api-testing-patterns

When testing APIs or designing API test strategy: Quick Pattern Selection: Critical Success Factors: Pattern: Consumer-Driven Contracts When: Microservices, distributed systems, third-party integrations API testing = verifying contracts and behavior, not implementation. Focus on what matters to consumers: correct responses, proper error handling, acceptable performance. With Agents: Agents automate contract validation, generate comprehensive test suites from specs, and monitor production APIs for drift. Use agents to maintain API quality at scale. - IDENTIFY testing level: contract, integration, or component - TEST the contract, not implementation (consumer perspective) - VALIDATE auth, input, errors, idempotency, concurrency - AUTOMATE in CI/CD with schema validation - MONITOR production APIs for contract drift - Microservices → Consumer-driven contracts (Pact) - REST APIs → CRUD + pagination + filtering tests - GraphQL → Query validation + complexity limits - External deps → Mock with component testing - Performance → Load test critical endpoints - APIs are contracts - test from consumer perspective - Always test error scenarios, not just happy paths - Version your API tests to prevent breaking changes - Testing REST or GraphQL APIs - Validating microservice contracts - Designing API test strategies - Preventing breaking API changes - Contract : Pact, Spring Cloud Contract -...