You can also select Runner icon Runner from the Postman footer and drag a collection from Collections or History in the sidebar.

  3. On the Collection Runner, select Schedule runs.

    Schedule runs
  4. Under RUN ORDER, change the order by dragging and dropping requests. Skip a request by clearing its checkbox.

    Custom run order v10
  5. Select the Schedule Run button.

When a new request is added or deleted from a scheduled run's collection, the scheduled run has a Review Changes link next to it under Runs > Scheduled runs. Select the link to review and edit the changes. In the example below, a new request was added:

Schedule runs

Requests run as part of a scheduled run are rate limited and usage is deducted from your maximum monitor usage. For more information about checking your monitor usage, see Managing monitor usage.

Deleting a scheduled run

  1. Select Collections in the sidebar and select the collection with the scheduled run you want to delete.

  2. Select the Runs tab.

    Scheduled runs tab v10
  3. Select the Scheduled runs tab.

    Hover and select More actions v10
  4. Hover over the scheduled run you want to delete and select the more actions icon More actions icon.

  5. Select Delete schedule.

  6. Select Delete to confirm.

Last modified: 2023/06/15