Basic authentication in Postman - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to set the Authorization header for Basic authentication in Postman.

Postman

pm.request.headers.add({ key: 'Authorization', value: 'Basic [1]' });

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Abtoa('username:password')

Batob('username:password')

C'username:password'

DencodeURI('username:password')

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using atob() which decodes base64 instead of encoding.

Passing the plain 'username:password' string without encoding.

Using URL encoding instead of base64 encoding.

The Basic authentication header requires the username and password to be base64 encoded. The btoa() function encodes a string to base64.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to extract the username and password from the Authorization header in a Postman test script.

Postman

const encoded = pm.request.headers.get('Authorization').split(' ')[[1]];

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A1

B2

C0

D-1

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using index 0 which gives the word 'Basic' instead of the encoded string.

Using index 2 which is out of range.

Using -1 which is not valid in JavaScript split arrays.

The Authorization header value is in the format 'Basic base64string'. Splitting by space gives ['Basic', 'base64string'], so index 1 contains the encoded credentials.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in decoding the Basic auth credentials in the Postman test script.

Postman

const decoded = [1](encoded);

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

AencodeURI

Batob

Cbtoa

DdecodeURI

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using btoa() which encodes instead of decodes.

Using URI encoding functions which do not handle base64.

Trying to parse the encoded string directly without decoding.

To decode base64 encoded credentials, use atob(). Using btoa() or encoding functions will cause errors.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to check if the Authorization header uses Basic authentication and extract the encoded credentials.

Postman

if (pm.request.headers.get('Authorization')?.startsWith([1])) {
  const encoded = pm.request.headers.get('Authorization').split(' ')[[2]];
}

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A'Basic'

B'Bearer'

C0

D1

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Checking for 'Bearer' instead of 'Basic'.

Using index 0 which gives the word 'Basic' instead of the encoded string.

Not using optional chaining which can cause errors if header is missing.

The Authorization header for Basic auth starts with 'Basic'. Splitting by space, the encoded credentials are at index 1.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to decode Basic auth credentials and split them into username and password.

Postman

const encoded = pm.request.headers.get('Authorization').split(' ')[[1]];
const decoded = [2](encoded);
const [[3], password] = decoded.split(':');

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A0

B1

Catob

Dusername

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using index 0 which is the word 'Basic'.

Using btoa() instead of atob().

Not splitting the decoded string to get username and password.

Index 1 contains the encoded credentials. Use atob() to decode base64. Then split the decoded string by ':' to get username and password.