Partner Workspace: Enhance External Collaboration in Postman

Partner Workspaces in Postman are designed to streamline collaboration with your external partners directly within the Postman platform. These workspaces are invaluable tools for teams looking to efficiently onboard partners to their APIs and foster productive partnerships on API projects. By leveraging Partner Workspaces, you establish a centralized hub for all collaborative efforts, integrating partner projects seamlessly into your Postman team’s environment and building a robust foundation for efficient and productive partnerships.

Learn more about optimizing your partner onboarding and external developer engagement. You can also expedite your setup process by utilizing the Partner Collaboration template, pre-configured to get you started quickly.

As your partner ecosystem expands, managing individual workspaces for each partner with duplicated content can become cumbersome. Postman’s Multi-partner mode offers a scalable solution to this challenge. For in-depth information, explore Collaborate with multiple partners using multi-partner mode.

Creating a Dedicated Partner Workspace

Creating a Partner Workspace in Postman is a straightforward process, enabling you to quickly set up a dedicated environment for external collaboration.

1. Initiate Workspace Creation: Begin by selecting Workspaces from the header menu in Postman, then click on Create Workspace.

2. Leverage Templates or Start Fresh: Postman offers workspace templates to accelerate workspace setup. Choose a Partner Collaboration template to pre-populate your workspace with useful resources and sample collections, or opt for Blank workspace to start with an empty slate. Click Next to proceed.

   Create new workspace

3. Define Workspace Details: Specify a clear and descriptive Name for your workspace and add a concise Summary outlining its purpose.

4. Set Visibility to Partner: Under the Visibility settings, select Partner. This designation ensures the workspace is specifically for partner collaboration.

5. Finalize Creation: Click Create to finalize the creation of your Partner Workspace.

While any team member with workspace creation permissions can initiate a Partner Workspace request, approval is required from a designated Partner Manager. In teams without a Partner Manager role assigned, the Team Admin automatically assumes this role upon creating the first Partner Workspace.

On Professional Postman plans, Partner Workspaces can be created by anyone, and the Partner Manager role is not applicable, simplifying the creation process.

If you lack Super Admin or Partner Manager roles, your creation request will require approval. You have the option to include a note with your request for additional context. The workspace will remain private until a Partner Manager reviews and either approves or denies your request. Postman will send notifications to keep you informed about the status of your request.

Converting Existing Workspaces to Partner Workspaces:

You can also convert an existing workspace into a Partner Workspace if needed.

1. Access Workspace Settings: Open the workspace you wish to convert. Navigate to the Overview tab and select Settings.
2. Change Visibility to Partner: Under Visibility, choose Partner to designate it as a Partner Workspace.
3. Apply Conversion: Click Update to apply the changes and convert the workspace.

Similar to creation, conversion requests require Partner Manager approval if you are not a Super Admin or Partner Manager. Postman will facilitate the approval process and keep you updated on the status.

Converting a workspace to a Partner Workspace triggers in-app and email notifications to all current workspace members, ensuring transparency and communication.

Setting Up Your Partner Workspace for Success

Prior to inviting external collaborators, effective setup of your Partner Workspace is crucial for a successful partnership. This involves strategically populating the workspace with relevant resources to ensure partners have everything they need at their fingertips.

Leveraging workspace templates is again highly recommended for streamlined setup. Refer to Apply a template to a workspace for detailed guidance.

Moving Essential Elements into Your Partner Workspace

To ensure partners have access to the necessary components for collaboration, moving relevant APIs, collections, environments, mock servers, or flows into the Partner Workspace is essential. This action requires Super Admin, Workspace Admin, or Partner Manager permissions.

1. Initiate Move Action: In the Postman sidebar, select the element you intend to move. Click the more actions icon and choose Move.

2. Locate Target Workspace: Utilize the search bar to find the specific Partner Workspace. You can also filter workspaces by visibility using the filter icon for easier navigation.

   You are restricted to moving elements only to Partner Workspaces you have authorized access to, maintaining security and control.

3. Confirm Move: Select the target Partner Workspace and click Move (followed by the element type, such as Collection, API, Environment, or Mock Server) to finalize the move.

   Move element Partner Workspace

It’s important to note that related items like monitors and mock servers are not automatically moved along with the primary element. Consult Moving elements to workspaces for comprehensive details on element movement.

For scenarios where you need to retain elements in their original workspaces while making them accessible to partners, forking elements into Partner Workspaces is a valuable approach. Forking allows you to keep elements synchronized with updates from the parent element, ensuring partners are always working with the latest versions.

Inviting External Partners to Collaborate

Inviting partners to your Partner Workspace is the key to initiating external collaboration. Workspace Admins, Partner Managers, and Partner Leads are authorized to extend invitations. Postman’s plans typically include provisions for inviting a limited number of partners at no additional cost, usually with Workspace Editor roles. Partners must be external entities, distinct from your organization. Granting a partner the Workspace Editor role empowers them to modify all resources within the Partner Workspace, including collections, fostering active collaboration. Assigning Partners Workspace Editor or Collection Editor roles may consume paid seats depending on your Postman plan. Details on adding paid seats are available.

The Partner Editor role is a feature of Postman Professional and Enterprise plans, often requiring the Partner Editor add-on for full functionality.

For a deeper understanding of roles and permissions, refer to team and Partner Workspace roles.

Steps to Invite Partners:

1. Access Invitation Settings: Open the Partner Workspace, navigate to the Overview tab, select Settings, and then click Invite. Alternatively, you can use the Invite option directly in the Postman header.

2. (Workspace Admins and Partner Managers only) Specify Partner Invitation: Choose Partners, and then click Continue to proceed with inviting external collaborators.

3. Enter Partner Details: Input the name, email address, or group name of the partners you wish to invite.

4. Define Workspace Role: Assign the appropriate workspace role to each partner based on their intended level of access and contribution.

   Inviting a partner as a Workspace Editor requires your team to have available seats or Auto-Flex enabled. If seats are unavailable, the partner will be assigned the Workspace Viewer role by default, granting view-only access without consuming paid seats.

5. (Workspace Admins and Partner Managers only – Optional) Designate Partner Lead: If you wish to empower a partner to manage and invite other partners within the workspace, select Make them Partner Lead.

6. Send Invitations: Click Invite Partners to dispatch the invitations.

Partners must accept invitations using the Postman account associated with the email address to which the invitation was sent. If a partner needs to use a different email or if an invitation was sent incorrectly, you can revoke the invite and resend it to the correct address. Invitations are non-transferable.

Partners will authenticate into your team’s Postman environment using a Postman username and password, even if your team mandates SSO for internal team members, simplifying partner access.

Workspace Admins and Partner Managers also have the capability to invite internal team members to Partner Workspaces, facilitating mixed internal and external collaboration. The process for inviting team members is similar, selecting Team members instead of Partners during the invitation process.

Reviewing Partner Access to Resources

Partner Managers have the oversight to review which Partner Workspaces and collections are accessible to each partner. They can also ascertain the Workspace role assigned to partners in each workspace, and the Collection role within specific collections. This visibility is crucial for access management and security. To review partner access, navigate to your team dashboard and select View resources next to a partner’s name. Clicking on a Partner Workspace or collection name will open it in a new browser tab for direct inspection.

Collaborative Dynamics in a Partner Workspace

The collaborative experience within Partner Workspaces is shaped by the roles and status of participants, differentiating between team members and external partners.

Team Member Collaboration within Partner Workspaces

Partner Workspaces, like private workspaces, are visible only to invited team members, ensuring controlled access. Once invited, team members can access and interact with Partner Workspaces in the same way as any other workspace within Postman. Access is granted via the Workspaces menu in the Postman header, where the Partner Workspace can be selected and opened.

The Partner Manager role, assignable at the team level, provides a broad overview of partner collaboration. Partner Managers can view all Partner Workspaces within the organization and manage their settings, visibility, and partner invitations. Detailed role information is available at Partner team and Partner Workspace roles.

Partner Collaboration Experience

External partners invited to a Partner Workspace operate within a focused and restricted environment. They gain access solely to the specific Partner Workspace they are invited to and do not have visibility or access to any other workspaces or resources belonging to the team. Partners also do not possess personal or team workspaces within the Postman team’s environment, maintaining clear boundaries.

At the team level, all external partners are automatically assigned the Partner role, a general designation. Within a Partner Workspace, partners are assigned more granular roles: Workspace Editor or Viewer. Workspace Editors have full editing rights over all workspace resources, including collections, facilitating active contribution. Workspace Viewers have read-only access at the workspace level but can be granted Collection Editor roles for specific collections, allowing for controlled contribution to particular areas. The Partner Lead role further empowers partners to manage invitations for their own organization within the workspace.

Comprehensive details on partner roles and permissions are available at Partner team and Partner Workspace roles.

Managing Your Partner Workspace Effectively

Effective management of Partner Workspaces is essential for maintaining organization and security. Workspace Admins and Partner Managers are responsible for managing workspace settings, users, and roles. Partner Leads share responsibility for managing partner users and roles within the workspaces they oversee.

User and Role Management

Assigning appropriate roles to both team members and partners is crucial for defining access levels and responsibilities. Team roles related to Partner Workspaces can be managed at the team level, while Partner Workspace roles are managed at the workspace level and collection level. Consult team and Partner Workspace roles for a complete understanding of available roles and their permissions.

For more insights into team member and partner collaboration dynamics, revisit Collaborating in a Partner Workspace.

Partner License Management

Postman typically provides a limited number of partner licenses, often three, which enable assigning partners Workspace Editor or Collection Editor roles. A paid seat is utilized whenever a partner is assigned at least one Editor role (at either workspace or collection level) within any Partner Workspace. Assigning Viewer roles does not consume paid seats, offering flexibility for broader access.

To accommodate more than three partners with Editor roles, purchasing additional partner licenses is necessary. Contact your Postman Account Manager or Postman’s sales team to acquire additional licenses as needed.

Inviting a partner as a Workspace Editor necessitates available seats or Auto-Flex enabled on your team’s Postman plan. Without sufficient seats, the partner will default to the Workspace Viewer role. Similarly, assigning a Collection Editor role also requires available seats.

Workspace Element Management

Managing elements within a Partner Workspace involves both adding and removing resources as collaboration evolves.

To add elements, refer back to Moving elements to a Partner Workspace for guidance on moving existing resources into the workspace.

For removing elements, see Removing elements from a Partner Workspace below.

Editing Workspace Details

Workspace Admins and Partner Managers have the authority to modify Partner Workspace details. Within the workspace’s Overview tab, simply click on the workspace name, summary, or description to initiate editing. Markdown formatting is supported within the description for enhanced presentation. Remember to click Save to apply your changes.

Removing Elements from a Partner Workspace

Removing elements from a Partner Workspace is a necessary part of workspace maintenance. You must have at least Editor permissions on the specific API, collection, or environment to remove it. Workspace Admins, Partner Managers, and Super Admins possess broader permissions to remove any element within a Partner Workspace.

To remove an element by moving it to a different workspace:

1. Initiate Move: In the sidebar, select the element, click the more actions icon , and choose Move.

2. Select Destination: Search for the target workspace or filter by visibility to locate it.

   You can only move elements to workspaces to which you have the necessary access permissions.

3. Confirm Move: Select the destination workspace and click Move (followed by the element type: Collection, API, or Environment) to complete the removal from the Partner Workspace by relocating it.

While generally discouraged, you also have the option to permanently delete an element. To delete, select the element, click the more actions icon , and choose Delete.

Deleted APIs and environments are irretrievable. However, collections smaller than 30 MB on an Enterprise plan can be recovered from the Trash in the Postman footer for up to 90 days, offering a limited recovery window.

Removing Partners from a Partner Workspace

Managing partner access includes the ability to remove partners from specific Partner Workspaces or entirely from your Postman team.

To remove a partner from an individual Partner Workspace, refer to Manage workspace roles for instructions on adjusting workspace-level permissions.

To remove a partner completely from your team, which will revoke their access to all Partner Workspaces, see Remove team members. Note that removing the last Admin from a team will promote Partner Managers to the Admin role. Additionally, removing a partner from their last Partner Workspace will also result in their removal from the team.

Deleting a Partner Workspace

When a Partner Workspace is no longer needed, Workspace Admins and Partner Managers have the authority to delete it.

1. Access Workspace Settings: Navigate to the workspace’s Overview tab and select Settings.
2. Set Visibility to Private: Change the visibility of the workspace to Private as a prerequisite for deletion.
3. Remove All Partners: Click Remove all partners, and then select Update to confirm partner removal.
4. Initiate Deletion: Finally, click Delete Workspace to permanently delete the Partner Workspace.

Postman sends comprehensive notifications, both in-app and via email, to all workspace members when a Partner Workspace is deleted, ensuring all stakeholders are informed of the action.