Postman — How to see request with headers and body data with variables substituted
I am using the Postman Chrome plugin to invoke HTTP requests for software testing. I use the Environments feature with Environment and Global Variables to substitute variables in my requests headers and body.
The variable substitution is working correctly (I can tell as the responses from the HTTP Server indicate that).
However, I would like to be able to see the Request Header and Body values AFTER the variables have been substituted. How can I do that?
7 Answers 7
As of now, Postman comes with its own «Console.» Click the terminal-like icon on the bottom left to open the console. Send a request, and you can inspect the request from within Postman’s console.
Update 2018-12-12 — Chrome App v Chrome Plugin — Most recent updates at top
With the deprecation of the Postman Chrome App, assuming that you are now using the Postman Native App, the options are now:
- Hover over variables with mouse
- Generate «Code» button/link
- Postman Console
See below for full details on each option.
Personally, I still go for 2) Generate «Code» button/link as it allows me to see the variables without actually having to send.
Demo Request 
Demo Environment 
1) Hover over variables with mouse 
2) Generate «Code» button/link 
3) Postman Console 
Update: 2016-06-03
Whilst the method described above does work, in practice, I now normally use the «Generate Code» link on the Postman Request screen. The generated code, no matter what code language you choose, contains the substituted variables. Hitting the «Generate Code» link is just faster, additionally, you can see the substituted variables without actually making the request.
Original Answer below
To see the substituted variables in the Headers and Body, you need to use Chrome Developer tools. To enable Chrome Developer Tools from within Postman do the following, as per http://blog.getpostman.com/2015/06/13/debugging-postman-requests/.
I have copied the instructions from the link above in case the link gets broken in the future:
Type chrome://flags inside your Chrome URL window
Search for “packed” or try to find the “Enable debugging for packed apps”
How to Debug Collection Run in Postman
In this “How to Debug Collection Run in Postman” article, I will be demonstrating how you can implement this concept and get a tight grip over this.
To debug the collection/request, Postman provides the Postman Console feature.
1. Show Postman Console option is in the View tab on the top. We can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Ctrl+C
2. Also, we have an icon of Postman Console at the bottom. Click on the icon. It will open the Postman Console window.
3. Now, whatever request we will run, it will be logged in the console window. Send an API request. Check logs in the console window. All the request headers, body, response headers, response body, status codes, response size, and all the script outputs will be logged in the console window. If there is any variable used in the request, their actual value will also be shown in the Console window.
4. Expand the response headers, network, request headers, body to view the data.
5. We can also select the raw format and pretty format from the option in right.
6. We can also access errors/info/warnings/logs separately from the Console window. There is an option of Clear too to clear the logs displayed.