Postman silently installs AI plugins, alters agent configs
Original: Postman silently auto-installs AI plugins and attempts to share all API data
Why This Matters
Auto-modifying third-party tool configs without consent sets a dangerous precedent for developer tooling.
Postman 12.33.4 on macOS auto-installs Claude Code and OpenAI Codex plugins without user consent, modifies global agent configs, and attempts to self-approve a startup instruction hook, per a GitHub issue filed Oct 25, 2026.
A user-filed GitHub issue (postmanlabs/postman-app-support #14370) documents a serious consent violation in Postman 12.33.4 for macOS. Simply opening the app triggered automatic installation of two AI plugins — Claude Code and a Codex plugin — with no user prompt. Postman's own log file confirms the action: a line timestamped 2026-10-24T09:34:14Z reads `autoInstall.plugin.existing-user finished` with outcome `installed` and results `claude-code:installed, codex:installed`, source tagged as `auto-existing-upgrade`.
Beyond the installs, Postman modified the user's global Codex configuration at `~/.codex/config.toml`, adding a Postman marketplace entry pointing to its own GitHub-hosted plugin repo. It also established a remote MCP connection and installed the Postman CLI separately — all without explicit user consent. The reporter describes Postman attempting to "trust its own startup hook," effectively inserting itself as a default workflow layer inside unrelated coding agents.
The filer labels this a "severe consent and trust-boundary problem," arguing that an API client has no business reconfiguring third-party tools simply because a user opened it. The issue remains open with no official Postman response visible at time of writing.