When I want to export an environment I’m getting weird values in the resulting exported file. It seems like it is saving the environments original values when I duplicated it from another environment. Unsharing all values will remove all values from the exported file. Then sharing them again, will finally make sure the correct values get saved in the file.
It is strange that I don’t get the same values in the export as the ones I am working with in Postman.
Hi @dennis.noordzij 
. Welcome to the Postman Community:postman:
When you fork a collection and its environments into a new Workspace, it retains the shared values of that environment unless you update and then save the shared values. Did you get the old values after updating + saving" new values in the exported environments file?
Sorry to hijack and bump the thread but I’ve just been bitten by this behaviour and I’m confused as to why this works this way, especially when exporting to a file.
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I have never “forked” a collection or environment to a new Workspace. I am using the desktop app signed in to an account but not actually collaborating with anyone else, just for ease of recovery if I needed to switch machines. There is only one internal Workspace.
All my environments were created by hand, by me, in the desktop client, then duplicated and edited to target prod/staging/test.
I just duplicated an environment, changed some credentials, exported to a file and sent to a colleague only for them to tell me the credentials didn’t work… I checked the file and it had a mix of new and old values. Lucky it was a trusted recipient because one of the incorrect values it included was a production credential - this seems like a HUGE potential issue with this non-obvious behaviour.
My environments weren’t displaying “Initial value” and “Current value” columns, just a single “Value” column. The only way to spot affected fields was the cloud/share button on the left having a slightly different icon.
I’ve now unshared all my environment fields so duplicate and export now don’t include any values… which makes them seem pretty pointless features?
I’m also amazed that your “Export data” documentation page doesn’t even hint at this complexity.
This app was great years ago when it just made HTTP go brr but now I feel like I need a 2 month course to understand how it works.
Hey @bensdy,
All data added to the Value field is local by default. Only you would see this and it wouldn’t be part of any exported file. The is the same as it worked with the current value.
You need to explicitly share the value, in order for other people (Users in Shared Workspaces) to see that or for it to be part of an exported file. This is how the initial value previously worked.
Apart for the name change, the main difference is that your variables are local by default and are not auto shared, giving more control over what data is synced to the Postman Cloud.
You can also show the Shared Value column in the UI by enabling this in the menu options.
This post provides more information about the fully changes and differences:
More general information about variables can be found here on our learning docs:
