How do I set a Collection variable?

floripare · May 16, 2019, 3:14pm

The documentation says I can have variable on several scopes:

Scopes

The following scopes are available for use:

Global
Environment
Collection
Local
Data

But I can’t find instructions on how to add a Collection variable in the app UI. Is this something I can only do via script, such as a pre-request or test script?

emmaDF · May 16, 2019, 3:35pm

If you edit the collection (“…” > Edit), you can see a variables tab for it

floripare · May 16, 2019, 3:40pm

Thank you very much!

danny-dainton · May 16, 2019, 4:29pm

Just to add some additional information here:

Once those are set within that area on the UI, you’re able to use the values in the same way that you would use the other variables.

This doesn’t have a pm.collections.get() type syntax but you can use pm.variables.get("var_name") syntax to programatically access the collection level variable value.

floripare · May 16, 2019, 4:44pm

Thank you, @danny-dainton.

How about setting a collection variable in a pre-request script? I’m reading the docs to try to figure out why I can’t seem to make pm.variables.set() work.

I mean, if I need to set a variable from within a pre-req script, must I use Globals?

danny-dainton · May 16, 2019, 6:31pm

Currently, you can only use the .get() function to access the collection level values. You’re not able to use the .set() function within the prerequest/test scripts. Hence the reason why the manual setting of these variables, was offered as the solution.

There is an open issue for that enhancement, over on GitHub.

github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support

Allow Collection-scoped variables to be modified in test scripts

opened 08:48PM - 20 Aug 18 UTC

closed 07:05AM - 16 Oct 19 UTC

bjohnso5

feature variables organizing-environments product/runtime

**Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.** Not being ab…le to modify collection variables in a dynamic way. **Describe the solution you'd like** A `pm.collection.set(...)` function would be very helpful for some collection-specific work that I'd like to be able to accomplish (for example, setting a `next` query string parameter that is specific to the collection the tests are running in). **Describe alternatives you've considered** I am currently using `pm.globals.set(...)` to accomplish my goal, but it makes using semantic names like `next` challenging because that is a strange thing to throw into the global scope, but namespacing variables is also a clunky solution.

sabuncu · May 20, 2020, 7:40pm

Can this be done through the web interface as well? If so, how? Thank you.

Thriven452 · June 14, 2021, 6:41pm

From Postman v7.9.0 added support for new pm.collectionVariables API which gives more control over interacting with the collection scoped variables.

Just like pm.environment , it’s an instance of VariableScope and has all the methods available like:

pm.collectionVariables.set
pm.collectionVariables.has
pm.collectionVariables.get
pm.collectionVariables.unset

Thanks !

joint-operations-ca4 · May 12, 2022, 7:47pm

It took me a while to find the correct “…” menu. There are “…” menus next to the tabs and each “folder” in the collection. The “…” menu you need to find is invisible until the mouse cursor is over the collection’s entry in the left panel. This screenshot shows where to look:

pooja-mistry · May 13, 2022, 3:25pm

Hi @joint-operations-ca4
Welcome to our community! Your screenshot looks like it is on an older version of Postman. Feel free to update to the latest version to use some of our latest features : Installing and updating | Postman Learning Center

redshift-rpandey · January 30, 2024, 6:05pm

Hi @pooja-mistry

Are there any plans of adding the functionality that allow users to set the variable type (Default or Secret) for Collection Variables? It is not available in the UI as of now.

Also, it would be nice if users could programmatically set the type while creating them through scripts. Currently, I have to manually toggle the type for each variable I wish to hide.

danny-dainton · January 30, 2024, 6:16pm

Hey @redshift-rpandey

Welcome to the Postman community

We have 2 open feature requests for those points you raised:

github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support

Allow the collection variables to be set to secret like global and environment variables can

opened 09:55PM - 08 Dec 23 UTC

jeffreydey

feature

### Is there an existing request for this feature? - [X] I have searched the ex…isting issues for this feature request and I know that duplicates will be closed ### Is your feature request related to a problem? We use collection variables to our API's and there are some authorization variables that we need to set to secret, but we can't find a way to do that. ### Describe the solution you'd like Allow collection variables to be set to secret if need be. ### Describe alternatives you've considered _No response_ ### Additional context _No response_

github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support

Programmatically set the secret variable type

opened 12:03PM - 18 Jan 22 UTC

DannyDainton

feature variables product/runtime sandbox

### Is there an existing request for this feature? - [X] I have searched the …existing issues for this feature request ### Is your feature request related to a problem? With the great addition of the `secret` variable type in the platform, users can now set the type manually through the UI but having the ability to set them via a script would round out the flow. By manually setting it, you would be exposing that 'secret' value to `over the shoulder` attacks until you have set the type and then hit save to mask the value. The `.set()` function already has a 3rd optional arg for the `type` but as 'secret' isn't in the [Variable Types](http://www.postmanlabs.com/postman-collection/Variable.html#.types) it would fallback to 'default'. ![Sandbox Environment](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/17089546/149930590-6854ccc9-a41a-4c22-b29e-e7b863d6e6da.png) ### Describe the solution you'd like Using the sandbox environment to set the variable type. A basic example of getting an access token value from a response body and then setting this as a secret variable: ```javascript let token = pm.response.json().access_token; pm.environment.set('token', token, 'secret'); ``` ### Describe alternatives you've considered The Postman API can be used to programmatically set the `type` which could be done in a script using the `pm.sendRequest()` function but that seems a bit too long-winded to achieve what could be done in the `set()` function. ```javascript var options = { 'method': 'PUT', 'url': 'https://api.getpostman.com/environments/{{environment_uuid}}', 'header': { 'X-Api-Key': 'XXXX', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ "environment": { "name": "Test Environment", "values": [ { "key": "token", "value": "ABC123", "type": "secret" } ] } }) }; pm.sendRequest(options, function (error, response) { if (error) throw new Error(error); console.log(response.json()); }); ``` ### Additional context _No response_

Please do check them out and upvote/add your usecase to the treads.

redshift-rpandey · January 30, 2024, 6:27pm

Hi @danny-dainton

Thanks for the quick response. I will upvote both the requests

Topic		Replies	Views
Setting Collection variable programmatically Ask the Experts and Postman Tips variables , collections , pre-request-script	2	5093	November 29, 2019
Setting/getting collection variable value in script Ask the Experts and Postman Tips variables , collections , scripts	18	107156	April 27, 2022
Setting Collection variables from scripts Ask the Experts and Postman Tips collections	1	3259	November 26, 2019
Collection variables not set after executing collections pre-request-script without errors Ask the Experts and Postman Tips variables , collections	4	1456	November 10, 2022
collectionVariables returns value by reference or by value New to APIs/Postman variables , collections	14	1141	January 16, 2024

How do I set a Collection variable?

Related topics