Skip to content
Postman API Testing Tips

How To Use Postman To Connect To Amazon Product Advertising

API Testing Blog

Connecting to Amazon Product Advertising API with Postman

Postman is a powerful tool for testing APIs, making it an ideal choice for interacting with the Amazon Product Advertising API. This guide will walk you through the process, equipping you with the knowledge and practical examples to get started.

1. Setting up your Postman Environment

  1. Create a Postman Account: If you don’t have one already, sign up for a free Postman account at https://www.postman.com/.
  2. Download Postman: Download and install the Postman desktop app from the same website.

2. Obtaining Amazon Product Advertising API Credentials

  1. Amazon Partner Network: Sign up for an Amazon Partner Network account at https://developer.amazon.com/.
  2. Register for API: Navigate to the “Product Advertising API” section and create a new application. You’ll need to provide an app name and description.
  3. Access Credentials: Once registered, you’ll receive your API access key (Access Key ID) and secret key (Secret Key). Securely store these credentials as they’re essential for API authentication.

3. Setting up Your Postman Request

  1. Create a New Request: In Postman, click the ”+” button to create a new request.
  2. Set Request Method: For Amazon Product Advertising API, the most common HTTP methods are:
    • GET: retrieves data.
    • POST: submits data.
  3. Enter the API Endpoint: The main endpoint for the Product Advertising API is https://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml.
  4. Construct Your URL: Append the API operation you want to perform to the endpoint:
    • Example: https://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml?Operation=ItemLookup

4. Authenticating Your Request

  1. Add Authentication Header: The Amazon Product Advertising API uses HMAC-SHA256 authentication. In Postman, go to the “Authorization” tab and select “HMAC”.
  2. Configure Settings: Fill in the Access Key ID, Secret Key, and the request URL (including query parameters). This generates the Authorization header for your request.

5. Building Your API Request

  1. Define Request Parameters: Refer to the Amazon Product Advertising API documentation https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/ for the full list of available parameters and their usage.
  2. Add Parameters: In Postman, use the “Params” tab to add your desired parameters to the request URL.
  3. Example:
    • Operation: ItemLookup
    • ItemId: B07Y5LG45P
    • ResponseGroup: Offers,Images,Variations
  4. Finalized Request URL: 
    https://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService&Operation=ItemLookup&ItemId=B07Y5LG45P&ResponseGroup=Offers,Images,Variations

6. Sending Your Request

  1. Click “Send”: After setting up the request, click the “Send” button to execute the API call.

7. Understanding the Response

  1. Inspect Raw Response: By default, Postman displays the response in a formatted JSON or XML format.
  2. Access Specific Data: Use Postman’s features to explore the response data, copy specific values, or navigate through nested structures using the “Body” tab.

8. Code Example: ItemLookup

// Postman Pre-request Script
const AccessKeyId = "YOUR_ACCESS_KEY_ID";
const SecretKey = "YOUR_SECRET_KEY";
const Operation = "ItemLookup";
const ItemId = "B07Y5LG45P";
const ResponseGroup = "Offers,Images,Variations";


const url = `https://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService&Operation=${Operation}&ItemId=${ItemId}&ResponseGroup=${ResponseGroup}`;


// Create HMAC Authorization header
const authorization = calculateHMACAuthorization(url, AccessKeyId, SecretKey);


// Set Authorization header
pm.environment.set("Authorization", authorization);


// Function to calculate HMAC authorization header
function calculateHMACAuthorization(url, accessKeyId, secretKey) {
  // ... (Implementation to calculate HMAC-SHA256 signature)
}

9. Beyond Basic Interactions

  1. Explore API Operations: The Amazon Product Advertising API offers a wide range of operations, including:
    • ItemSearch
    • BrowseNodeLookup
    • CartGet
    • CustomerContent
  2. Utilize Advanced Postman Features: As you gain familiarity with the API, explore Postman features like:
    • Collections: Organize multiple requests into manageable collections.
    • Environments: Store and manage credentials and other variables for different environments.
    • Tests: Write tests to assert response status codes and data validation.

By leveraging Postman’s powerful features, you can efficiently interact with the Amazon Product Advertising API, retrieving product data, managing carts, and much more. Remember to consult the official API documentation for detailed information about specific operations and parameters.

API Testing Blog