# MQTT overview

MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a messaging protocol for the Internet of Things (IoT). Its usage spans from small devices for home automation and wearables, to automating large-scale industrial machineries. It's a lightweight technology where clients connected to a single broker can publish messages to different topics and subscribe to topics to receive messages from other connected clients. The messages are transferred with low-bandwidth usage, low-power consumption, and efficient distribution of information to one or many receivers, all adding to the popularity of MQTT.

## Work with MQTT APIs using Postman

Postman provides you with a client interface to debug your MQTT-based APIs. If you haven't already, [download and install the Postman desktop app](/docs/getting-started/installation/installation-and-updates/) to get started.

You can do any of the following when you create a new MQTT request:

* Connect to a broker.
* Subscribe to topics.
* Publish messages.
* View messages received from the broker.

After saving your MQTT request into a collection, you can do the following:

* Reuse it later.
* Document it.
* Share it with your teammates.
* Publish it to the community on the [Postman API Network](/docs/collaborating-in-postman/public-api-network/public-api-network-overview/).

  <img src="https://assets.postman.com/postman-docs/v11/mqtt-hero-v11-60-1.png" alt="MQTT interface" />

## Next steps

Get started with MQTT with the following topics:

* [Using the MQTT request interface](/docs/sending-requests/mqtt-client/mqtt-request-interface/)
* [Creating your first MQTT request](/docs/sending-requests/mqtt-client/first-mqtt-request/)