Pre-Requests

The @pre directive lets you automatically execute one or more prerequisite requests before the main request runs. This is essential for flows like authentication.

Basic Syntax

Reference a request by its @id:

###
@id abc123
@name Login
POST {{baseUrl}}/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "{{email}}",
  "password": "{{password}}"
}

@capture env.token = body.access_token

###
@name Get Profile
@pre abc123
GET {{baseUrl}}/profile
Authorization: Bearer {{token}}

When you run Get Profile, Rext automatically:

1. Executes the Login request first (ID abc123)
2. Captures token from the login response
3. Uses {{token}} in the Get Profile request

Multiple Pre-Requests

Chain multiple dependencies in sequential order:

@pre abc123
@pre def456
@name Full Flow
GET {{baseUrl}}/dashboard

Pre-requests execute in the order they are defined.

Cycle Protection

Caution

Rext automatically detects and prevents circular dependencies. If request A has @pre B and request B has @pre A, the chain stops to prevent infinite loops.

How It Works

graph LR
    A["@pre abc123"] --> B["Login Request"]
    B --> C["@capture token"]
    C --> D["Main Request"]
    D --> E["Uses {{token}}"]

1. Rext finds all @pre directives
2. Executes each pre-request sequentially
3. Any @capture directives in pre-requests set variables
4. The main request runs with all captured variables available

Tip

Pre-requests can themselves have @pre directives, creating deep chains. Rext resolves the full dependency tree before execution.

Postman Export

When exporting to Postman, @pre directives are translated to pm.sendRequest() in the Pre-request Script:

pm.sendRequest({
    url: "https://api.example.com/auth/login",
    method: "POST",
    header: [
        { key: "Content-Type", value: "application/json" }
    ],
    body: {
        mode: "raw",
        raw: "{\"email\":\"user@test.com\"}"
    }
}, function (err, res) {
    pm.environment.set("token", res.json().access_token);
});

If the pre-request is not included in the export, Rext will ask if you want to include it as a separate item in the collection.

See Postman Export for more details.

Next Steps

• Learn about assertions for response validation
• Explore retry and timeout settings