How to Troubleshoot with Postman

Learn how to test and debug cobby API requests directly using Postman, bypassing the cobby application to isolate issues.

Prerequisites

• Postman installed (download from getpostman.com)
• cobby extension installed on your Magento store
• Access to your store's cobby API credentials
• Basic understanding of REST APIs
• (Optional) htaccess credentials if your dev site is password-protected

Overview

Postman allows you to send API requests directly to your store's cobby API endpoint, which helps:

• Test API functionality independently of the cobby desktop application
• Debug connection and authentication issues
• Verify data export and import operations
• Troubleshoot custom extension integrations

Steps

1. Install Postman

1. Visit getpostman.com
2. Download the version for your operating system
3. Install and launch Postman

Expected result: Postman application is running and ready to use.

2. Import cobby API Collection

We provide pre-configured API request collections for cobby.

1. Download the API collection matching your cobby version from:

   • cobby API Requests and Events

2. In Postman, click Import in the top toolbar

   

3. Click Import File and select the downloaded collection file

   

Expected result: The cobby API collection appears in your Postman sidebar.

3. Create Environment for Your Store

Set up an environment to store your store-specific configuration.

1. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner

   

2. Click Manage Environments

3. Click Add

   

4. Configure the environment with the following variables:

   

   Variable Configuration (use camelCase):

   Variable	Value	Example
   shopURL	Your store URL + cobby API path	https://yourstore.com/cobby/api
   apiUser	cobby API username	cobby_api
   apiPassword	cobby API password	your_password
   cobbyVersion	cobby version (dots → underscores)	2_0_1
   licenseKey	Your cobby license key	XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX
   htaccessUser	htaccess username (if applicable)	dev
   htaccessPassword	htaccess password (if applicable)	password

5. Click Add to save the environment

   

Where to find API credentials:

Magento 1:

• Navigate to System > Configuration > Services > cobby

Magento 2:

• Navigate to Stores > Settings: Configuration > Services > cobby

Expected result: Your environment is configured and ready to use.

4. Get a Session Key

Before making other API requests, you need to authenticate and get a session key.

1. Select your environment from the dropdown in the top-right

2. From the collection, select Login (Magento1) or Login (Magento2)

3. Click Send

   

4. Copy the session key from the response (without quotes)

5. Click the eye icon in the top-right corner

6. Click Edit next to Globals

   

7. Add a new global variable:

   • Variable: sessionKey
   • Value: [paste the copied session key]

   

8. Click Save

Expected result: You now have a valid session key stored globally for subsequent requests.

Note: Session keys expire after a period of inactivity. If requests fail with authentication errors, repeat this step to get a fresh session key.

5. Make Your First API Request

Test the API by exporting an attribute.

1. Ensure you have a valid session key (step 4)

2. Select Attribute (Info) from the collection

3. Click the Body tab

   

4. Replace AttributeID with an actual attribute ID from your store (e.g., 73 for SKU attribute)

5. Click Send

   

Expected result: You receive a JSON response with the attribute details.

Example successful response:

{
  "attribute_id": "73",
  "attribute_code": "sku",
  "frontend_label": "SKU",
  "frontend_input": "text",
  "is_required": "1",
  "is_unique": "1"
}

6. Test Additional API Operations

Now you can test other API operations from the collection:

Export Operations:

• Product Export - Export product data
• Category Export - Export category tree
• Attribute Set Export - Export attribute sets
• Store Export - Export store views and websites

Import Operations:

• Product Import - Import product data
• Stock Update - Update product stock levels
• Category Assignment - Update product-category relationships
• Media Import - Import product images

Testing workflow:

1. Select the request from the collection
2. Modify the body parameters as needed
3. Click Send
4. Review the response for success or errors

Common API Requests

Export All Product IDs

Request: cobby_catalog_product.getAllIds (M1) or GET cobby/product/ids (M2)

Purpose: Get a list of all product IDs in your store

Body (Magento 1):

{
  "sessionKey": "{{sessionKey}}"
}

Expected response:

[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ...]

Export Products

Request: cobby_export.exportProducts (M1) or POST cobby/export/products (M2)

Body (Magento 1):

{
  "sessionKey": "{{sessionKey}}",
  "productIds": [1, 2, 3],
  "storeId": 1
}

Expected response: Array of product objects with full data.

Update Stock

Request: cobby_import_product.updateStock (M1) or POST cobby/import/products/stocks (M2)

Body (Magento 1):

{
  "sessionKey": "{{sessionKey}}",
  "stocks": [
    {
      "product_id": "1",
      "qty": 100,
      "is_in_stock": 1
    }
  ]
}

Expected response: Success confirmation or error details.

Troubleshooting

Error: "Invalid session key"

• Session has expired - get a new session key (Step 4)
• Verify you're using the correct global variable name: sessionKey
• Check the session key doesn't include quotes

Error: "Authentication failed"

• Verify API credentials in your environment variables
• Check credentials match those in Magento configuration
• Test credentials by logging into Magento admin with same username/password

Error: "404 Not Found"

• Verify shopURL includes the full path: https://yourstore.com/cobby/api
• Check cobby extension is installed and enabled
• For Magento 2, verify the endpoint uses the correct format (REST vs SOAP)

Error: "Access denied"

• Check cobby API user has correct permissions in Magento
• Verify license key is valid and active
• For Magento 1, check ACL permissions in System > Web Services > SOAP/XML-RPC - Roles

htaccess authentication issues

• Ensure htaccessUser and htaccessPassword variables are set
• Check htaccess credentials are correct
• Verify Postman is sending authentication headers

No response received

• Check server is accessible from your network
• Verify firewall isn't blocking API requests
• Test with curl to isolate Postman issues:

  curl -X POST https://yourstore.com/cobby/api \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"method":"login","params":{"username":"user","password":"pass"}}'

Attribute/Product not found

• Verify the ID exists in Magento
• Check you're using the correct store view ID
• For attributes, use attribute ID not attribute code

Advanced Testing

Test Custom Events

If you've created custom observers (see How to Use cobby API Events), test them:

1. Set up request for the operation that triggers your event
2. Send the request
3. Check Magento logs for your observer execution:

   tail -f var/log/system.log | grep "cobby"

4. Verify expected data modifications occurred

Test Import Performance

Monitor import performance by testing with increasing data volumes:

1. Start with 10 products
2. Increase to 100, then 1000
3. Monitor response times
4. Check for timeout errors with large datasets

Validate API Responses

Create Postman tests to validate responses:

// Tests tab in Postman
pm.test("Status code is 200", function () {
    pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

pm.test("Response has product data", function () {
    var jsonData = pm.response.json();
    pm.expect(jsonData).to.have.property('sku');
});

Related Documentation

• cobby API Requests and Events Reference
• How to Use cobby API Events and Observers
• Third Party Extension Compatibility
• Postman Documentation