REST API for Postman Testing

I want to build a small yet realistic REST API that I can use to showcase my API-testing skills in Postman and Swagger. The core requirement is a “Create” endpoint—think of adding a new record (for instance, a new product, article, or contact) and returning the freshly saved object. That single operation is enough for my current practice, but it must be production-style: proper request validation, clear response bodies, sensible status codes, and graceful error handling.

Security matters as well, so I’d like the endpoint protected with JWT authentication. A working login flow that issues the token is essential; any other authentication methods can stay out of scope.

To guide my testing, please annotate everything with Swagger / OpenAPI so I can explore each field, header, and expected response directly in the browser. I’ll be creating a Postman collection that automates positive and negative tests, so the API has to be easy to import into Postman (environment variables for the base URL and token are fine).

Deliverables
• Source code for the API (any language or framework you prefer)
• Valid OpenAPI 3.x specification exposed at /swagger or /docs
• Running endpoint for the Create operation with JWT protection
• Seed data or simple in-memory storage so the call returns meaningful results
• Brief read-me explaining setup, environment variables, and how to obtain the JWT

Once everything is in place, I’ll handle the Postman scripting myself; I just need a solid, well-documented API foundation to test against and later add to my portfolio.