# Asserting Response ## Asserts Asserts are used to test various properties of an HTTP response. Asserts can be implicits (such as version, status, headers) or explicit within an `[Asserts]` section. The delimiter of the request / response is `HTTP `: after this delimiter, you'll find the implicit asserts, then an `[Asserts]` section with all the explicits checks. ```hurl GET https://api/example.org/cats HTTP 200 Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8 # Implicit assert on Content-Type Hedaer [Asserts] # Explicit asserts section bytes count == 120 header "Content-Type" contains "utf-8" jsonpath "$.cats" count == 49 jsonpath "$.cats[0].name" == "Felix" jsonpath "$.cats[0].lives" == 9 ``` ## Implicit asserts ### Version - Status Expected protocol version and status code of the HTTP response. Protocol version is one of `HTTP/1.0`, `HTTP/1.1`, `HTTP/2`, `HTTP/3` or `HTTP`; `HTTP` describes any version. Note that there are no status text following the status code. ```hurl GET https://example.org/404.html HTTP 404 ``` Wildcard keywords `HTTP` and `*` can be used to disable tests on protocol version and status: ```hurl GET https://example.org/api/pets HTTP * # Check that response status code is > 400 and <= 500 [Asserts] status > 400 status <= 500 ``` While `HTTP/1.0`, `HTTP/1.1`, `HTTP/2` and `HTTP/3` explicitly check HTTP version: ```hurl # Check that our server responds with HTTP/2 GET https://example.org/api/pets HTTP/2 200 ``` ### Headers Optional list of the expected HTTP response headers that must be in the received response. A header consists of a name, followed by a `:` and a value. For each expected header, the received response headers are checked. If the received header is not equal to the expected, or not present, an error is raised. The comparison is case-insensitive for the name: expecting a `Content-Type` header is equivalent to a `content-type` one. Note that the expected headers list is not fully descriptive: headers present in the response and not in the expected list doesn't raise error. ```hurl # Check that user toto is redirected to home after login. POST https://example.org/login [FormParams] user: toto password: 12345678 HTTP 302 Location: https://example.org/home ``` > Quotes in the header value are part of the value itself. > > This is used by the [ETag](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/ETag) Header > ``` > ETag: W/"" > ETag: "" > ``` Testing duplicated headers is also possible. For example with the `Set-Cookie` header: ``` Set-Cookie: theme=light Set-Cookie: sessionToken=abc123; Expires=Wed, 09 Jun 2021 10:18:14 GMT ``` You can either test the two header values: ```hurl GET https://example.org/index.html Host: example.net HTTP 200 Set-Cookie: theme=light Set-Cookie: sessionToken=abc123; Expires=Wed, 09 Jun 2021 10:18:14 GMT ``` Or only one: ```hurl GET https://example.org/index.html Host: example.net HTTP 200 Set-Cookie: theme=light ``` If you want to test specifically the number of headers returned for a given header name, or if you want to test header value with [predicates] (like `startsWith`, `contains`, `exists`) you can use the explicit [header assert]. ## Explicit asserts Optional list of assertions on the HTTP response within an `[Asserts]` section. Assertions can describe checks on status code, on the received body (or part of it) and on response headers. Structure of an assert:
jsonpath "$.book"query containspredicate type "Dune"predicate value
bodyquery matchespredicate type /\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}/predicate value
An assert consists of a query followed by a predicate. The format of the query is shared with [captures], and can be one of : - [`status`](#status-assert) - [`header`](#header-assert) - [`url`](#url-assert) - [`cookie`](#cookie-assert) - [`body`](#body-assert) - [`bytes`](#bytes-assert) - [`xpath`](#xpath-assert) - [`jsonpath`](#jsonpath-assert) - [`regex`](#regex-assert) - [`sha256`](#sha-256-assert) - [`md5`](#md5-assert) - [`variable`](#variable-assert) - [`duration`](#duration-assert) - [`certificate`](#ssl-certificate-assert) Queries are used to extract data from the HTTP response. Queries, in asserts and in captures, can be refined with [filters], like [`count`][count] to add tests on collections sizes. ### Predicates Predicates consist of a predicate function and a predicate value. Predicate functions are: | Predicate | Description | Example | |--------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | __`==`__ | Query and predicate value are equals | `jsonpath "$.book" == "Dune"` | | __`!=`__ | Query and predicate value are different | `jsonpath "$.color" != "red"` | | __`>`__ | Query number is greater than predicate value | `jsonpath "$.year" > 1978` | | __`>=`__ | Query number is greater than or equal to the predicate value | `jsonpath "$.year" >= 1978` | | __`<`__ | Query number is less than that predicate value | `jsonpath "$.year" < 1978` | | __`<=`__ | Query number is less than or equal to the predicate value | `jsonpath "$.year" <= 1978` | | __`startsWith`__ | Query starts with the predicate value
Value is string or a binary content | `jsonpath "$.movie" startsWith "The"`

`bytes startsWith hex,efbbbf;` | | __`endsWith`__ | Query ends with the predicate value
Value is string or a binary content | `jsonpath "$.movie" endsWith "Back"`

`bytes endsWith hex,ab23456;` | | __`contains`__ | Query contains the predicate value
Value is string or a binary content | `jsonpath "$.movie" contains "Empire"`

`bytes contains hex,beef;` | | __`includes`__ | Query collections includes the predicate value | `jsonpath "$.nooks" includes "Dune"` | | __`matches`__ | Part of the query string matches the regex pattern described by the predicate value | `jsonpath "$.release" matches "\\d{4}"`

`jsonpath "$.release" matches /\d{4}/` | | __`exists`__ | Query returns a value | `jsonpath "$.book" exists` | | __`isBoolean`__ | Query returns a boolean | `jsonpath "$.succeeded" isBoolean` | | __`isCollection`__ | Query returns a collection | `jsonpath "$.books" isCollection` | | __`isDate`__ | Query returns a date | `jsonpath "$.publication_date" isDate` | | __`isEmpty`__ | Query returns an empty collection | `jsonpath "$.movies" isEmpty` | | __`isFloat`__ | Query returns a float | `jsonpath "$.height" isFloat` | | __`isInteger`__ | Query returns an integer | `jsonpath "$.count" isInteger` | | __`isString`__ | Query returns a string | `jsonpath "$.name" isString` | Each predicate can be negated by prefixing it with `not` (for instance, `not contains` or `not exists`)
jsonpath "$.book"query not containspredicate type "Dune"predicate value
A predicate value is typed, and can be a string, a boolean, a number, a bytestream, `null` or a collection. Note that `"true"` is a string, whereas `true` is a boolean. For instance, to test the presence of a h1 node in an HTML response, the following assert can be used: ```hurl GET https://example.org/home HTTP 200 [Asserts] xpath "boolean(count(//h1))" == true xpath "//h1" exists # Equivalent but simpler ``` As the XPath query `boolean(count(//h1))` returns a boolean, the predicate value in the assert must be either `true` or `false` without double quotes. On the other side, say you have an article node and you want to check the value of some [data attributes]: ```xml
``` The following assert will check the value of the `data-visible` attribute: ```hurl GET https://example.org/home HTTP 200 [Asserts] xpath "string(//article/@data-visible)" == "true" ``` In this case, the XPath query `string(//article/@data-visible)` returns a string, so the predicate value must be a string. The predicate function `==` can be used with string, numbers or booleans; `startWith` and `contains` can only be used with strings and bytes, while `matches` only works on string. If a query returns a number, using a `matches` predicate will cause a runner error. ```hurl # A really well tested web page... GET https://example.org/home HTTP 200 [Asserts] header "Content-Type" contains "text/html" header "Last-Modified" == "Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:28:00 GMT" xpath "//h1" exists # Check we've at least one h1 xpath "normalize-space(//h1)" contains "Welcome" xpath "//h2" count == 13 xpath "string(//article/@data-id)" startsWith "electric" ``` ### Status assert Check the received HTTP response status code. Status assert consists of the keyword `status` followed by a predicate function and value. ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP * [Asserts] status < 300 ``` ### Header assert Check the value of a received HTTP response header. Header assert consists of the keyword `header` followed by the value of the header, a predicate function and a predicate value. Like [headers implicit asserts], the check is case-insensitive for the name: comparing a `Content-Type` header is equivalent to a `content-type` one. ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 302 [Asserts] header "Location" contains "www.example.net" header "Last-Modified" matches /\d{2} [a-z-A-Z]{3} \d{4}/ ``` If there are multiple headers with the same name, the header assert returns a collection, so `count`, `includes` can be used in this case to test the header list. Let's say we have this request and response: ``` > GET /hello HTTP/1.1 > Host: example.org > Accept: */* > User-Agent: hurl/2.0.0-SNAPSHOT > * Response: (received 12 bytes in 11 ms) * < HTTP/1.0 200 OK < Vary: Content-Type < Vary: User-Agent < Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 < Content-Length: 12 < Server: Flask Server < Date: Fri, 07 Oct 2022 20:53:35 GMT ``` One can use explicit header asserts: ```hurl GET https://example.org/hello HTTP 200 [Asserts] header "Vary" count == 2 header "Vary" includes "User-Agent" header "Vary" includes "Content-Type" ``` Or implicit header asserts: ```hurl GET https://example.org/hello HTTP 200 Vary: User-Agent Vary: Content-Type ``` ### URL assert Check the last fetched URL. This is most meaningful if you have told Hurl to follow redirection (see [`[Options]`section][options] or [`--location` option]). URL assert consists of the keyword `url` followed by a predicate function and value. ```hurl GET https://example.org/redirecting [Options] location: true HTTP 200 [Asserts] url == "https://example.org/redirected" ``` ### Cookie assert Check value or attributes of a [`Set-Cookie`] response header. Cookie assert consists of the keyword `cookie`, followed by the cookie name (and optionally a cookie attribute), a predicate function and value. Cookie attributes value can be checked by using the following format: `[cookie-attribute]`. The following attributes are supported: `Value`, `Expires`, `Max-Age`, `Domain`, `Path`, `Secure`, `HttpOnly` and `SameSite`. ```hurl GET http://localhost:8000/cookies/set HTTP 200 # Explicit check of Set-Cookie header value. If the attributes are # not in this exact order, this assert will fail. Set-Cookie: LSID=DQAAAKEaem_vYg; Expires=Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:23:01 GMT; Secure; HttpOnly; Path=/accounts; SameSite=Lax; Set-Cookie: HSID=AYQEVnDKrdst; Domain=localhost; Expires=Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:23:01 GMT; HttpOnly; Path=/ Set-Cookie: SSID=Ap4PGTEq; Domain=localhost; Expires=Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:23:01 GMT; Secure; HttpOnly; Path=/ # Using cookie assert, one can check cookie value and various attributes. [Asserts] cookie "LSID" == "DQAAAKEaem_vYg" cookie "LSID[Value]" == "DQAAAKEaem_vYg" cookie "LSID[Expires]" exists cookie "LSID[Expires]" contains "Wed, 13 Jan 2021" cookie "LSID[Max-Age]" not exists cookie "LSID[Domain]" not exists cookie "LSID[Path]" == "/accounts" cookie "LSID[Secure]" exists cookie "LSID[HttpOnly]" exists cookie "LSID[SameSite]" equals "Lax" ``` > `Secure` and `HttpOnly` attributes can only be tested with `exists` or `not exists` predicates > to reflect the [Set-Cookie header] semantics (in other words, queries `[HttpOnly]` > and `[Secure]` don't return boolean). ### Body assert Check the value of the received HTTP response body when decoded as a string. Body assert consists of the keyword `body` followed by a predicate function and value. The encoding used to decode the body is based on the `charset` value in the `Content-Type` header response. ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 200 [Asserts] body contains "

Welcome!

" ``` ```hurl # Our HTML response is encoded with GB 2312 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GB_2312) GET https://example.org/cn HTTP 200 [Asserts] header "Content-Type" == "text/html; charset=gb2312" bytes contains hex,c4e3bac3cac0bde7; # 你好世界 encoded in GB 2312 body contains "你好世界" ``` If the `Content-Type` doesn't include any encoding hint, a [`decode` filter] can be used to explicitly decode the body response bytes. ```hurl # Our HTML response is encoded using GB 2312. # But, the 'Content-Type' HTTP response header doesn't precise any charset, # so we decode explicitly the bytes. GET https://example.org/cn HTTP 200 [Asserts] header "Content-Type" == "text/html" bytes contains hex,c4e3bac3cac0bde7; # 你好世界 encoded in GB2312 bytes decode "gb2312" contains "你好世界" ``` ### Bytes assert Check the value of the received HTTP response body as a bytestream. Body assert consists of the keyword `bytes` followed by a predicate function and value. ```hurl GET https://example.org/data.bin HTTP 200 [Asserts] bytes startsWith hex,efbbbf; bytes count == 12424 header "Content-Length" == "12424" ``` ### XPath assert Check the value of a [XPath] query on the received HTTP body decoded as a string (using the `charset` value in the `Content-Type` header response). Currently, only XPath 1.0 expression can be used. Body assert consists of the keyword `xpath` followed by a predicate function and value. Values can be string, boolean or number depending on the XPath query. Let's say we want to check this HTML response: ```plain $ curl -v https://example.org < HTTP/1.1 200 OK < Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 ... Example Domain ...

Example

This domain is for use in illustrative examples in documents. You may use this domain in literature without prior coordination or asking for permission.

More information...

``` With Hurl, we can write multiple XPath asserts describing the DOM content: ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 200 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 [Asserts] xpath "string(/html/head/title)" contains "Example" # Check title xpath "count(//p)" == 2 # Check the number of

xpath "//p" count == 2 # Similar assert for

xpath "boolean(count(//h2))" == false # Check there is no

xpath "//h2" not exists # Similar assert for

``` XML Namespaces are also supported. Let's say you want to check this XML response: ```xml Cheaper by the Dozen 1568491379 ``` This XML response can be tested with the following Hurl file: ```hurl GET http://localhost:8000/assert-xpath HTTP 200 [Asserts] xpath "string(//bk:book/bk:title)" == "Cheaper by the Dozen" xpath "string(//*[name()='bk:book']/*[name()='bk:title'])" == "Cheaper by the Dozen" xpath "string(//*[local-name()='book']/*[local-name()='title'])" == "Cheaper by the Dozen" xpath "string(//bk:book/isbn:number)" == "1568491379" xpath "string(//*[name()='bk:book']/*[name()='isbn:number'])" == "1568491379" xpath "string(//*[local-name()='book']/*[local-name()='number'])" == "1568491379" ``` The XPath expressions `string(//bk:book/bk:title)` and `string(//bk:book/isbn:number)` are written with `bk` and `isbn` namespaces. > For convenience, the first default namespace can be used with `_` ### JSONPath assert Check the value of a [JSONPath] query on the received HTTP body decoded as a JSON document. JSONPath assert consists of the keyword `jsonpath` followed by a predicate function and value. Let's say we want to check this JSON response: ```plain curl -v http://httpbin.org/json < HTTP/1.1 200 OK < Content-Type: application/json ... { "slideshow": { "author": "Yours Truly", "date": "date of publication", "slides": [ { "title": "Wake up to WonderWidgets!", "type": "all" }, ... ], "title": "Sample Slide Show" } } ``` With Hurl, we can write multiple JSONPath asserts describing the DOM content: ```hurl GET http://httpbin.org/json HTTP 200 [Asserts] jsonpath "$.slideshow.author" == "Yours Truly" jsonpath "$.slideshow.slides[0].title" contains "Wonder" jsonpath "$.slideshow.slides" count == 2 jsonpath "$.slideshow.date" != null jsonpath "$.slideshow.slides[*].title" includes "Mind Blowing!" ``` > Explain that the value selected by the JSONPath is coerced to a string when only > one node is selected. In `matches` predicates, metacharacters beginning with a backslash (like `\d`, `\s`) must be escaped. Alternatively, `matches` predicate support [JavaScript-like Regular expression syntax] to enhance the readability: ```hurl GET https://sample.org/hello HTTP 200 [Asserts] # Predicate value with matches predicate: jsonpath "$.date" matches "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$" jsonpath "$.name" matches "Hello [a-zA-Z]+!" # Equivalent syntax: jsonpath "$.date" matches /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/ jsonpath "$.name" matches /Hello [a-zA-Z]+!/ ``` ### Regex assert Check that the HTTP received body, decoded as text, matches a regex pattern. ```hurl GET https://sample.org/hello HTTP 200 [Asserts] regex "^(\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2})$" == "2018-12-31" # Same assert as previous using regex literals regex /^(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})$/ == "2018-12-31" ``` The regex pattern must have at least one capture group, otherwise the assert will fail. The assertion is done on the captured group value. When the regex pattern is a double-quoted string, metacharacters beginning with a backslash in the pattern (like `\d`, `\s`) must be escaped; literal pattern enclosed by `/` can also be used to avoid metacharacters escaping. ### SHA-256 assert Check response body [SHA-256] hash. ```hurl GET https://example.org/data.tar.gz HTTP 200 [Asserts] sha256 == hex,039058c6f2c0cb492c533b0a4d14ef77cc0f78abccced5287d84a1a2011cfb81; ``` ### MD5 assert Check response body [MD5] hash. ```hurl GET https://example.org/data.tar.gz HTTP 200 [Asserts] md5 == hex,ed076287532e86365e841e92bfc50d8c; ``` ### Variable assert ```hurl # Test that the XML endpoint return 200 pets GET https://example.org/api/pets HTTP 200 [Captures] pets: xpath "//pets" [Asserts] variable "pets" count == 200 ``` ### Duration assert Check the total duration (sending plus receiving time) of the HTTP transaction. ```hurl GET https://sample.org/helloworld HTTP 200 [Asserts] duration < 1000 # Check that response time is less than one second ``` ### SSL certificate assert Check the SSL certificate properties. Certificate assert consists of the keyword `certificate`, followed by the certificate attribute value. The following attributes are supported: `Subject`, `Issuer`, `Start-Date`, `Expire-Date` and `Serial-Number`. ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 200 [Asserts] certificate "Subject" == "CN=example.org" certificate "Issuer" == "C=US, O=Let's Encrypt, CN=R3" certificate "Expire-Date" daysAfterNow > 15 certificate "Serial-Number" matches "[0-9af]+" ``` ## Body Optional assertion on the received HTTP response body. Body section can be seen as syntactic sugar over [body asserts] (with `equals` predicate function). If the body of the response is a [JSON] string or a [XML] string, the body assertion can be directly inserted without any modification. For a text based body that is neither JSON nor XML, one can use multiline string that starts with ``` and ends with ```. For a precise byte control of the response body, a [Base64] encoded string or an input file can be used to describe exactly the body byte content to check. ### JSON body ```hurl # Get a doggy thing: GET https://example.org/api/dogs/{{dog-id}} HTTP 200 { "id": 0, "name": "Frieda", "picture": "images/scottish-terrier.jpeg", "age": 3, "breed": "Scottish Terrier", "location": "Lisco, Alabama" } ``` JSON response body can be seen as syntactic sugar of [multiline string body] with `json` identifier: ~~~hurl # Get a doggy thing: GET https://example.org/api/dogs/{{dog-id}} HTTP 200 ```json { "id": 0, "name": "Frieda", "picture": "images/scottish-terrier.jpeg", "age": 3, "breed": "Scottish Terrier", "location": "Lisco, Alabama" } ``` ~~~ ### XML body ~~~hurl GET https://example.org/api/catalog HTTP 200 Gambardella, Matthew XML Developer's Guide Computer 44.95 2000-10-01 An in-depth look at creating applications with XML. ~~~ XML response body can be seen as syntactic sugar of [multiline string body] with `xml` identifier: ~~~hurl GET https://example.org/api/catalog HTTP 200 ```xml Gambardella, Matthew XML Developer's Guide Computer 44.95 2000-10-01 An in-depth look at creating applications with XML. ``` ~~~ ### Multiline string body ~~~hurl GET https://example.org/models HTTP 200 ``` Year,Make,Model,Description,Price 1997,Ford,E350,"ac, abs, moon",3000.00 1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition""","",4900.00 1999,Chevy,"Venture ""Extended Edition, Very Large""",,5000.00 1996,Jeep,Grand Cherokee,"MUST SELL! air, moon roof, loaded",4799.00 ``` ~~~ The standard usage of a multiline string is : ~~~ ``` line1 line2 line3 ``` ~~~ #### Oneline string body For text based response body that do not contain newlines, one can use oneline string, started and ending with `. ~~~hurl POST https://example.org/helloworld HTTP 200 `Hello world!` ~~~ ### Base64 body Base64 response body assert starts with `base64,` and end with `;`. MIME's Base64 encoding is supported (newlines and white spaces may be present anywhere but are to be ignored on decoding), and `=` padding characters might be added. ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 200 base64,TG9yZW0gaXBzdW0gZG9sb3Igc2l0IGFtZXQsIGNvbnNlY3RldHVyIG FkaXBpc2NpbmcgZWxpdC4gSW4gbWFsZXN1YWRhLCBuaXNsIHZlbCBkaWN0dW0g aGVuZHJlcml0LCBlc3QganVzdG8gYmliZW5kdW0gbWV0dXMsIG5lYyBydXRydW 0gdG9ydG9yIG1hc3NhIGlkIG1ldHVzLiA=; ``` ### File body To use the binary content of a local file as the body response assert, file body can be used. File body starts with `file,` and ends with `;`` ```hurl GET https://example.org HTTP 200 file,data.bin; ``` File are relative to the input Hurl file, and cannot contain implicit parent directory (`..`). You can use [`--file-root` option] to specify the root directory of all file nodes. [predicates]: #predicates [header assert]: #header-assert [captures]: /docs/capturing-response.md#query [data attributes]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/HTML/Howto/Use_data_attributes [`Set-Cookie`]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Set-Cookie [Set-Cookie header]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Set-Cookie [XPath]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XPath [JSONPath]: https://goessner.net/articles/JsonPath/ [body asserts]: #body-assert [JSON]: https://www.json.org [XML]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML [Base64]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64 [`--file-root` option]: /docs/manual.md#file-root [JavaScript-like Regular expression syntax]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions [MD5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD5 [SHA-256]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-2 [options]: /docs/request.md#options [`--location` option]: /docs/manual.md#location [multiline string body]: #multiline-string-body [filters]: /docs/filters.md [count]: /docs/filters.md#count [`decode` filter]: /docs/filters.md#decode [headers implicit asserts]: #headers