@delorenj/pjangler 1.1.3

package/templates/commonproject/_bmad/bmm/testarch/knowledge/api-request.md

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+# API Request Utility
+
+## Principle
+
+Use typed HTTP client with built-in schema validation and automatic retry for server errors. The utility handles URL resolution, header management, response parsing, and single-line response validation with proper TypeScript support. **Works without a browser** - ideal for pure API/service testing.
+
+## Rationale
+
+Vanilla Playwright's request API requires boilerplate for common patterns:
+
+- Manual JSON parsing (`await response.json()`)
+- Repetitive status code checking
+- No built-in retry logic for transient failures
+- No schema validation
+- Complex URL construction
+
+The `apiRequest` utility provides:
+
+- **Automatic JSON parsing**: Response body pre-parsed
+- **Built-in retry**: 5xx errors retry with exponential backoff
+- **Schema validation**: Single-line validation (JSON Schema, Zod, OpenAPI)
+- **URL resolution**: Four-tier strategy (explicit > config > Playwright > direct)
+- **TypeScript generics**: Type-safe response bodies
+- **No browser required**: Pure API testing without browser overhead
+
+## Pattern Examples
+
+### Example 1: Basic API Request
+
+**Context**: Making authenticated API requests with automatic retry and type safety.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+import { test } from '@seontechnologies/playwright-utils/api-request/fixtures';
+
+test('should fetch user data', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  const { status, body } = await apiRequest<User>({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/api/users/123',
+    headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer token' },
+  });
+
+  expect(status).toBe(200);
+  expect(body.name).toBe('John Doe'); // TypeScript knows body is User
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- Generic type `<User>` provides TypeScript autocomplete for `body`
+- Status and body destructured from response
+- Headers passed as object
+- Automatic retry for 5xx errors (configurable)
+
+### Example 2: Schema Validation (Single Line)
+
+**Context**: Validate API responses match expected schema with single-line syntax.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+import { test } from '@seontechnologies/playwright-utils/api-request/fixtures';
+import { z } from 'zod';
+
+// JSON Schema validation
+test('should validate response schema (JSON Schema)', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/api/users/123',
+    validateSchema: {
+      type: 'object',
+      required: ['id', 'name', 'email'],
+      properties: {
+        id: { type: 'string' },
+        name: { type: 'string' },
+        email: { type: 'string', format: 'email' },
+      },
+    },
+  });
+  // Throws if schema validation fails
+  expect(status).toBe(200);
+});
+
+// Zod schema validation
+const UserSchema = z.object({
+  id: z.string(),
+  name: z.string(),
+  email: z.string().email(),
+});
+
+test('should validate response schema (Zod)', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/api/users/123',
+    validateSchema: UserSchema,
+  });
+  // Response body is type-safe AND validated
+  expect(status).toBe(200);
+  expect(body.email).toContain('@');
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- Single `validateSchema` parameter
+- Supports JSON Schema, Zod, YAML files, OpenAPI specs
+- Throws on validation failure with detailed errors
+- Zero boilerplate validation code
+
+### Example 3: POST with Body and Retry Configuration
+
+**Context**: Creating resources with custom retry behavior for error testing.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+test('should create user', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  const newUser = {
+    name: 'Jane Doe',
+    email: 'jane@example.com',
+  };
+
+  const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+    method: 'POST',
+    path: '/api/users',
+    body: newUser, // Automatically sent as JSON
+    headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer token' },
+  });
+
+  expect(status).toBe(201);
+  expect(body.id).toBeDefined();
+});
+
+// Disable retry for error testing
+test('should handle 500 errors', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  await expect(
+    apiRequest({
+      method: 'GET',
+      path: '/api/error',
+      retryConfig: { maxRetries: 0 }, // Disable retry
+    }),
+  ).rejects.toThrow('Request failed with status 500');
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- `body` parameter auto-serializes to JSON
+- Default retry: 5xx errors, 3 retries, exponential backoff
+- Disable retry with `retryConfig: { maxRetries: 0 }`
+- Only 5xx errors retry (4xx errors fail immediately)
+
+### Example 4: URL Resolution Strategy
+
+**Context**: Flexible URL handling for different environments and test contexts.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+// Strategy 1: Explicit baseUrl (highest priority)
+await apiRequest({
+  method: 'GET',
+  path: '/users',
+  baseUrl: 'https://api.example.com', // Uses https://api.example.com/users
+});
+
+// Strategy 2: Config baseURL (from fixture)
+import { test } from '@seontechnologies/playwright-utils/api-request/fixtures';
+
+test.use({ configBaseUrl: 'https://staging-api.example.com' });
+
+test('uses config baseURL', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  await apiRequest({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/users', // Uses https://staging-api.example.com/users
+  });
+});
+
+// Strategy 3: Playwright baseURL (from playwright.config.ts)
+// playwright.config.ts
+export default defineConfig({
+  use: {
+    baseURL: 'https://api.example.com',
+  },
+});
+
+test('uses Playwright baseURL', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+  await apiRequest({
+    method: 'GET',
+    path: '/users', // Uses https://api.example.com/users
+  });
+});
+
+// Strategy 4: Direct path (full URL)
+await apiRequest({
+  method: 'GET',
+  path: 'https://api.example.com/users', // Full URL works too
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- Four-tier resolution: explicit > config > Playwright > direct
+- Trailing slashes normalized automatically
+- Environment-specific baseUrl easy to configure
+
+### Example 5: Integration with Recurse (Polling)
+
+**Context**: Waiting for async operations to complete (background jobs, eventual consistency).
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+import { test } from '@seontechnologies/playwright-utils/fixtures';
+
+test('should poll until job completes', async ({ apiRequest, recurse }) => {
+  // Create job
+  const { body } = await apiRequest({
+    method: 'POST',
+    path: '/api/jobs',
+    body: { type: 'export' },
+  });
+
+  const jobId = body.id;
+
+  // Poll until ready
+  const completedJob = await recurse(
+    () => apiRequest({ method: 'GET', path: `/api/jobs/${jobId}` }),
+    (response) => response.body.status === 'completed',
+    { timeout: 60000, interval: 2000 },
+  );
+
+  expect(completedJob.body.result).toBeDefined();
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- `apiRequest` returns full response object
+- `recurse` polls until predicate returns true
+- Composable utilities work together seamlessly
+
+### Example 6: Microservice Testing (Multiple Services)
+
+**Context**: Test interactions between microservices without a browser.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+import { test, expect } from '@seontechnologies/playwright-utils/fixtures';
+
+const USER_SERVICE = process.env.USER_SERVICE_URL || 'http://localhost:3001';
+const ORDER_SERVICE = process.env.ORDER_SERVICE_URL || 'http://localhost:3002';
+
+test.describe('Microservice Integration', () => {
+  test('should validate cross-service user lookup', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+    // Create user in user-service
+    const { body: user } = await apiRequest({
+      method: 'POST',
+      path: '/api/users',
+      baseUrl: USER_SERVICE,
+      body: { name: 'Test User', email: 'test@example.com' },
+    });
+
+    // Create order in order-service (validates user via user-service)
+    const { status, body: order } = await apiRequest({
+      method: 'POST',
+      path: '/api/orders',
+      baseUrl: ORDER_SERVICE,
+      body: {
+        userId: user.id,
+        items: [{ productId: 'prod-1', quantity: 2 }],
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(status).toBe(201);
+    expect(order.userId).toBe(user.id);
+  });
+
+  test('should reject order for invalid user', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+    const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+      method: 'POST',
+      path: '/api/orders',
+      baseUrl: ORDER_SERVICE,
+      body: {
+        userId: 'non-existent-user',
+        items: [{ productId: 'prod-1', quantity: 1 }],
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(status).toBe(400);
+    expect(body.code).toBe('INVALID_USER');
+  });
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- Test multiple services without browser
+- Use `baseUrl` to target different services
+- Validate cross-service communication
+- Pure API testing - fast and reliable
+
+### Example 7: GraphQL API Testing
+
+**Context**: Test GraphQL endpoints with queries and mutations.
+
+**Implementation**:
+
+```typescript
+test.describe('GraphQL API', () => {
+  const GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT = '/graphql';
+
+  test('should query users via GraphQL', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+    const query = `
+      query GetUsers($limit: Int) {
+        users(limit: $limit) {
+          id
+          name
+          email
+        }
+      }
+    `;
+
+    const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+      method: 'POST',
+      path: GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT,
+      body: {
+        query,
+        variables: { limit: 10 },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(status).toBe(200);
+    expect(body.errors).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(body.data.users).toHaveLength(10);
+  });
+
+  test('should create user via mutation', async ({ apiRequest }) => {
+    const mutation = `
+      mutation CreateUser($input: CreateUserInput!) {
+        createUser(input: $input) {
+          id
+          name
+        }
+      }
+    `;
+
+    const { status, body } = await apiRequest({
+      method: 'POST',
+      path: GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT,
+      body: {
+        query: mutation,
+        variables: {
+          input: { name: 'GraphQL User', email: 'gql@example.com' },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(status).toBe(200);
+    expect(body.data.createUser.id).toBeDefined();
+  });
+});
+```
+
+**Key Points**:
+
+- GraphQL via POST request
+- Variables in request body
+- Check `body.errors` for GraphQL errors (not status code)
+- Works for queries and mutations
+
+## Comparison with Vanilla Playwright
+
+| Vanilla Playwright                             | playwright-utils apiRequest                                                        |
+| ---------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `const resp = await request.get('/api/users')` | `const { status, body } = await apiRequest({ method: 'GET', path: '/api/users' })` |
+| `const body = await resp.json()`               | Response already parsed                                                            |
+| `expect(resp.ok()).toBeTruthy()`               | Status code directly accessible                                                    |
+| No retry logic                                 | Auto-retry 5xx errors with backoff                                                 |
+| No schema validation                           | Built-in multi-format validation                                                   |
+| Manual error handling                          | Descriptive error messages                                                         |
+
+## When to Use
+
+**Use apiRequest for:**
+
+- ✅ Pure API/service testing (no browser needed)
+- ✅ Microservice integration testing
+- ✅ GraphQL API testing
+- ✅ Schema validation needs
+- ✅ Tests requiring retry logic
+- ✅ Background API calls in UI tests
+- ✅ Contract testing support
+
+**Stick with vanilla Playwright for:**
+
+- Simple one-off requests where utility overhead isn't worth it
+- Testing Playwright's native features specifically
+- Legacy tests where migration isn't justified
+
+## Related Fragments
+
+- `api-testing-patterns.md` - Comprehensive pure API testing patterns
+- `overview.md` - Installation and design principles
+- `auth-session.md` - Authentication token management
+- `recurse.md` - Polling for async operations
+- `fixtures-composition.md` - Combining utilities with mergeTests
+- `log.md` - Logging API requests
+- `contract-testing.md` - Pact contract testing
+
+## Anti-Patterns
+
+**❌ Ignoring retry failures:**
+
+```typescript
+try {
+  await apiRequest({ method: 'GET', path: '/api/unstable' });
+} catch {
+  // Silent failure - loses retry information
+}
+```
+
+**✅ Let retries happen, handle final failure:**
+
+```typescript
+await expect(apiRequest({ method: 'GET', path: '/api/unstable' })).rejects.toThrow(); // Retries happen automatically, then final error caught
+```
+
+**❌ Disabling TypeScript benefits:**
+
+```typescript
+const response: any = await apiRequest({ method: 'GET', path: '/users' });
+```
+
+**✅ Use generic types:**
+
+```typescript
+const { body } = await apiRequest<User[]>({ method: 'GET', path: '/users' });
+// body is typed as User[]
+```