Prerequisites

Install the latest version of Postman

Before we get started, please install the latest version of Postman on your system. If you already have Postman installed, ensure your installation is up to date.

Import the collection

Now that we have the latest version of Postman installed, let's import the Abound API collection.

Open Postman and click Import in the left navigation menu
Select the Link tab and Enter the Abound API Postman URL:
- https://postman.withabound.com/abound-collection-latest.json

Importing the latest Abound API Postman collection by Link

Configure environments for Sandbox and Production

We recommend setting up separate environments for Sandbox and Production. This will allow you to quickly switch between environments without having to manually look up and change your API keys.

To create an environment in Postman:

Open Postman and click New in the left navigation menu
Choose Environment to create a new environment
Enter Abound Sandbox for the name of your new environment
Using your Keys from the Abound Dashboard, enter the following environment variables for your sandbox environment:

Sandbox environment

VARIABLE	INITIAL VALUE	CURRENT VALUE
`baseUrl`	https://sandbox-api.withabound.com/v2	https://sandbox-api.withabound.com/v2
`appId`	`{{appId}}`	Enter your sandbox `appId` – located on the Keys page of the Abound Dashboard
`appSecret`	`{{appSecret}}`	Enter your sandbox `appSecret` – located on the Keys page of the Abound Dashboard

Production environment

VARIABLE	INITIAL VALUE	CURRENT VALUE
`baseUrl`	https://production-api.withabound.com/v2	https://production-api.withabound.com/v2
`appId`	`{{appId}}`	Enter your production `appId` – located on the Keys page of the Abound Dashboard
`appSecret`	`{{appSecret}}`	Enter your production `appSecret` – located on the Keys page of the Abound Dashboard

Using the Abound API Postman collection

Now that we have our collection and environments configured, we're ready to make our first request. Since Users are the foundational resource of every Abound API call, let's create a UserUser - A single end-user of your application. Each user has a unique userId, which should be stored in your database and used to make API requests on behalf of this individual..

Select the Collections icon in the left navigation menu
Expand Abound API, Users, and then select Create a user
Ensure we are using the Abound Sandbox environment we created earlier by selecting it in the upper right-hand corner
Click Send to create a user!

Creating a user with the Abound API Postman collection

Now that you've created your first user, you will need to use the returned userId to make other API calls. For example, to Create expenses, the userId needs to be passed along as a path parameter. It can be frustrating to keep track of all these identifiers as you navigate through our API with Postman.

Luckily, the Abound API Postman collection will keep track of these identifiers for you using collection variables! When you create a user, the userId is automatically pulled out of the response and stored in a collection variable for use in other requests. We do this for all identifiers that you create using POST requests. Let's try it!

Note the userId from our original request to Create a user
Now, let's open up the Create expenses request in the Abound API Postman collection and hover over the {{userId}} path variable
- You will find that our collection knows the userId we just created 🎉
With no additional input, click the Send button to create some expenses for this user

Example of userId being automatically provided for the next request

📘
Since we are creating multiple expenses in this request, we only save the identifier for the first expense as a collection variable.

We are always looking for ways to improve the DX for our customers. Please reach out if you have any feedback or suggestions.