REST-to-Postman MCP: Revolutionizing API Documentation and Workflow with UBOS

In the fast-paced world of software development, maintaining accurate and up-to-date API documentation is paramount. Manually updating Postman collections and environments can be a tedious and error-prone process. The REST-to-Postman Model Context Protocol (MCP) server offers a groundbreaking solution by automating the synchronization of REST API endpoints and environment configurations with Postman. This tool streamlines development workflows, reduces manual effort, and ensures that your API documentation is always current.

What is the REST-to-Postman MCP Server?

The REST-to-Postman MCP server is a specialized tool designed to bridge the gap between your REST API codebase (e.g., NestJS controllers, FastAPI/Flask endpoints) and your Postman collections and environments. It leverages the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to provide a standardized way for AI code editors and other tools to interact with your API definitions. By automatically converting REST API code into Postman collections and syncing environment variables, the MCP server eliminates the need for manual updates, saving developers valuable time and reducing the risk of errors.

This tool is invaluable for developers who:

• Frequently update their APIs: As APIs evolve, keeping Postman collections in sync can become a significant burden. This MCP server automates the process, ensuring that documentation remains current.
• Work in teams: Consistent and up-to-date API documentation is crucial for team collaboration. The MCP server provides a single source of truth for API definitions.
• Use AI-powered code editors: Integration with AI code editors like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf enables seamless API documentation generation and updates.

Key Features and Benefits

The REST-to-Postman MCP server boasts a range of features designed to enhance API documentation and development workflows:

• Automated Conversion: Automatically convert REST API endpoints into Postman collections, eliminating manual creation and updates.
• Environment Synchronization: Sync environment variables with Postman environments, ensuring consistency across development, testing, and production.
• Broad Authentication Support: Supports various authentication methods, including Bearer token authentication, allowing you to secure your APIs.
• Intelligent Merging: Intelligently merges new endpoints with existing collections, preserving existing documentation and configurations.
• Sensitive Variable Handling: Automatically handles sensitive environment variables, preventing them from being exposed in Postman.
• Multiple Transport Modes: Supports both stdio and SSE transport modes, providing flexibility in how the server is integrated with other tools.

Use Cases

The REST-to-Postman MCP server addresses several critical use cases in API development and documentation:

• Automated API Documentation: Generate and maintain up-to-date Postman collections directly from your API codebase, ensuring that developers always have accurate documentation.
• Streamlined Testing: Simplify API testing by automatically creating and updating Postman collections with the latest endpoints and configurations.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Improve team collaboration by providing a single source of truth for API definitions, reducing discrepancies and misunderstandings.
• AI-Powered Development: Integrate with AI code editors to enable seamless API documentation generation and updates, boosting developer productivity.

How it Works

The REST-to-Postman MCP server operates by analyzing your REST API code and extracting relevant information, such as endpoints, parameters, and authentication settings. It then uses this information to create or update Postman collections and environments. The server exposes two main tools:

1. REST to Postman Environment (rest_to_postman_env): This tool creates or updates a Postman environment with your application’s environment variables. It takes the environment name and a set of key-value pairs as input and generates a corresponding Postman environment.

2. REST to Postman Collection (rest_to_postman_collection): This tool creates or updates a Postman collection with your REST API endpoints. It takes a Postman collection configuration object as input, which includes collection metadata, authentication settings, and an array of API endpoints.

Installation and Usage

Installing and using the REST-to-Postman MCP server is straightforward:

1. Prerequisites: Ensure you have Bun v1.2.2 or later installed, along with a Postman API Key and Workspace ID.

2. Installation: You can install the MCP server via Smithery or directly using npx:

   • Via Smithery:

     bash npx -y @smithery/cli install @runninghare/rest-to-postman-mcp --client claude

   • Via npx:

     bash npx -y rest-to-postman@latest --postman-api-key your_api_key --postman-workspace-id your_workspace_id

     Alternatively, you can use environment variables:

     bash export POSTMAN_API_KEY=your_api_key export POSTMAN_ACTIVE_WORKSPACE_ID=your_workspace_id npx -y rest-to-postman@latest

3. Integration: Integrate the server with AI code editors like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or Roo Cline Editor.

4. Tool Usage: Use the rest_to_postman_env and rest_to_postman_collection tools to create or update Postman environments and collections, respectively.

Example: Generating a Postman Collection in Cursor

Here’s an example of how you can use the REST-to-Postman MCP server in Cursor to generate a Postman collection based on a NestJS TypeScript controller:

Prompt:

Create a Postman collection named “Campaign Endpoints” based on this NestJS controller. The baseUrl is http://localhost:7022. The collection should have a Bearer token which applies to all the endpoints.

Cursor will automatically generate a Postman collection with all the endpoints from the Campaign controller, along with the Bearer token setting.

UBOS: Enhancing AI Agent Development

The REST-to-Postman MCP server aligns perfectly with UBOS’s vision of providing a comprehensive platform for AI agent development. UBOS empowers businesses to:

• Orchestrate AI Agents: Seamlessly manage and coordinate multiple AI agents to achieve complex tasks.
• Connect with Enterprise Data: Integrate AI agents with your existing enterprise data sources, enabling them to access and process relevant information.
• Build Custom AI Agents: Create tailored AI agents using your own LLM models, ensuring that they meet your specific business needs.
• Develop Multi-Agent Systems: Build sophisticated multi-agent systems that can solve intricate problems collaboratively.

By integrating the REST-to-Postman MCP server with UBOS, developers can further streamline their API documentation and development workflows, ensuring that their AI agents have access to accurate and up-to-date API definitions.

Conclusion

The REST-to-Postman MCP server is a valuable tool for any developer working with REST APIs. By automating the synchronization of API endpoints and environment configurations with Postman, it saves time, reduces errors, and improves team collaboration. Whether you’re using AI-powered code editors or simply want to streamline your API documentation process, the REST-to-Postman MCP server is a must-have tool. Combined with the power of the UBOS platform, the REST-to-Postman MCP server empowers developers to build and deploy AI agents with greater efficiency and confidence. Its automation capabilities, combined with the wider UBOS framework for AI agent management and data integration, make it a strong asset for modern development teams seeking to optimize their workflows and deliver high-quality AI-driven solutions.