We recorded this as part of the Write the Docs podcast and focused on the documentation features within Postman.

In this course, Im following more of an experience-first methodology.

After you do an activity, well explore the concepts in more depth.

So if it seems like Im glossing over concepts now, such as what a GET method is or an endpoint, hang in there.

When we deep dive into these points in Documenting API endpoints, these concepts will be a lot clearer.

For example, your endpoint will now look like this: (but with different query string values and with your own API key instead of APIKEY ).

Query string parameters appear after the question mark symbol and are separated by ampersands.

But OpenWeatherMap passes the API key as a query string parameter.).

Name your new collection (e.g., OpenWeatherMap) and click the orange check mark.

Well revisit Postman later in the course for some other activities.

The following image shows the same current weather API request made in Paw (for Mac).

I like that Paw shows the response in an expandablecollapsible way.

The expandcollapse feature can make it easier to explore the response.

Note that Paw is specific to Mac only, and like most products for Mac users, costs money.

You can paste the requests directly into the URL request box in Postman (after customizing the CLIENTID AND CLIENTSECRET values), and the parameters will auto-populate in the parameter fields.

If so, use the JSON Formatter extension for Chrome to automatically format the JSON response in the browser view.

However, fundamentally both APIs have endpoints that you can configure with parameters.

When you make requests with the endpoints, you get responses that contain information, often in JSON format.

This is the core of how REST APIs work you send a request and get a response.

You can click the Run in Postman buttons below to automatically import these two collections into your own instance of Postman.

If it doesnt work, copy the import link address and, in Postman, click Import in the upper-left corner.

Then click the Import From Link tab, paste in the address and click Import.

Postman Chrome For Mac