Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
What is Postman Interceptor?
2.1.
What is the use of the Postman Interceptor? 
3.
How to install the Postman Interceptor?
3.1.
Steps for Installing the Postman Interceptor Extension: 
3.2.
Now, Head over to your Postman Desktop App: 
4.
How to use Interceptor?
4.1.
⭐Capture Requests in the History Tab 
4.2.
⭐Capture Requests in the Collections 
5.
Frequently Asked Questions
5.1.
For what purpose is Postman used?
5.2.
What is the GET request in Postman?
5.3.
What is an endpoint in Postman?
6.
Conclusion
Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024

What is Postman Interceptor and How do we use it?

Author Neha Chauhan
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Introduction

Postman is an API development platform for designing, building and testing API (Application Programming Interface). It can create different HTTP requests (GET, POST, PUT), save environments for later use, and convert the API to code for various languages (like Javascript, Python). 

 

Interceptor Og img
 

Postman Interceptor allows you to track all the network requests and cookies from the chrome browser. Interceptor acts as a companion to the Postman Desktop Application. All the session activities are logged into the History tab.

In this article, we will discuss what is postman interceptor, how to install and use it.

What is Postman Interceptor?

Postman Interceptor is a Chrome extension that keeps track of all the network requests and cookies sessions fired from the chrome browser. These requests are saved in the History Tab of the Postman Desktop Application. Postman Interceptor acts as a companion to the desktop application. 

After the installation of the Postman Interceptor, start a debug session to capture the traffic. Send requests and responses to the collection and save cookies to the Postman Jar. 

What is interceptor img

What is the use of the Postman Interceptor? 

Before deploying an application, developers experiment with the application and test its working, to understand its behavior. Let’s say that you have created an API and you are experimenting with it by sending requests and checking their responses. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could see what request is creating what kind of response? Wouldn’t it be nice to log all the requests you have sent? Of course, it would be nice! All this is done by the Postman Interceptor. 

We can think of the Postman Interceptor as a Baby Monitor. A baby monitor is a CCTV camera that is fit in the small Baby’s room so that the parents can keep a check on the baby from another room or their office. Similarly, Postman Interceptor (the Baby monitor) is a monitor that keeps a check of the requests sent (the baby) by the developer (the parent).

How to install the Postman Interceptor?

As mentioned above, Postman Interceptor is a Chrome Extension. You need to first install the Interceptor extension to your Chrome browser and then access the Interceptor from the Postman Desktop App. 

Steps for Installing the Postman Interceptor Extension: 

 

🚀 Go to the Chrome Webstore. 

 

🚀 Search for the Postman Interceptor. 

 

🚀 Click on Add to Chrome.

 

🚀 Click on the Add Extension button

 

🚀 You will be able to see a satellite icon at the top right of your chrome browser if not then go to extensions in Chrome, there, you can find the Postman Interceptor.

Satellite Icon

Now, Head over to your Postman Desktop App: 

 

🚀 Go to the Postman Desktop App, on the footer, you can see a Capture Requests, click on it. 

output

 

🚀 Go to Via Interceptor and install the Interceptor Bridge. 

output

 

🚀  Check whether the interceptor is connected. The DISCONNECTED in the Postman App has been changed to 🟢CONNECTED. Top right of the interceptor extension you can see 🟢CONNECTED.

output
 

output

Congratulations🤩 you have successfully installed the Postman Interceptor. Let’s learn how to use this Interceptor. 

How to use Interceptor?

⭐Capture Requests in the History Tab 

In the Postman Desktop App, click on the Start Capture button. The capture session will begin and the requests will be saved in the History Tab. 

⭐Capture Requests in the Collections 

🚀 Under the Save Request to a Collection, choose the collection in which you want to capture the requests. 

🚀 Click on the Start Capture button. This will capture the requests in the Collection.

 

Capture Request Image

🚀 On the bottom right, you can find a timer, showing how much time has elapsed since the interceptor session was started. You can pause the requests using ⏸️PAUSE and stop capturing the requests using STOP

STOP image

 

🚀 You can customize the Captures from the drop-down from the  Methods and URL under Configure incoming requests.

 

🚀 After you stop the session, you can view the history of all the requests captured. 

History of Debug Session

Frequently Asked Questions

For what purpose is Postman used?

Postman is an API client that makes it easy for developers to create, share, test and document APIs. Users are allowed to create and save simple and complex HTTP/s requests, as well as read their responses.

What is the GET request in Postman?

A GET request gets the information from the server. The server responds to the GET request without affecting any data on the server, that is, there is no creation, updation, addition, or deletion of data on the server when you are making a GET request.

What is an endpoint in Postman?

An API endpoint is a point at which an API connects with the software program. APIs work by sending requests for information from a web application or web server and receiving a response.

Conclusion

Pat yourself on the back🎉 as you have come to the end of this article. In this article, we discussed what Postman Interceptor is. Further, we discussed the installation steps and how to use the Postman Interceptor. 

After reading this article, if you want to read more about Postman, we recommend you to read some of our articles -

🔥 Web Testing

🔥 API

🔥 API Testing

🔥 Managing Environments in Postman

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