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This tutorial builds a test file that exercises all four CRUD operations against the JSONPlaceholder API. You will learn how to define variables, write assertions, capture response values, and chain requests with dependencies.

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Prerequisites

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The Complete Test File

Here is the full test file you will build step by step. Create a file called crud.http:
crud.http
@baseUrl = https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com

### List all posts
# @name listPosts
# @tags smoke, read

GET {{baseUrl}}/posts

>>>
expect status 200
expect body type array
expect body[0].id exists
expect body[0].title exists
expect body[0].userId exists
<<<

### Get a single post
# @name getPost
# @tags read

GET {{baseUrl}}/posts/1

>>>
expect status 200
expect body.id == 1
expect body.title exists
expect body.userId type number
expect duration < 2000
<<<

### Create a post
# @name createPost
# @tags write

POST {{baseUrl}}/posts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Testing with hitspec",
  "body": "Plain text API tests. No magic.",
  "userId": 1
}

>>>
expect status 201
expect body.id exists
expect body.title == "Testing with hitspec"
expect body.userId == 1
<<<

>>>capture
newPostId from body.id
<<<

### Update the post
# @name updatePost
# @tags write
# @depends createPost

PUT {{baseUrl}}/posts/{{createPost.newPostId}}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": {{createPost.newPostId}},
  "title": "Updated with hitspec",
  "body": "This post has been updated.",
  "userId": 1
}

>>>
expect status 200
expect body.title == "Updated with hitspec"
<<<

### Delete the post
# @name deletePost
# @tags write
# @depends updatePost

DELETE {{baseUrl}}/posts/{{createPost.newPostId}}

>>>
expect status 200
<<<

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Step-by-Step Breakdown

1

Define variables

The @baseUrl variable at the top of the file stores the API base URL. Reference it anywhere with {{baseUrl}}.
@baseUrl = https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com
Variables reduce duplication and make it easy to switch environments. You can override them with a .hitspec.env.json file or the --env flag.
2

List all posts (GET collection)

The first request fetches all posts and validates the response shape.
### List all posts
# @name listPosts
# @tags smoke, read

GET {{baseUrl}}/posts

>>>
expect status 200
expect body type array
expect body[0].id exists
expect body[0].title exists
expect body[0].userId exists
<<<
Key concepts:
  • ### separates requests within a file
  • # @name listPosts gives the request an identifier for captures and dependencies
  • # @tags smoke, read lets you filter with --tags smoke
  • The >>> ... <<< block contains assertions
  • expect body type array checks the response is a JSON array
  • expect body[0].id exists checks nested fields using JSON path syntax
3

Get a single post (GET by ID)

This request fetches a specific post and adds a response time assertion.
### Get a single post
# @name getPost
# @tags read

GET {{baseUrl}}/posts/1

>>>
expect status 200
expect body.id == 1
expect body.title exists
expect body.userId type number
expect duration < 2000
<<<
  • expect body.id == 1 checks an exact value
  • expect body.userId type number validates the JSON type
  • expect duration < 2000 fails if the response takes more than 2 seconds
4

Create a post (POST with JSON body)

This request creates a new resource and captures its ID for later use.
### Create a post
# @name createPost
# @tags write

POST {{baseUrl}}/posts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "Testing with hitspec",
  "body": "Plain text API tests. No magic.",
  "userId": 1
}

>>>
expect status 201
expect body.id exists
expect body.title == "Testing with hitspec"
expect body.userId == 1
<<<

>>>capture
newPostId from body.id
<<<
The >>>capture ... <<< block extracts body.id from the response and stores it as newPostId. Later requests reference it as {{createPost.newPostId}} (request name dot capture name).
5

Update the post (PUT with dependency)

This request depends on createPost and uses the captured ID.
### Update the post
# @name updatePost
# @tags write
# @depends createPost

PUT {{baseUrl}}/posts/{{createPost.newPostId}}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "id": {{createPost.newPostId}},
  "title": "Updated with hitspec",
  "body": "This post has been updated.",
  "userId": 1
}

>>>
expect status 200
expect body.title == "Updated with hitspec"
<<<
# @depends createPost ensures this request runs after createPost completes, even in parallel mode.
6

Delete the post (DELETE)

The final request deletes the resource. It depends on updatePost to preserve execution order.
### Delete the post
# @name deletePost
# @tags write
# @depends updatePost

DELETE {{baseUrl}}/posts/{{createPost.newPostId}}

>>>
expect status 200
<<<
7

Run the tests

Run all requests:
hitspec run crud.http
Run only read operations:
hitspec run crud.http --tags read
Run only write operations:
hitspec run crud.http --tags write
Expected output:
  listPosts (142ms)
  getPost (98ms)
  createPost (201ms)
  updatePost (156ms)
  deletePost (113ms)

5 passed, 0 failed

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Key Concepts Used

ConceptSyntaxPurpose
Variables@baseUrl = ...Reusable values
Request names# @name createPostIdentify requests for captures and dependencies
Tags# @tags smoke, readFilter which requests to run
Assertionsexpect status 200Validate responses
CapturesnewPostId from body.idExtract values from responses
Dependencies# @depends createPostControl execution order

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Next Steps

Auth Flow

Chain login and authenticated requests with token capture.

Environments

Use different base URLs and variables per environment.