Postman gRPC client
Build, debug, and collaborate on gRPC services in a unified platform.
How does the Postman gRPC client work?
The Postman gRPC client, which expands on Postman's core API client functionality, offers a simple yet powerful way to work with gRPC APIs. With Postman's gRPC client, you can:
Send requests with all four gRPC method types
- Invoke unary, client-streaming, server-streaming, and bidirectional-streaming methods from an intuitive user interface
- Quickly compose gRPC messages with autocomplete hints—or generate an example message in a single click
- Input your message data in JSON and hover over any field or value to see the underlying Protobuf type
Manage your Protobuf service definitions
- Create a Protobuf service definition with Postman's API Builder—and use it as the single source of truth for your API project
- Easily import gRPC service definitions—and save all relevant .proto files as a single API within the Postman cloud
- Leverage server reflection to automatically access the available services and methods—without having to manually load a .proto file or create a schema
Inspect and filter responses
- Streamline your workflow by viewing the response directly alongside the request data and documentation
- Get full, unified visibility into all requests and responses that are exchanged over a streaming connection
- Cut through noisy streams by filtering on the type of message you're interested in—or searching for specific messages
Leverage Postman's core API client features
- Use pre-configured code snippets to quickly author tests for any gRPC request
- Collaborate on gRPC APIs in collections and workspaces, which include support for commenting and version control Comment end
- Define authentication details using a variety of authentication protocols—including OAuth 2.0, JWT, and AWS Signature
What other protocols does the Postman API client support?
Postman is more than just an API client—it's an API platform that simplifies each step of the API lifecycle and enables teams around the world to collaborate more efficiently. In addition to gRPC, the Postman API client also supports:
REST
The Postman API client enables users of all experience levels to call, test, and debug any REST API in a matter of minutes.
GraphQL
Postman's GraphQL client supports automatic schema introspection—and lets users assemble queries, mutations, and subscriptions by browsing and selecting fields from an intuitive visual query builder.
SOAP
Postman's SOAP client makes it easy to compose request bodies in XML—and it automatically adds the `application/xml` content type header to the request, as well.
Websockets
Postman streamlines the process of connecting to a WebSocket API server—and enables users to compose and send WebSocket messages, search through the message stream, and listen for specific events.
What is a gRPC client, and what can you do with one?
gRPC, which stands for “Google Remote Procedure Call,” is a schema-driven framework that facilitates service-to-service communication in distributed environments. The RPC protocol allows clients and servers to interact with one another as if they were both on the same machine. gRPC builds on that functionality by providing support for multiple programming languages and streaming patterns, as well as strongly typed service contracts through its use of Protocol Buffers (Protobuf).
gRPC has become a top choice for building distributed systems that are highly performant and scalable, but it can be challenging to work with gRPC without a mature gRPC client. For instance, Protobuf uses a binary-encoded data format, which is less human-readable than JSON or XML and therefore harder to debug. Streaming also adds a layer of complexity, as streams may be incredibly high volume and messages may appear out of order.
A gRPC client simplifies the experience of working with Protobuf definitions, sending gRPC messages over a streaming connection, and inspecting responses. A gRPC client not only enables teams to build sophisticated service architectures, but also makes it just as easy to work with gRPC as it is to work with REST or SOAP.
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