Run order and flow control in Postman - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test demonstrates the default sequential order in which Postman requests run within a collection and shows that simply setting environment variables does not automatically manage flow control or conditional execution.

Test Code - Postman

Postman

pm.test("First request runs", function () {
    pm.expect(true).to.be.true;
});

// Set a variable to control flow
pm.environment.set("runNext", "second");

// Second request test script:
pm.test("Second request runs only if runNext is 'second'", function () {
    pm.expect(pm.environment.get("runNext")).to.eql("second");
});

// Change variable to stop further requests
pm.environment.set("runNext", "stop");

// Third request test script:
pm.test("Third request should not run if runNext is 'stop'", function () {
    pm.expect(pm.environment.get("runNext")).to.not.eql("stop");
});

Execution Trace - 6 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	Start collection run in Postman	Postman collection runner opens with three requests queued	-	PASS
2	Run first request and execute its test script	First request response received	Check that the test 'First request runs' passes	PASS
3	Set environment variable 'runNext' to 'second'	Environment variable 'runNext' is set to 'second'	-	PASS
4	Run second request and execute its test script	Second request response received	Verify 'runNext' equals 'second' in test script	PASS
5	Set environment variable 'runNext' to 'stop'	Environment variable 'runNext' is set to 'stop'	-	PASS
6	Attempt to run third request and execute its test script	Third request response received	Check that 'runNext' is not 'stop' (expected to fail)	FAIL

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: Third request runs even though 'runNext' is set to 'stop', causing assertion failure

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What controls the order of requests in this Postman test?

A Environment variable 'runNext' set in test scripts

B The order requests are listed in the collection only

C Random selection by Postman

D Manual user clicks during run

Key Result

Postman runs collection requests sequentially by default. Control run order and skip conditionally using postman.setNextRequest(name or null) in test/pre-request scripts or pm.execution.skip() in pre-request scripts, driven by environment variables if needed.