Share via API option gone when sharing a collection

[vdespa]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• [X] I have searched the tracker for existing similar issues and I know that duplicates will be closed

Describe the Issue

It appears that in a recent Postman app update, the Share options have been redesigned.

Now only collections that are part of a team workspace have the "Share via API" button. Other collections (such as a Personal Collection just don't have it). I don't see any reason for that as it was available in the past. As a user, you are left staring at the UI with no clue what to do next.

I think this change is very unfortunate and can lead to a lot of confusion. Is a personal workspace a second-class citizen in Postman now?

Steps To Reproduce

1. Open a collection from a Personal workspace.
2. Click on the Share button.
3. Notice that there is no way to share via API.

Screenshots or Videos

No response

Operating System

macOS

Postman Version

11.22.2-241209-1418

Postman Platform

Postman Web

User Account Type

Signed In User

Additional Context?

No response

[brunobeneh]

I'm in the same situation here.

[nhridoy]

same issue

[tpechacek]

Hey @vdespa @brunobeneh @nhridoy thank you for raising this and bringing this to my attention! I've recently joined Postman as our Head of Product for API Collaboration Core. Please let me explain a bit more on our rationale behind this change.

I'd also really like to hear more about your comment of "I think this change is very unfortunate and can lead to a lot of confusion" and why you use the Share via API. What are the workflows, use cases, and outcomes you are trying to achieve with that functionality. The more detail you can provide the better!

More about this change We have redesigned the in-line share functionality because it was becoming too cluttered and confusing to users. It had too many options without a clear hierarchy, so we wanted to streamline this to make it easier to share & invite while managing access settings and roles all in one place.

For Personal Workspaces, they are definitely not second-class citizens. We are aiming to continue to simplify workspaces used internally so it is easier to understand and more about the access on those workspaces - personal for yourself, private workspaces for a subset of people within your team but not the whole team, and then everyone on the team. Within the whole team - you might want different roles (e.g. viewer vs. editor) - especially when it gets to be a large team with dozens or hundreds of workspaces and people working on various parts of the company. You want broad visibility to collaborate on and use APIs across the company but not necessarily edit access for everyone!

So, our goal is to simplify and REDUCE confusion - the opposite of your comment! However, I very much understand where you are coming from as your intent to share via an API is still there, but you simply can't anymore on personal workspaces. I'd love to better understand the 'intent' part of using this functionality.

Our current assumption is that if your intention is to share or collaborate on this collection with anyone but yourself, you should move it into a Team Workspace so that you can then manage access to that API information. This gives you better control over access, permissions, roles, etc. as well as the various options of Run in Postman, via API, or even via guest roles which make it even more public - perhaps moving it into a Public Workspace to take advantage of those capabilities. On that same note, that is part of the reason why we did not have 'copy link' on personal workspaces - although we should bring that back in and make it easier to just change the access settings on that workspace so whoever is access that link (via slack or email or whatever) can authenticate and if part of the team start collaborating with you.

What are your reasons for keeping it as a personal workspace and sharing via an API vs. moving it into a Team Workspace and then sharing that way? Or is this more about that path/option not being clear and these options just disappeared?

If you are open to a 30 minute call - i'd love to talk through this with each of you as well as share some future improvements on simplifying internal workspaces across personal, private, and team - all of which are equally important in terms of the different types of work someone might need to do. Let me know and I'll paste a calendly link here to setup some time. Looking forward to working with you all to find a great resolution here.

Thanks in advance!

[janiek]

hi @tpechacek ,

Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

[Prashant-Kumar-321]

hi @tpechacek ,

Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

Yes, Indeed it is a problem, I was following your postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert-certification course, there I was asked to share my collection via in order to clear half way test. Tell me how would i do it now? Any pointers. Thanks !!!! And you must need to change the course content

[TheChamith]

hi @tpechacek , Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

Yes, Indeed it is a problem, I was following your postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert-certification course, there I was asked to share my collection via in order to clear half way test. Tell me how would i do it now? Any pointers. Thanks !!!! And you must need to change the course content

I agree, I cant complete the course due to the same issue

EDIT

I found the fix. U need to hit the upgrade button the top right corner and it will allow u to collab upto 3 users for free. follow the steps and u will be taken to the main page again. (add a backup acc email to start team workspaces) and once there just click initially "keep the workspaces for myself) and then from there u can share the workspace which then u will see the "share via API" option

hope this helped!

[mishrabiswajit]

hi @tpechacek , Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

Yes, Indeed it is a problem, I was following your postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert-certification course, there I was asked to share my collection via in order to clear half way test. Tell me how would i do it now? Any pointers. Thanks !!!! And you must need to change the course content

I agree, I cant complete the course due to the same issue

EDIT

I found the fix. U need to hit the upgrade button the top right corner and it will allow u to collab upto 3 users for free. follow the steps and u will be taken to the main page again. (add a backup acc email to start team workspaces) and once there just click initially "keep the workspaces for myself) and then from there u can share the workspace which then u will see the "share via API" option

hope this helped!

Thanks Man !

[JiraiyaaSensay]

Hey guys! I'm having the same exact issue as mentioned above and also tried the fix however after doing the upgrade and following the prompts I do not see the phrase "keep workspaces for myself" anywhere so I'm still stuck. Any chance you could post a screen shot of that prompt or button?

[mishrabiswajit]

Hey guys! I'm having the same exact issue as mentioned above and also tried the fix however after doing the upgrade and following the prompts I do not see the phrase "keep workspaces for myself" anywhere so I'm still stuck. Any chance you could post a screen shot of that prompt or button?

I have made a detailed article upon this. Hope this helps ^_^ https://medium.com/@mishrabiswajit/share-via-api-button-for-personal-workspace-in-postman-64e39fa1c01e

[Zest-studi-o]

It would be great that this feature would be back so I can follow the content of the course, otherwise the teacher would have to change the course content for future students, and to me I think the feature was fine as it was demonstrated in the video, easy way to share an api link.

Is a personal workspace a second-class citizen in Postman now? In my opinion is more profitable to keep certain features for paid plans in the eyes of corporations to maximize profits, but this is very inconvenient for students and juniors trying to skill up. Maybe that is why in the company that I work for use insomnia, to not pay and also maximize profit, ... corporate world!

[raviteja-112]

Hello,

I realize this may not be the appropriate forum for my question, but I'm encountering an error message related to one of the test cases while submitting the final check. I've searched extensively online but haven't been able to find a solution.

Here are the errors:

I've set the authentication to the API level, but I'm still encountering the error. Could you please assist me with this?

[senthilkbr]

Any reason for removing the feature ?

[krishp-dev]

ca

hi @tpechacek , Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

Yes, Indeed it is a problem, I was following your postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert-certification course, there I was asked to share my collection via in order to clear half way test. Tell me how would i do it now? Any pointers. Thanks !!!! And you must need to change the course content

I agree, I cant complete the course due to the same issue EDIT I found the fix. U need to hit the upgrade button the top right corner and it will allow u to collab upto 3 users for free. follow the steps and u will be taken to the main page again. (add a backup acc email to start team workspaces) and once there just click initially "keep the workspaces for myself) and then from there u can share the workspace which then u will see the "share via API" option hope this helped!

Thanks Man !

can you just elaborate in detail i am getting same error

[mishrabiswajit]

can you just elaborate in detail i am getting same error

I have written a complete article already.

https://github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support/issues/13336#issuecomment-2642495853

[TheChamith]

ca

hi @tpechacek , Is it possible to update the postman api fundamentals course (https://academy.postman.com/path/postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert)? Cause without the button it is hard to finish the course without sharing the collection with others...

Yes, Indeed it is a problem, I was following your postman-api-fundamentals-student-expert-certification course, there I was asked to share my collection via in order to clear half way test. Tell me how would i do it now? Any pointers. Thanks !!!! And you must need to change the course content

I agree, I cant complete the course due to the same issue EDIT I found the fix. U need to hit the upgrade button the top right corner and it will allow u to collab upto 3 users for free. follow the steps and u will be taken to the main page again. (add a backup acc email to start team workspaces) and once there just click initially "keep the workspaces for myself) and then from there u can share the workspace which then u will see the "share via API" option hope this helped!

Thanks Man !

can you just elaborate in detail i am getting same error

I think Biswajit has already written a comprehensive guide on this, If u encounter further issues pls write here we will help in any way we can