112
PSA - Postman desktop modifies your coding agents to route API data via their own infrastructure (github.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/programming@programming.dev
33 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 2 points 1 week ago (6 children)

developers to test APIs

Specifically that? So, a fancy web UI for quickly cobbled shell scripts or oneliners?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 6 days ago (4 children)

    I don't know what a webui is, I've only seen it run as a desktop application. A FOSS alternative is Bruno.

    Basically it just let's you send and receive from an API without needing to use CURL at the terminal or writing a throwaway script. I have not found it very useful but it is very popular

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 0 points 4 days ago

    writing a throwaway script

    So instead you install a throwaway program that also adds stuff to your registry? Hehe.

    I remember having installed Postman because it was in the installation instructions of Camunda BPMN, just to realise later that I didn't require that just to make some BPMN diagrams.

    And then by the time I actually had to make my own HTTP request, I was already on Linux.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 6 days ago (2 children)

    It just sounds so much like a tool that Windows devs would use. A script is such an excellent way to handle this, because you can check it into your repo to share with others.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 6 days ago (1 child)

    I've seen people commit their postman stuff in for this purpose. Dunno.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 6 days ago

    Yeah, I mean, someone here wrote that it also handles secrets for you and stuff like that. I'm sure, it has some merit as a complete package.

    But, you know, Unix philosophy. You should have separate tools that you compose.
    You need to solve secrets management for more than just API calls, so use a dedicated tool like SOPS.
    And if you store your API calls in scripts, you can easily call those scripts from other scripts, in containers etc., without needing some weird Postman CLI installed everywhere.
    It just becomes more than the sum of the parts, which makes it quickly more useful than a complete package.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

    They try to assert that they do more:

    https://www.postman.com/alternatives/postman-vs-curl/
    damn it's becoming hard to extract links from google redirects... This one's YouTube
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30498724

    Google also adds that you can create fake endpoints for testing, which I think, would be pretty useful in certain cases.

    On the other hand, it takes 2 hours to code up a server that would give placeholder responses.
    Maybe add another 2 hours to add the ability to read JSON schemas, to let you create endpoint schemas and feed them without having to hardcode endpoints and responses.
    And this is in human time terms. If you are using AI, like the people affected by the above change, you can probably whip up your own hardcoded endpoint for each project within minutes.

    Rest of it is just sharing of configs and all that bs that all other business focussed applications add.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent