Create a scheduled task using Postman Flows

You can enhance the efficiency and productivity of an API workflow by incorporating task scheduling and automation. This can be accomplished by using monitors with Postman Flows. This tutorial shows how to create a monitor and a flow to get weather information for a specified ZIP Code and automatically share it on a Twitter account.

You can see this tutorial's completed flow here.

Goal

Create a monitor and a flow to get the high and low temperature forecasts for a given ZIP code and post them to a Twitter account daily.

Prerequisites

• A Twitter account.
• A Twitter app:
  • For the User authentication settings, select Read and write.
  • For Type of App, select Web App, Automated App or Bot.
  • For the Callback URI and Website URL, enter https://go.postman.co/.
• Twitter keys and secrets:
  • API (consumer) key.
  • API (consumer) key secret.
  • A client ID.
  • A client secret.
  • A Bearer token.
  • Set each variable's Type to secret.
• A ZIP Code.

Creating the flow

1. Begin by forking (copying) the Weather Application for Postman Flows Tutorial, the Twitter API v2 collection and the Twitter API v2 environment to your workspace.

   • In your fork of the environment, add your Twitter app's key and secret values to their corresponding variables, and save the environment:
     • API (consumer) key
     • API (consumer) key secret
     • Client ID
     • Client secret
     • Bearer token
   

2. Create a flow and add a Send Request block.

   • In the Send Request block, select Weather Application for Postman Flows Tutorial > Get coordinates for zip code.
   • Select the Twitter API v2 environment.
   • Add a String block and enter a ZIP Code.
   

3. Connect a second Send Request block to the first and select Weather Application for Postman Flows Tutorial > get current weather. The block automatically selects the Twitter API v2 environment.

   • Connect the first Send Request block's Success output to each variable in the second Send Request block.
   • Add Select blocks to each variable and enter the following:
     • For the lat variable, enter body.results.0.latitude.
     • For the long variable, enter body.results.0.longitude.
     • For the timezone variable, enter body.results.0.timezone.
   

4. Connect a Template block to the second Send Request block's Success output and enter The weather in your ZIP Code will include a high of {{high}} degrees and a low of {{low}} degrees.

   • Change key to high and enter the path body.daily.temperature_2m_max.0.
   • Connect the Send Request block's Success output to the Template block's variable input.
   • Change value2 to low and enter the body.daily.temperature_2m_min.0 path.
   

5. Connect the Template block's Data output to a Send Request block.

   • Select Twitter API v2 > Manage Tweets > Create a Tweet.
   • Select the Twitter API v2 environment.
   • Also connect the Template block's Data output to the Send Request block's tweet input.
   

6. In the sidebar, under Applications, select Webhook > Publish and copy the flow's webhook URL.

Scheduling the flow with a monitor

1. Create an HTTP POST request and enter the flow's webhook URL. Save the request to a new collection named Scheduled Flow.
2. Create a monitor named Scheduled Flow Monitor and enter the following information:
   • Collection: Scheduled Flow.
   • Run this monitor: Week timer, Every day, 8:00 AM.
3. Select Create Monitor. The monitor will trigger the flow daily at 8:00 AM.