Basic CRUD

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.

Prerequisites

hitspec installed (Installation)
A terminal

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
<<<

Step-by-Step Breakdown

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 per-environment in hitspec.yaml and select one with the --env flag.

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

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

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).

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.

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
<<<

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

Key Concepts Used

Concept	Syntax	Purpose
Variables	`@baseUrl = ...`	Reusable values
Request names	`# @name createPost`	Identify requests for captures and dependencies
Tags	`# @tags smoke, read`	Filter which requests to run
Assertions	`expect status 200`	Validate responses
Captures	`newPostId from body.id`	Extract values from responses
Dependencies	`# @depends createPost`	Control execution order

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Features

Guides

Examples

CLI Reference

Configuration

Assertions Reference

Built-in Functions

Authentication

Output Formats

Integrations

Prerequisites

The Complete Test File

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Key Concepts Used

Next Steps

Auth Flow

Environments

​Prerequisites

​The Complete Test File

​Step-by-Step Breakdown

​Key Concepts Used

​Next Steps

Auth Flow

Environments

Prerequisites

The Complete Test File

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Key Concepts Used

Next Steps