Pytest API Test Framework

A reusable Pytest-based framework for API testing. The project separates API-agnostic framework code from concrete API test packs, so new APIs can be added without changing the core framework.

The current repository includes DummyJSON as the reference API pack.

Project Structure

src/framework/
  core/
    client.py              # reusable requests-based API client
    config.py              # framework runtime settings
  utils/
    api_context.py         # redacted request/response context
    data_loader.py         # project-relative JSON/CSV loading
    schema_validator.py    # JSON Schema helpers
    security.py            # redaction and security helpers
    performance.py         # lightweight timing helpers

test_application/
  conftest.py              # shared pytest hooks for API packs
  <api_name>/
    conftest.py            # API-specific fixtures
    helpers.py             # API-specific schema/data helpers
    schemas/               # API-specific JSON Schemas
    test_data/             # API-specific test data
    tests/                 # API-specific test cases
    services/              # optional future service clients

tests/framework/
  core/                    # framework unit tests
  utils/                   # framework utility unit tests
  test_data/               # framework-only test data

Setup

Create and activate a virtual environment:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies:

python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

Optional local environment file:

cp .env.example .env

Configuration

Framework-wide settings:

TEST_TIMEOUT=10
TEST_RETRY_COUNT=1
TEST_RETRY_BACKOFF_SECONDS=0.5
TEST_ENV=local
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

API packs may define their own environment variables, such as base URLs, credentials, account IDs, or feature flags. API-specific settings should stay with the API pack and should not be added to src/framework/core/config.py.

Test Suites

The framework uses marker-based suites.

Marker pattern	Purpose
framework_unit_test	Unit tests for reusable framework code. These should not call live APIs.
<api_name>	Full test coverage for a concrete API pack.
<api_name>_smoke	Minimal happy-path suite for a concrete API pack.

Current API-pack markers:

dummyjson
dummyjson_smoke

Local Commands

Run all collected tests:

python -m pytest

Run framework unit tests:

python -m pytest -m framework_unit_test

Run the current smoke suite:

python -m pytest -m dummyjson_smoke

Run the current full API pack suite:

python -m pytest -m dummyjson

Run the default CI selection locally:

python -m pytest -m "framework_unit_test or dummyjson_smoke"

Run tests in parallel:

python -m pytest -m "framework_unit_test or dummyjson_smoke" -n auto

Run code quality checks:

python -m ruff check .
python -m compileall -q src tests test_application

Reports

Generate local HTML, JUnit, and Allure result files:

python -m pytest \
  -m "framework_unit_test or dummyjson_smoke" \
  -n auto \
  --html=reports/pytest-report.html \
  --self-contained-html \
  --alluredir=reports/allure-results \
  --junitxml=reports/junit.xml

Generated reports are written under reports/ and are ignored by Git.

The API client logs request and response details at INFO level. Sensitive headers, query parameters, and common token/password fields are redacted before they are logged or attached to failure reports.

Client Defaults

APIClient defaults to:

Accept: application/json

It does not set a global Content-Type. Request body content type is inferred per request by requests, for example:

client.post("/json-endpoint", json={"name": "example"})
client.post("/form-endpoint", data={"name": "example"})

Use request-level headers when an endpoint needs a custom media type.

CI

GitHub Actions workflow:

.github/workflows/framework-tests.yml

Runs on:

• push to main
• pull request to main
• manual workflow dispatch

Python matrix:

3.10
3.12

CI runs:

python -m compileall -q src tests test_application
python -m ruff check .
python -m pytest -m "framework_unit_test or dummyjson_smoke" -n auto

The pytest command also generates HTML, JUnit, and Allure result artifacts.

Manual workflow dispatch currently supports:

Scope	Runs
framework_unit_test	Framework unit tests only
dummyjson_smoke	Current API smoke suite
dummyjson	Current full API pack suite

Manual dispatch also supports parallel=true|false. It defaults to true.

Adding APIs

Add new APIs under:

test_application/<api_name>/

Recommended pack structure:

test_application/<api_name>/
  conftest.py
  helpers.py
  schemas/
  test_data/
  tests/
  services/

The framework should stay reusable and API-agnostic. API-specific fixtures, schemas, expected identities, credentials, and base URLs belong to the API pack.

See docs/architecture.md for detailed framework architecture, conventions, and guidance for adding new API test packs.