Output Formats

hitspec supports 5 output formats for test results. Select the format with the --output flag (or -o).

hitspec run tests/ --output json
hitspec run tests/ -o junit --output-file results.xml

console (default)

Human-readable colored terminal output with pass/fail indicators, response times, and a summary.

hitspec run tests/

A failed request always shows what was sent and what came back: the request line (method and the URL as sent), the response status line with its duration, and an excerpt of the response body. JSON is pretty-printed and the excerpt is capped at about 2 KB or 30 lines, with a note saying how much was cut. A request that errored before getting a response shows the request line and the error. Credentials are masked in the console, JUnit and TAP reports. Header values for Authorization, Proxy-Authorization, Cookie, Set-Cookie and any header whose name contains api-key, token, secret or password print as [REDACTED]. So do the password in a URL’s user:password@ and the value of query parameters named like api_key or access_token, in the request line and in error messages. The JSON and HTML reports redact header values but record the URL exactly as sent.

  ✗ getUser (12ms)
    → status == (line 5)
      Expected: 200
      Actual:   404
      expected 200, got 404
    Request:  GET https://api.example.com/users/42
    Response: 404 Not Found (9ms)
    Body:
      {
        "error": "user not found",
        "id": 42
      }

Verbosity levels add detail for every request, not only failures:

Flag	Adds
(none)	Failures only get the request, response and body excerpt
`-v`	The request line and response status of every request, plus captures and SSE events
`-vv`	Request and response headers (credentials redacted)
`-vvv`	The full request and response bodies, uncapped

Warnings print in yellow under the request they belong to: a capture that matched nothing, or a {{reference}} that was still unresolved when the request was sent. A warning never changes pass/fail or the exit code. Options:

--no-color — disable colored output
--quiet — suppress all output except errors

json

Machine-readable JSON output containing test results, durations, and assertion details. Useful for integration with other tools.

hitspec run tests/ --output json
hitspec run tests/ --output json --output-file results.json

Output structure:

{
  "summary": {
    "total": 10,
    "passed": 9,
    "failed": 1,
    "skipped": 0
  },
  "tests": [
    {
      "name": "getUser",
      "file": "tests/api.http",
      "passed": true,
      "duration": 45.2
    }
  ],
  "duration": 1234.5
}

Every test also carries request (method, url, headers) and response (statusCode, status, headers, duration) when a request was sent; header credentials are redacted. For a failed or errored request, response.bodyExcerpt holds the pretty-printed body (capped at about 2 KB or 30 lines, with response.bodyTruncated: true when it was cut). A test with warnings has a warnings array of strings.

JSON output is the format used by hitspec diff for comparing test runs.

junit

JUnit XML format compatible with CI/CD systems like GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and CircleCI.

hitspec run tests/ --output junit --output-file test-results.xml

Most CI systems can parse JUnit XML natively for test result visualization. A <failure> or <error> body carries the failed assertions followed by the request line, the response status line and a capped body excerpt, so the CI report is enough to see why a request failed. Warnings (a capture that matched nothing, an unresolved {{reference}}) are written to the test case’s <system-out>.

GitHub Actions Example

- name: Run API tests
  run: hitspec run tests/ --output junit --output-file results.xml

- name: Publish Test Results
  uses: EnricoMi/publish-unit-test-result-action@v2
  if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
  with:
    files: results.xml
    comment_mode: off

Grant the workflow or job token checks: write when publishing check runs.

tap

Test Anything Protocol output, compatible with TAP consumers and harnesses.

hitspec run tests/ --output tap

Output:

TAP version 13
1..10
ok 1 - getUser (45ms)
ok 2 - createUser (120ms)
not ok 3 - deleteUser
  ---
  failures:
    - "status ==: expected 204, got 403"
  request: "DELETE https://api.example.com/users/7"
  response:
    status: "403 Forbidden"
    durationMs: 89
    body: |2-
      {
        "error": "forbidden"
      }
  ...

The diagnostics of a failed request carry the request line, the response status and duration, and the body excerpt (a literal block; bodyTruncated says how much was cut). Warnings are listed under warnings:.

html

Self-contained HTML report with styling, suitable for sharing or archiving.

hitspec run tests/ --output html --output-file report.html

The report includes:

Summary dashboard with pass/fail counts
Individual test results with durations
Assertion details for failed tests
Request and response details, with credentials in headers redacted
Warnings for each test
Dark theme styling

Writing to Files

By default, all formats write to stdout. Use --output-file to write to a file instead:

hitspec run tests/ --output json --output-file results.json
hitspec run tests/ --output junit --output-file results.xml
hitspec run tests/ --output html --output-file report.html

Quick Reference

Format	Flag	Use Case
`console`	`--output console`	Development, interactive use
`json`	`--output json`	Tool integration, `hitspec diff`
`junit`	`--output junit`	CI/CD test reporting
`tap`	`--output tap`	TAP-compatible tools
`html`	`--output html`	Shareable test reports

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Features

Guides

Examples

CLI Reference

Configuration

Assertions Reference

Built-in Functions

Authentication

Integrations

Output Formats

console (default)

json

junit

GitHub Actions Example

tap

html

Writing to Files

Quick Reference