June 2016 Summaries

The text outlines a process for creating a custom music playlist using Spotify's API and the Postman app. It focuses on generating a playlist that includes top songs from a chosen artist, such as Neutral Milk Hotel, and other similar artists, by leveraging Spotify's metadata and related artist features. The workflow involves obtaining the artist's Spotify ID, retrieving related artists, and using Postman's environment variables and requests to automate playlist creation, including getting top tracks and adding them to the playlist. The process is designed to be interactive and reproducible, utilizing Postman's setNextRequest function for non-linear execution and offering the ability to run the workflow in both Postman and Newman. The guide aims to illustrate the potential of Postman workflows in simplifying complex API interactions and encourages users to explore further capabilities for more intricate workflows.

Postman's proxy feature allows users to inspect HTTP communication originating from their mobile devices by ensuring both the computer and mobile are connected to the same local wireless network. To utilize this feature, users must first open the Proxy Settings in the Postman Mac App, noting the default port, typically 5555, and set the target to "History" to capture requests. They then need to ascertain their computer's IP address and configure their mobile device's wireless settings to use an HTTP Proxy with the computer's IP and the specified port. Once configured, network calls made from apps or browsers on the mobile device will appear in the Postman App’s history sidebar, allowing users to monitor and analyze the requests. For further discussion on the capabilities and workings of Postman Proxy, users are encouraged to engage with the Postman Community.

Postman has introduced the Postman Runtime to enhance the functionality and uniformity of its Collection format, which was originally developed as an internal framework. The new Runtime aims to ensure consistent execution of requests, scripts, and tests across different Postman environments, including native apps, Chrome, command line, and cloud, by addressing previous limitations such as those caused by XHR requests. This update includes the use of a Node.js-based HTTP engine for improved performance and features such as better control over request headers, cookie management, and support for sending request bodies with the GET method. Postman has also phased out the jQuery library to improve sandbox performance and released Postman Canary, a new channel for testing upcoming features without affecting existing workflows. The Collections v2 project focuses on creating a future-proof format and the ability to run Collections consistently across platforms, with enhancements in the Collection Runner and the introduction of multi-level folders and tagging capabilities. Users are encouraged to report any issues via GitHub while enjoying seamless syncing between the main app and Postman Canary.