--- title: "Using Postman with the Cloud Platform API" date: "2024-02-14T06:18:38+00:00" summary: "Learn how to use Postman with Acquia's Cloud Platform API for efficient testing and custom script development." image: type: "page" url: "/resources/using-postman-cloud-platform-api" id: "0b0ea73b-14ef-49ab-a09f-b77500243a77" --- [Postman](https://www.postman.com/) is a cross-platform application that includes tools you can use to both test API calls and confirm their results, which can save you time and frustration when building custom scripts that need access to Acquia’s APIs. * [Installing and configuring Postman](#postman-install) * [Creating a Postman request](#postman-create-request) * [Configure authorization in Postman](#postman-configure-auth) * [Creating a new API request in Postman](#postman-create-api-call) * [Regenerating an access token](#postman-regenerate-token) * [Troubleshooting issues in Postman](#postman-troubleshooting) * [More resources](#postman-resources) For a full list of Acquia’s public APIs for its products, see [Platform APIs](/api). Installing and configuring Postman ---------------------------------- To install Postman on your local computer, download the application from [www.getpostman.com/downloads](https://www.getpostman.com/downloads/). After installing Postman, you must [generate a Cloud Platform API access token](../cloud-platform/develop/api/auth.html#cloud-generate-api-token). Creating a Postman request -------------------------- To create a Postman request: 1. Open Postman, and in the top, left corner, click **New**. 2. Scroll to **Building Blocks**, and then click **Request** to display the **Save Request** window. 3. In **Request name**, enter a human-readable name for your request. 4. _(Optional)_ In the **Request description** field, enter a description that will help you identify the request in the future. 5. Use one of the following methods to add your request to a collection: * _To add your new request to a new collection,_ click **Create Collection**, enter the name of the new collection, and then click the check mark. * _To add your new request to an existing collection,_ provide the name of an existing collection in **Search for a collection or folder**, and then click the magnifying glass icon. For more information about collections, see [Creating collections](https://learning.getpostman.com/docs/postman/collections/creating_collections/). 6. Click **Save**. ![Creating a request in Postman](https://acquia.widen.net/content/rov26wcq4q/jpeg/resources_postman-new-request.jpeg?w=640&keep=c&crop=yes&color=cccccc&quality=80&u=kymscu) After you create the request, you must [authorize it](#postman-configure-auth). Configure authorization in Postman ---------------------------------- The [Cloud Platform API](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/api) requires an access token to be sent with every API request. For help generating a Cloud Platform API access token, see [Generating an API token](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/api/auth#cloud-generate-api-token). To send an access token with your requests: 1. Open Postman. 2. In the left column, click **Collection**, and then click the collection to display the requests it contains. ![Selecting collection](https://acquia.widen.net/content/mt72stooem/png/resources_postman-select-collection.png?w=300&position=c&color=ffffffff&quality=80&u=kymscu) 3. Click a request to select it. Postman displays information about the request. 4. In the menu, click **Authorization**. ![Selecting the Authorization option from the menu](https://acquia.widen.net/content/k87eiw5qeb/jpeg/resources_postman-select-auth-option.jpeg?position=c&color=ffffffff&quality=80&u=kymscu) 5. In the **Type** list, click **OAuth 2.0**. 6. In the **Add authorization data to** list, click **Request Headers**. 7. Click **Get New Access Token** to display a **Get New Access Token** window. ![Postman access token](https://acquia.widen.net/content/gshkqcmzqp/jpeg/resources_postman-access-token.jpeg?w=640&keep=c&crop=yes&color=cccccc&quality=80&u=kymscu) * **Token Name**: The human-readable name of your token. * **Grant Type** list: Click **Client Credentials**. * **Access Token URL**: Use `https://accounts.acquia.com/api/auth/oauth/token`. * **Client ID**: Enter your Cloud Platform API key. To create one, see [Generating an API token](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/api/auth#cloud-generate-api-token). * **Client Secret**: Enter your Cloud Platform API Secret. To create one, see [Generating an API token](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/api/auth#cloud-generate-api-token). * **Scope**: Leave this field blank. For more information about scope, see [Understanding scopes for OAuth Apps](https://developer.github.com/apps/building-oauth-apps/understanding-scopes-for-oauth-apps/) on GitHub’s Developer website. * **Client Authentication** list: Click **Send as Basic Auth header**. 8. Click **Request Token** to display the **Manage Access Tokens** window. 9. In the **Token Name** field, enter a human-readable name for your token. 10. Scroll to the bottom of the window, and then click **Use Token**. You now have an authorization token you can use when making Cloud Platform API requests. For the process to regenerate the token when it expires, see [Regenerating an access token](#postman-regenerate-token). Creating a new API request in Postman ------------------------------------- After [generating an authentication token](#postman-configure-auth) in Postman, you can use the token to communicate with [Cloud Platform API endpoints](https://cloudapi-docs.acquia.com/). To initiate a call to the Cloud Platform API through Postman: 1. Open Postman. 2. In the left column, click **Collections**, and then click the collection to display the requests it contains. 3. Click a request to select it. Postman displays information about the request. 4. In the list of [Cloud Platform API endpoints](https://cloudapi-docs.acquia.com/), identify the endpoint you want to access. 5. In the **Method** list, click the method of the endpoint (such as `GET` or `POST`) you want to access. 6. In the **Enter Request URL** field, paste in the full URL of the endpoint. Cloud Platform API endpoints begin with the string `https://cloud.acquia.com/api`. Most contain placeholders inside curly braces, such as `{applicationUuid}`, which you must replace with live data from your application. 7. Click **Send** to have Postman send your request. In the following example, the endpoint URL contains placeholder data: ![A request with placeholder data, ready to send](https://acquia.widen.net/content/vcv5qwolma/jpeg/resources_postman-create-call.jpeg?position=c&color=ffffffff&quality=80&u=kymscu) 8. In the menu, click **Headers**, and then in the sub-menu, click **Body**. ![The body of a response displayed in JSON format](https://acquia.widen.net/content/4cnc51utxd/jpeg/resources_postman-review-body.jpeg?position=c&color=ffffffff&quality=80&u=kymscu) Postman displays the body section of your request in JSON format. Regenerating an access token ---------------------------- Access tokens are temporary and will expire. If, after sending an API request, Postman displays a response message similar to the following in the **Headers** section, your access token has expired and must be regenerated: { "error": "unauthorized", "message": "The access token has expired." } To regenerate your access token in Postman: 1. Open Postman. 2. In the left column, click **Collection**, and then click the collection to display the requests it contains. 3. Click a request to select it. Postman displays information about the request. 4. In the menu, click **Authorization**. 5. Click **Get New Access Token** to display the **Get New Access Token** window with the information you provided when you created the previous token. 6. Click **Request Token**. 7. Scroll to the bottom of the window, and then click **Use Token**. Postman generates a new access token for your use. Troubleshooting issues in Postman --------------------------------- Postman provides the **Postman Console** to help you with debugging your requests. To display the console, click the console icon at the bottom left of the Postman interface, as shown in this example: ![Postman console icon](https://acquia.widen.net/content/abpw28uiu5/png/resources_postman-console-icon.png?w=150&h=70&keep=c&crop=yes&color=ffffffff&quality=80&u=kymscu) For more information about the Postman Console, see [Debugging and logs](https://learning.getpostman.com/docs/postman/sending_api_requests/debugging_and_logs/) at the Postman Learning Center. More resources -------------- * [Platform APIs](/api): A full list of Acquia’s public APIs * [Developing with the Cloud Platform API](/acquia-cloud-platform/develop-apps/api) * [Cloud Platform API documentation](https://cloudapi-docs.acquia.com/) * [Using the Site Factory API](/site-factory/extend/api) * [HTTP-HMAC-postman](https://github.com/acquia/http-hmac-postman/): A GitHub repository containing scripts for connecting to HMAC protected APIs * [Postman Learning Center](https://learning.getpostman.com/)