Postman auto-installs plugins in AI coding tools without user consent

The automated installation

Postman recently released a desktop update that automatically injected its plugins into several popular AI coding tools. According to a report by Notebookcheck, the update affected users of Claude Code and OpenAI Codex. The installation occurred without any explicit request or confirmation from the users.

A developer identified the issue after noticing that Postman version 12.33.4 had installed plugins on October 24. These plugins were added alongside Postman’s command-line tool. The change appeared to happen silently during the standard application update process on Mac computers.

The behavior was not limited to just one tool, as other users reported similar experiences. Some users found the Postman plugin active in the GitHub Copilot CLI as well. This suggests a broad automated push to integrate Postman's services into various developer workflows.

How the integration works

The technical details of the installation involve modifying configuration files for the AI agents. In the case of Codex, the update added a new plugin marketplace and enabled a specific Postman plugin. It also granted approval for a startup hook, which is a piece of code that runs every time the program starts.

This startup hook was designed to give the AI agent specific instructions. It told the agent to load the 'postman:api-engineer' skill before responding to any non-trivial API engineering tasks. Normally, these types of approvals are left to the user to decide whether they want the tool to run automatically.

In Claude Code, Postman enabled its plugin directly within the settings file. The company's documentation stated that the installer approves the hook for the user. This bypasses the standard security and preference layers that usually govern how third-party plugins interact with a user's local environment.

User impact and data concerns

The unexpected installation prompted significant backlash from the developer community. Users were concerned about the lack of transparency regarding how their tools were being modified. While there is no evidence that Postman collected data through these specific hooks, the unauthorized change caused immediate friction.

Some users noticed that the Postman app also attempted to connect to an MCP server. This connection repeatedly failed with an 'Auth required' error because the users were not signed in. This indicates that the plugin was trying to establish a live connection to Postman services immediately upon installation.

The issue appeared to be widespread across different platforms. Reports surfaced of the startup text appearing in Cursor as well. These reports suggest that Postman's update logic was aggressively seeking out and modifying various coding environments to ensure its plugins were active.

Postman's response and reversal

Following the reports, a Postman staff member acknowledged the issue in a GitHub thread. The company stated they wanted to make the setup process easier for users. They admitted they would be re-designing the experience to provide the correct level of control for the user.

Postman has since moved to revert the change that caused the automatic installations. However, the company clarified that reverting the update does not automatically remove the plugins that were already installed. Users who have already seen the plugins added to their tools will still have them active until they take manual action.

The company's download page previously stated that the app includes Postman CLI and plugins. One user pointed out that this specific wording was missing from an archived version of the page from late October. This suggests the company may have updated its marketing language to justify the automated behavior.

Manual cleanup and verification

Users who want to remove the plugins can find an option in the Postman app's Help menu. This option is located under the Postman CLI and Plugins section and allows for the uninstallation of the coding agent plugin. However, some users reported that the entry in the Copilot CLI remained even after using this option.

For those who prefer a manual approach, Postman provides command-line instructions for verification. If Node.js is installed, users can run a specific command to list detected agents and see where the plugin is located. Replacing the status command with a remove command will uninstall the plugin manually.

Developers can also inspect their configuration files directly to ensure everything is correct. For Claude Code, users can check the settings.json file in the .claude folder. For Codex, the config.toml file in the .codex folder contains the relevant sections for Postman plugins.