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https://github.com/matryer/silk

Markdown based document-driven RESTful API testing.
https://github.com/matryer/silk

assertions testing

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Markdown based document-driven RESTful API testing.

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README

        

![Silk logo](https://github.com/matryer/silk/blob/master/other/SilkLogo-256.png)

# silk [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/matryer/silk.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/matryer/silk) [![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/matryer/silk)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/matryer/silk)

Markdown based document-driven web API testing.

* Write nice looking Markdown documentation ([like this](https://github.com/matryer/silk/blob/master/testfiles/success/example.silk.md)), and then run it using the [silk command](#command-line)
* Simple and robust [Markdown API](#markdown-api)
* Comes with [real examples](https://github.com/matryer/silk/tree/master/testfiles/success) that you can copy (that are also part of the test suite for the project)
* 10% discount on [LightPaper markdown editor app](http://lightpaper.42squares.in) for Silk users: use `SILKTEST` code.

## Learn more

[![Video of Mat Ryer speaking about Silk](https://github.com/matryer/silk/blob/master/other/video-preview.jpg)](https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/7636-go-release#video)

[(VIDEO) Watch the talk about Silk](https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/7636-go-release#video) (with [slides](http://go-talks.appspot.com/github.com/matryer/silk/other/presentation/silk.slide#1)) or [read about Silk in this blog post](https://medium.com/@matryer/introducing-silk-markdown-driven-api-tests-1f8cfb0ef99a#.kzpanz1xc).

![Example Silk test file](https://github.com/matryer/silk/blob/master/other/example.png)

## Markdown API

Tests are made up of documents written in Markdown.

* `# Group` - Top level headings represent groups of requests
* `## GET /path` - Second level headings represent a request
* Code blocks with three back tics represent bodies
* `* Field: value` - Lists describe headers and assertions
* `* ?param=value` - Request parameters
* `---` seperators break requests from responses
* Comments (starting with `//`) allow you to capture variables
* Plain text is ignored to allow you to add documentation
* Inline back tics are ignored and are available for formatting

### Document structure

A document is made up of:

* A request
* `---` seperator
* Assertions

### Requests

A request starts with `##` and must have an HTTP method, and a path:

```
## METHOD /path
```

Examples include:

```
## GET /people

## POST /people/1/comments

## DELETE /people/1/comments/2

```

#### Request body (optional)

To specify a request body (for example for `POST` requests) use a codeblock using backtics (` ``` `):

```
{"name": "Silk", "release_year": 2016}
```

#### Request headers (optional)

You may specify request headers using lists (prefixed with `*`):

```
* Content-Type: "application/json"
* X-Custom-Header: "123"
```

#### Request parameters (optional)

Adding parameters to the path (like `GET /path?q=something`) can be tricky, especially when you consider escaping etc. To address this, Silk supports parameters like lists:

```
* ?param=value
```

The parameters will be correctly added to the URL path before the request is made.

#### Cookies

Setting cookies on a request can be done using the [HTTP header](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie#Implementation) pattern:

```
* Cookie: "key=value"
```

* See [asserting cookies](#asserting-cookies).

### Assertions

Following the `---` separator, you can specify assertions about the response. At a minimum, it is recommended that you assert the status code to ensure the request succeeded:

```
* Status: 200
```

You may also specify response headers in the same format as request headers:

```
* Content-Type: "application/json"
* X-MyServer-Version: "v1.0"
```

If any of the headers do not match, the test will fail.

#### Capturing data

Silk allows you to capture values at the point of asserting them and reuse them in future requests and assertions. To capture a value, include a comment on the line that mentions a `{placeholder}`:

```
* Data.UserID: /.*/ // The user's unique {id}.
```

The value from `UserID` (e.g. `123`) will be stored in a variable called `id`, and you can refer to it later:

```
## GET /users/{id}
```

The above would be a request to `GET /users/123`.

* Captured values are only available when assertions are successful

#### Environment variables

You can access environment variables inside Silk tests using the `{$NAME}` format, where `NAME` is the environment name.

#### Asserting cookies

To assert that a cookie is present in a response, make a regex assertion against the `Set-Cookie` HTTP header:

```
* Set-Cookie: /key=value/
```

* All cookie strings are present in a single `Set-Cookie` seperated by a pipe character.

#### Validating data

You can optionally include a verbatim body using code blocks surrounded by three back tics. If the response body does not exactly match, the test will fail:

```
Hello world!
```

You can flag expected response bodies as `json` directly after the three back tics.
This will assert that the actual response contains the same value for each expected key (recursively)
allowing for differences in whitespace and ordering as well as being lenient towards additional (unexpected) keys in the response.

```json
{
"id": 1,
"release_year": 2016,
"name": "Silk"
}
```

You can use the flag `json(strict)` to enforce that no additional fields may be present while still allowing for differences in whitespace and key order.

You may also make any number of regex assertions against the body using the `Body` object:

```
* Body: /Hello world/
* Body: /This should be found too/
* Body: /and this/
```

Alternatively, you can specify a list (using `*`) of data fields to assert accessible via the `Data` object:

```
* Status: 201
* Content-Type: "application/json"
* Data.name: "Silk"
* Data.release_year: 2016
* Data.tags[0]: "testing"
* Data.tags[1]: "markdown"
* Data[0].name: "Mat"
* Data[1].name: "David"
```

* NOTE: Currenly this feature is only supported for JSON APIs.

#### Regex

Values may be regex, if they begin and end with a forward slash: `/`. The assertion will pass if the value (after being turned into a string) matches the regex.

```
* Status: /^2.{2}$/
* Content-Type: /application/json/
```

The above will assert that:

* The status looks like `2xx`, and
* The `Content-Type` contains `application/json`

## Command line

The `silk` command runs tests against an HTTP endpoint.

Usage:

```
silk -silk.url="{endpoint}" {testfiles...}
```

* `{endpoint}` the endpoint URL (e.g. `http://localhost:8080`)
* `{testfiles}` list of test files (e.g. `./testfiles/one.silk.md ./testfiles/two.silk.md`)

Notes:

* Omit trailing slash from `endpoint`
* `{testfiles}` can include a pattern (e.g. `/path/*.silk.md`) as this is expended by most terminals to a list of matching files

## Golang

Silk is written in Go and integrates seamlessly into existing testing tools and frameworks. Import the `runner` package and use `RunGlob` to match many test files:

```
package project_test

import (
"testing"
"github.com/matryer/silk/runner"
)

func TestAPIEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
// start a server
s := httptest.NewServer(yourHandler)
defer s.Close()

// run all test files
runner.New(t, s.URL).RunGlob(filepath.Glob("../testfiles/failure/*.silk.md"))
}
```

* See the [documentation for the silk/runner package](https://godoc.org/github.com/matryer/silk/runner)

## Credit

* Special thanks to [@dahernan](https://github.com/dahernan) for his contributions and criticisms of Silk
* Silk logo by [Chris Ryer](http://chrisryer.co.uk)