Tutorial: Create your first user profile

In this tutorial, you’ll create a new user profile using the POST method to add a new user to the SciaticaSisters API.

Expect this tutorial to take about 10 minutes.

Before you start

Make sure you’ve completed the Getting Started guide on the development system you’ll use for the tutorial.

Create a new user profile

Creating a new user profile requires using the POST method to add a new user resource to the service. The POST method creates a new user with all required information.

This example creates a profile for a new user named Emma Davis.

Make sure your local service is running, or start it by using this command in the terminal:

 cd <your-github-workspace>/SciaticaSisters-API/api
 json-server -w sciatica-sisters-db-source.json

Postman request

Open Postman and create a new request:
1. Click New > HTTP or the + icon in the header.
2. Set the request method to POST using the corresponding dropdown menu.
3. In the request URL field, enter:
```
{base_url}/users
```
Set up the request headers:
1. Click the Headers tab below the URL field.
2. Add a header:
  - Key: Content-Type
  - Value: application/json

Set up the request body:

Click the Body tab below the URL field.
Select raw from the radio button options.
Select JSON from the dropdown menu on the right.

In the text area, enter:

{
  "firstName": "Emma",
  "lastName": "Davis",
  "email": "e.davis@example.com",
  "age": 45,
  "painLocation": "glute-right",
  "painLevel": 6,
  "diagnosisDate": "2025-01-15"
}

Click Send to make the request.

The system returns the complete new user object with an assigned ID. Note that the system automatically generates the id field.

 {
   "id": 5,
   "firstName": "Emma",
   "lastName": "Davis",
   "email": "e.davis@example.com",
   "age": 45,
   "painLocation": "glute-right",
   "painLevel": 6,
   "diagnosisDate": "2025-01-15"
 }

cURL request

Open your terminal and run this command:

curl -X POST {base_url}/users \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "firstName": "Emma",
    "lastName": "Davis",
    "email": "e.davis@example.com",
    "age": 45,
    "painLocation": "glute-right",
    "painLevel": 6,
    "diagnosisDate": "2025-01-15"
  }'

The system returns the complete new user object with an assigned ID. Note that the system automatically generates the id field.

 {
   "id": 5,
   "firstName": "Emma",
   "lastName": "Davis",
   "email": "e.davis@example.com",
   "age": 45,
   "painLocation": "glute-right",
   "painLevel": 6,
   "diagnosisDate": "2025-01-15"
 }

Check your results

Postman verification

Create a new request in Postman.
Set the request method to GET.
In the request URL field, enter:
```
{base_url}/users
```
Click Send.
You should see Emma Davis in the list of users with her assigned ID. The new user appears at the end of the user list.

cURL verification

Run this command:
```
curl -X GET {base_url}/users
```
You should see Emma Davis in the list of users with her assigned ID. The new user appears at the end of the user list.

Common errors and troubleshooting

Missing required fields

If you receive a 400 Bad Request error, check all required fields are in your request body: firstName, lastName, email, age, painLocation, painLevel, and diagnosisDate.

Invalid pain location value

The painLocation field only accepts specific values. Use one of: lower-back-left, lower-back-right, glute-left, glute-right, calf-left, or calf-right.

Malformed JSON syntax

If you receive a JSON parsing error, check your request body for missing commas between fields, missing quotes around strings, or mismatched brackets. JSON validators can help identify these issues.

What you learned

After completing this tutorial, you now know how to create a new user profile using the POST method with Postman or cURL. This is the first step for any user who wants to track their sciatica pain and recovery journey.

Next steps

Update a user’s pain level when pain changes.
Log your first activity to start tracking exercises.
Compare exercises to see which activities are effective.

Get user by ID
Patch user by ID

Security note

In a production environment, this operation would require proper authentication to ensure only authorized users can change patient data. See Authentication for details.