httpie-api-tester

name

httpie-api-tester

description

Discover, document, and test all API endpoints in the current project using HTTPie (the modern CLI HTTP client). Use this skill whenever the user wants to: test their API endpoints, run HTTP requests against a local or remote server, check if routes are working, debug API responses, or generate a test suite for their backend. Trigger on any mention of "test my API", "test endpoints", "check my routes", "run HTTPie", "http requests", "API testing", or when the user asks to verify a server is working. Also trigger proactively when the user has just set up a backend and might want to validate it.

HTTPie API Tester

Use this skill to automatically discover all API endpoints in a project and test them with HTTPie.

Overview

HTTPie (http) is a modern, human-friendly CLI HTTP client. It produces colorized, formatted output and has terse syntax for common patterns.

Install if missing:

pip install httpie --break-system-packages

---

Step 1: Discover Endpoints

Scan the project to find all defined API routes. Use multiple strategies in parallel:

Framework Detection & Route Discovery

# Detect framework
find . -name "package.json" -o -name "requirements.txt" -o -name "Gemfile" \
       -o -name "go.mod" -o -name "Cargo.toml" | head -5

Then use the appropriate strategy from references/discovery.md for the detected framework.

Quick universal scan (works across frameworks):

# Find route definitions by common patterns
grep -rn --include="*.js" --include="*.ts" --include="*.py" --include="*.rb" \
     --include="*.go" --include="*.java" --include="*.rs" \
     -E "(GET|POST|PUT|PATCH|DELETE|app\.(get|post|put|patch|delete)|router\.(get|post|put|patch|delete)|@(Get|Post|Put|Patch|Delete|RequestMapping))" \
     . --exclude-dir={node_modules,.git,dist,build,vendor} 2>/dev/null | head -60

Also check for OpenAPI/Swagger specs:

find . -name "openapi.yml" -o -name "openapi.yaml" -o -name "swagger.json" \
       -o -name "swagger.yaml" -o -name "api.yml" 2>/dev/null | head -5

Read references/discovery.md for framework-specific patterns (Express, FastAPI, Django, Rails, Go, etc.)

---

Step 2: Determine Base URL

Ask the user or infer from config files:

# Common config file locations
cat .env 2>/dev/null || cat .env.local 2>/dev/null || cat config/application.rb 2>/dev/null
grep -r "PORT\|HOST\|BASE_URL\|SERVER_URL" .env* config* *.config.* 2>/dev/null | head -10

HTTPie localhost shorthand:

• :3000 → http://localhost:3000
• :/api/users → http://localhost/api/users

Default assumption: http://localhost:8000 (adjust per project).

---

Step 3: Build & Run HTTPie Commands

HTTPie Syntax Reference

# Basic methods
http GET :8000/api/users
http POST :8000/api/users name="Alice" email="[e-mail]"
http PUT :8000/api/users/1 name="Alice Updated"
http PATCH :8000/api/users/1 active:=false
http DELETE :8000/api/users/1

# Headers
http GET :8000/api/protected Authorization:"Bearer <token>"

# Query params
http GET :8000/api/search q==hello page==1

# JSON body (explicit)
http --json POST :8000/api/data key=value count:=42 tags:='["a","b"]'

# Form data
http --form POST :8000/upload file@/path/to/file.txt

# Auth shortcuts
http -a username:password GET :8000/api/secure        # Basic auth
http --bearer TOKEN GET :8000/api/secure              # Bearer token

# Useful flags
http --check-status ...    # Exit non-zero on 4xx/5xx
http --timeout=5 ...       # Set timeout in seconds
http --verify=no ...       # Skip SSL verification (dev only)
http --follow ...          # Follow redirects
http --print=HhBb ...      # H=request headers, h=response headers, B=request body, b=response body

# Quiet / script-friendly
http --ignore-stdin --check-status GET :8000/health

Testing Patterns

Health check first:

http --ignore-stdin GET :8000/health || http --ignore-stdin GET :8000/

Test with output saved:

http GET :8000/api/users > /tmp/users_response.json

Test all endpoints in sequence, report pass/fail:

# Use --check-status to catch errors; capture exit codes
http --check-status --ignore-stdin GET :8000/api/users && echo "✅ GET /api/users" || echo "❌ GET /api/users"

---

Step 4: Run the Test Suite Script

Use scripts/run_tests.sh as a template — generate a customized version for the project.

See references/test_script_template.sh for the full template with:

• Color-coded pass/fail output
• Response time tracking
• Summary report at the end
• Auth token support

---

Step 5: Report Results

Present results in a clear table:

Method	Endpoint	Status	Time	Result
GET	/api/users	200	45ms	✅ Pass
POST	/api/users	201	63ms	✅ Pass
DELETE	/api/users/999	404	12ms	✅ Pass (expected)

Note any:

• Unexpected status codes
• Slow responses (>500ms)
• Auth-required endpoints that need tokens
• Endpoints that need request body examples

---

Tips & Edge Cases

• Server not running: Remind user to start their dev server first
• Auth endpoints: Ask for a token or credentials; test /login or /auth first and extract the token
• Dynamic IDs: Use a real ID from a prior GET response or ask the user
• CORS/SSL issues in dev: Use --verify=no for self-signed certs
• Streaming responses: Use http --stream GET :8000/events
• File uploads: Use http --multipart POST :8000/upload file@./test.png