HttpClient Test Extensions

Extensions for testing HTTP endpoints and deserializing the results. Currently works with XUnit.

Installation

Add the NuGet package:

dotnet add package Ardalis.HttpClientTestExtensions

In your tests add this namespace:

using Ardalis.HttpClientTestExtensions;

Usage

If you have existing test code that looks something like this:

public class DoctorsList : IClassFixture<CustomWebApplicationFactory<Startup>> { private readonly HttpClient _client; private readonly ITestOutputHelper _outputHelper; public DoctorsList(CustomWebApplicationFactory<Startup> factory, ITestOutputHelper outputHelper) { _client = factory.CreateClient(); _outputHelper = outputHelper; } [Fact] public async Task Returns3Doctors() { var response = await _client.GetAsync("/api/doctors"); response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode(); var stringResponse = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync(); _outputHelper.WriteLine(stringResponse); var result = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<ListDoctorResponse>(stringResponse, Constants.DefaultJsonOptions); Assert.Equal(3, result.Doctors.Count()); Assert.Contains(result.Doctors, x => x.Name == "Dr. Smith"); } }

You can now update the test to eliminate all but one of the lines prior to the assertions:

[Fact] public async Task Returns3Doctors() { var result = await _client.GetAndDeserialize<ListDoctorResponse>("/api/doctors", _outputHelper); Assert.Equal(3, result.Doctors.Count()); Assert.Contains(result.Doctors, x => x.Name == "Dr. Smith"); }

If you need to verify an endpoint returns a 404, you can use this approach:

[Fact] public async Task ReturnsNotFoundGivenInvalidAuthorId() { int invalidId = 9999; var response = await _client.GetAsync(Routes.Authors.Get(invalidId)); response.EnsureNotFound(); }

List of Included Helper Methods

HttpClient

All of these methods are extensions on HttpClient; the following samples assume client is an HttpClient. All methods take an optional , which is an xUnit type.