What does Postman Interceptor do, and what does it need?
Postman's documentation describes Interceptor as a companion to Postman that captures API traffic, including requests and cookies, from a web browser [1]. In short:
- You start a capture session, use your browser, and stop it. The session then opens in Postman, where you can read its requests and cookies, and save the requests to a collection, grouped in folders by domain, by endpoint or both [1].
- You can limit a capture by method and by domain or address, with regular expressions [1].
- It can also sync cookies from the browser to the Postman cookie jar [1].
- It needs Postman: the message "Interceptor disconnected" means the Postman desktop app is not running or the Postman web app is not open. Postman also asks that you are in an internal workspace where you can edit [1].
- On Linux, and on older Postman versions for macOS and Windows, it needs a helper called Interceptor Bridge [1].
- The extension is available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge [1].
How is RequestFox different?
| RequestFox | Postman Interceptor | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A browser extension with its own side panel in Chrome and sidebar in Firefox | A browser extension that works with Postman [1] |
| Needs another app | No. The log is in the panel | Postman, running or open, and a workspace you can edit [1] |
| Where captured calls go | Its own log, kept in History on your device | Into Postman, as a session in its History [1] |
| What it does with them | Flags failed, slow, duplicate and retried calls, N+1 bursts and errors inside a 200 OK; replay, mock, check, export | Lists requests and cookies, with graphs of traffic by method, domain or content type [1] |
| Cookies | Authorization headers, cookies and secret-shaped fields are redacted by default in what you view or export | Captures cookies and can sync them to the Postman cookie jar [1] |
| Into Postman | Export a Postman collection file, then import it | Built in: the session opens in Postman [1] |
Which one should I pick?
- Interceptor fits when you already work in Postman and want captured calls to land in its collections, in a workspace you share, or need its cookie sync.
- RequestFox fits when you are testing a web app and want the broken calls found for you, in the browser, with nothing else to run and no account.
- You can use both. RequestFox imports and exports Postman collections, so a recording can end up in Postman. RequestFox vs Postman compares the two tools as a whole.
How do I capture calls with RequestFox and open them in Postman?
Record the calls in RequestFox
Open the site, open RequestFox and press Start (or Alt Shift S), then use the site as usual. Press Stop when you have the flow. How to record API calls.
Export a Postman collection
Press Export (bottom right) and choose Postman Collection. The file is a Postman Collection v2.1. Postman's import page says its old v1 collection format is no longer supported [2].
Import it in Postman
In Postman, choose Use resources or import, open the Import tab and pick the file [2]. The collection appears in your sidebar.
What RequestFox records stays in your browser, and nothing is sent to us. The exported file goes where you put it. Interceptor passes what it captures to Postman, encrypted [1].
What does RequestFox not do?
- It runs in Chrome and Firefox only.
- It does not put captured calls into a Postman workspace by itself: you export a file and import it.
- It does not sync the browser's cookies to Postman. Cookie values are never exported or logged.
- There is no team workspace or cloud sync. Share work as files, such as collections and reports.
- It sees what a browser tab sends. Mobile and desktop apps need a proxy-based tool.
Sources
- Postman Docs, "Capture traffic from a web browser using Postman Interceptor". Checked . learning.postman.com
- Postman Docs, "Import data into Postman". Checked . learning.postman.com
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Next
- RequestFox vs Postman
Browser capture and flags, or team workspaces and more protocols.
- Record API calls
Start, use the site, read the flags, keep the evidence.
- HAR to Postman
Three ways to get a browser's calls into Postman.
- For API developers
Check what your API gets from a real client.