Time to send your first request. We'll hit JSONPlaceholder — a free fake REST API that's perfect for practice. No API key needed, no signup, no rate limits. Just send and get a response.
Click the "+" button in the tab bar to open a new request tab
The method dropdown defaults to GET — leave it as-is
In the URL bar, type: https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1
Click the blue "Send" button (or press Ctrl+Enter)
Watch the response appear in the bottom panel
You should see this response:
{
"userId": 1,
"id": 1,
"title": "sunt aut facere repellat provident occaecati excepturi optio reprehenderit",
"body": "quia et suscipit\nsuscipit recusandae consequuntur expedita et cum\nreprehenderit molestiae ut ut quas totam\nnostrum rerum est autem sunt rem eveniet architecto"
}That's it. You just made an API call. The server returned a blog post with id 1. Let's read every part of what just happened.
| What to Look At | Where in Postman | What You Should See |
|---|---|---|
| Status code | Top-right of response panel | 200 OK (green) |
| Response time | Next to status code | Usually 100-500ms |
| Response size | Next to time | Around 300 B |
| Response body | Body tab (Pretty view) | The JSON with 4 fields |
| Response headers | Headers tab | Content-Type: application/json |
| Cookies | Cookies tab | Empty for this API |
In the Body tab, switch between Pretty (formatted JSON), Raw (plain text), and Preview (HTML rendered). Always use Pretty for JSON responses. Use Preview when the API returns HTML.
Don't just stop at one. Send these and check the responses:
# Get all posts (returns an array of 100 posts)
GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts
# Get a specific user
GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/3
# Get comments on post 1
GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1/comments
# Get all todos for user 1 (query parameter)
GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos?userId=1
# Get a post that doesn't exist (expect 404)
GET https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/999When you try /posts/999, you'll get an empty object {} with status 200 instead of 404. That's actually a bug in JSONPlaceholder! A well-designed API should return 404 for a non-existent resource. In a real project, you'd file this as a defect.
Q: What is a GET request?
A: GET is an HTTP method used to retrieve data from a server. It's read-only — it doesn't change anything on the server. GET requests don't have a body. You pass parameters through the URL — either as path params (/users/42) or query params (/users?role=admin). It's safe and idempotent, meaning calling it multiple times produces the same result.
Key Point: GET retrieves data. Check status code, body, headers, and time for every response. This is your testing habit from day one.