Creating monitors in Postman

Introduction

Monitors help you check your APIs regularly without doing it yourself. They run tests automatically to catch problems early.

You want to check if your API is working every hour.

You need to get alerts if your website is down.

You want to make sure your API returns correct data after updates.

You want to track API performance over time.

You want to share test results with your team automatically.

Syntax

Postman

1. Open Postman.
2. Go to the Monitors tab.
3. Click 'Create a monitor'.
4. Choose a collection to monitor.
5. Set the schedule (how often it runs).
6. Configure environment and region.
7. Save and start the monitor.

You must have a saved collection with tests to create a monitor.

Monitors run in the cloud, so your API must be accessible from the internet or Postman cloud.

Examples

This keeps checking the User API twice every hour automatically.

Postman

Create a monitor to run every 30 minutes for 'User API' collection.

This runs tests once a day using the production settings.

Postman

Create a monitor to run daily at 9 AM for 'Payment API' collection with 'Production' environment.

Sample Program

This monitor will run all tests in the 'Weather API' collection every hour from the US East region.

Postman

1. In Postman, select the 'Weather API' collection.
2. Click 'Monitors' tab.
3. Click 'Create a monitor'.
4. Name it 'Weather API Monitor'.
5. Set schedule to run every 1 hour.
6. Select 'No Environment'.
7. Choose region 'US East'.
8. Click 'Create Monitor'.

Important Notes

Monitors can send email notifications if tests fail.

You can view detailed reports for each monitor run in Postman.

Make sure your API endpoints are publicly accessible or accessible from Postman cloud.

Summary

Monitors run your API tests automatically on a schedule.

They help catch problems early without manual testing.

Setting up monitors is easy and requires a saved collection with tests.

Practice

1. What is the main purpose of creating a monitor in Postman?

easy

A. To run API tests automatically on a schedule

B. To manually execute API requests one by one

C. To write new API test scripts

D. To create API documentation

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand what monitors do

   Monitors in Postman are designed to run tests automatically without manual intervention.

2. Step 2: Identify the main use

   They run API tests on a schedule to catch issues early.

3. Final Answer:

   To run API tests automatically on a schedule -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Monitors = Automated scheduled tests [OK]

Hint: Monitors run tests automatically, not manually [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking monitors are for manual testing
• Confusing monitors with writing test scripts
• Assuming monitors create documentation

2. Which of the following is required before creating a monitor in Postman?

easy

A. A manual test run report

B. An active Postman environment variable

C. A Postman workspace with no collections

D. A saved collection with tests

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall monitor prerequisites

   Monitors need a saved collection that contains tests to run automatically.

2. Step 2: Check other options

   Environment variables help but are not strictly required; a workspace without collections cannot run tests; manual reports are unrelated.

3. Final Answer:

   A saved collection with tests -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Monitor setup = saved collection needed [OK]

Hint: Monitors need collections with tests saved first [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming environment variables are mandatory
• Trying to create monitors without collections
• Confusing manual reports with monitor setup

3. Consider this scenario: You create a monitor for a collection that tests an API endpoint. The monitor is set to run every hour. What will happen if the API is down during a monitor run?

medium

A. The monitor will skip the test and report success

B. The monitor run will fail and report errors

C. The monitor will run tests but ignore failures

D. The monitor will automatically fix the API issue

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand monitor behavior on failure

   If the API is down, the requests in the collection will fail during the monitor run.

2. Step 2: Identify monitor reporting

   Monitors report test failures and errors; they do not skip or ignore failures, nor fix issues automatically.

3. Final Answer:

   The monitor run will fail and report errors -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   API down = monitor reports failure [OK]

Hint: Monitors report errors if API is down during run [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking monitors skip failed tests
• Believing monitors fix API problems
• Assuming monitor reports success despite failures

4. You created a monitor but it never runs at the scheduled time. What is the most likely reason?

medium

A. The collection used by the monitor was deleted

B. The monitor schedule is set to run every minute

C. The monitor has no tests in the collection

D. The monitor is set to manual run only

Solution

1. Step 1: Check monitor prerequisites

   If the collection linked to the monitor is deleted, the monitor cannot run.

2. Step 2: Evaluate other options

   Running every minute is valid; having no tests means no failures but monitor still runs; monitors do not have manual-only mode.

3. Final Answer:

   The collection used by the monitor was deleted -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Deleted collection = monitor won't run [OK]

Hint: Deleted collection breaks monitor runs [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming schedule frequency stops runs
• Thinking monitors can be manual-only
• Confusing empty tests with no runs

5. You want to create a monitor that runs your API tests every day at 9 AM UTC and sends email alerts only if tests fail. Which steps should you follow?

hard

A. Create a new collection without tests, schedule monitor hourly, disable alerts

B. Save a collection with tests, create a monitor with no schedule, enable all alerts

C. Save a collection with tests, create a monitor scheduled daily at 9 AM UTC, enable email alerts on failure

D. Create a monitor without a collection, schedule daily, enable email alerts

Solution

1. Step 1: Prepare the collection

   You must have a saved collection that contains the API tests to run.

2. Step 2: Configure the monitor schedule and alerts

   Create a monitor scheduled daily at 9 AM UTC and enable email alerts only on test failures.

3. Final Answer:

   Save a collection with tests, create a monitor scheduled daily at 9 AM UTC, enable email alerts on failure -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Collection + daily schedule + alerts on failure = correct setup [OK]

Hint: Schedule monitor + enable alerts only on failure [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Scheduling monitor without tests in collection
• Disabling alerts when failures occur
• Creating monitor without a collection