The document outlines a session on understanding API behavior and debugging practices led by Postman developers, Arlemi Turpault and Joyce Lin. It covers learning objectives such as exploring methods for changing API responses, debugging unexpected behavior, and establishing visibility through tools and tactics in Postman, including mock servers and integrations for monitoring. Additional resources and a product roadmap for Postman are also provided for further engagement.

1. All rights reserved by Postman Inc
Advanced API
Debugging
Arlemi Turpault
Senior Developer Advocate
Joyce Lin
Head of Developer Relations

2. SENIOR DEVELOPER ADVOCATE, POSTMAN
Arlemi
Turpault
@arlemi
HEAD OF DEVREL, POSTMAN
Joyce Lin
@petuniaGray

3. 1 Understanding API behavior
2 Debugging practices (tools and tactics)
3 Debugging strategies
5 Q&A
4 Resources
@arlemi
Agenda

4. ● What is your primary area of focus?
● How much experience do you have
using Postman?
@arlemi
A little about you

5. Learning Objectives
At the end of this session, you will be able to:
● Explore methods for understanding API behavior, including updating user
inputs to change the API response
● Debug and troubleshoot unexpected behavior
● Establish visibility for monitors, webhooks, and CLI
● Isolate dependencies with mock servers
● Set up notifications and alerts
● Explain recommended strategies for debugging
@arlemi

6. Fork the learning materials to a workspace
postman.com/postman/workspace/postman-space-camp/
@arlemi

7. Debugging
Strategies
METHODOLOGIES
@petuniaGray

8. ● Brute force
Tweak everything
Log everything
Try everything
● Backtracking
Work backwards from the error
Step through from what is working
● Divide and Conquer
Binary search
Problem simplification by removing complexity
Isolating the system under test
General debugging strategies
@petuniaGray

9. Tools and Tactics in
Postman
DEBUGGING
@petuniaGray

10. Client
– Manipulation + lnspection
● Parameters, headers, bodies
● Parse response
● Inspect variables
● HTTP status codes and error
messages
● Test results
● History for replay and reference
Console
– Calls + Logs
● Network calls, TLS encryption
● Log statements, errors, warnings
● Inspect variables
● Validate execution order
● Conditional breakpoints
● Postman console vs. DevTools
Tools and tactics [for a single API call]
@petuniaGray
Mock servers
– Isolate system under test
● Re-create edge cases (e.g. 429)
● Stub out dependencies (e.g.
third-party services or other internal
microservices)
● Set starting point for a scenario, or
swap out a specific call

11. Running collections
– Runner
● Postman console
● History for replay, reference, and export
● Log response data
– Monitors and Webhooks
● Monitor console and history
– Newman
● CLI output, files (JSON, HTMLextra)
Tools and tactics [for a sequence of API calls]
@petuniaGray

12. Working With Your
Favorite Tools
INTEGRATIONS
@petuniaGray

13. Work with your
favorite tools
[integrations]
@petuniaGray

14. Work with your
favorite tools
[integrations]
@petuniaGray

15. Detecting bugs early [alerting]
@petuniaGray
Monitoring and Observability
– Lots of integrations
● CI/CD integrations (e.g. CircleCI, Travis CI)
● Alerting Integrations (e.g. PagerDuty, Slack)
● Gateway Integrations (e.g. AWS Gateway)
– Postman to roll your own
● Test automation
● Monitor notifications
● Postman API and webhooks

16. During this session, we learned how to:
● Explore methods for understanding API behavior, including updating user
inputs to change the API response
● Debug and troubleshoot unexpected behavior
● Establish visibility for monitors, webhooks, and CLI
● Isolate dependencies with mock servers
● Set up notifications and alerts
● Explain recommended strategies for debugging
@arlemi
Learning Objectives

17. A few things to look forward to:
● Uptime Monitoring 📊
● WYSIWYG Documentation 📜
● Super Admin
● … and some more :)
Postman product roadmap
go.pstmn.io/public-roadmap
@arlemi
What’s next?

18. Additional Resources
Postman Answers
postman.com/postman/workspace/postman-answers/
30 Days of Postman for Developers
postman.com/postman/workspace/30-days-of-postman-for-developers/
Postman Space Camp
postman.com/postman/workspace/postman-space-camp/
Community Forum
community.postman.com
@arlemi

19. Q&A
@arlemi