← API Testing with Postman learning pathAPI Testing with Postman · Module 3 of 10
Headers, bodies and authentication
Send data and authenticate requests.
📖 Key ideas
- Headers carry metadata: Content-Type, Accept, Authorization.
- Body formats: JSON, form-data (files), x-www-form-urlencoded.
- Auth types: API Key, Bearer Token, Basic Auth, OAuth 2.0.
- Set auth at collection level to reuse it.
- Never share real production tokens in public collections.
💡 Real-life example: Headers are the envelope details; the body is the letter; the token is your signed ID.
Content-TypeFormat of the request body
Bearer tokenToken in Authorization header
form-dataBody format supporting file uploads
OAuth 2.0Delegated authorisation protocol