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API Automation with RequestsLibrary

RequestsLibrary enables REST API automation in Robot Framework by providing high-level keywords on top of Python’s Requests library.

It is commonly used for API testing, integration testing, and backend validation in automation frameworks.

What is RequestsLibrary?​

RequestsLibrary:

  • Wraps Python Requests
  • Provides session-based API testing
  • Integrates cleanly with Robot Framework

Used for:

  • REST API automation
  • Backend validation
  • API + UI hybrid testing

Creating API Sessions​

Sessions allow reuse of base URLs and headers.

Create Session    mysession    https://api.example.com

Benefits:

  • Cleaner test cases
  • Reusable configuration
  • Better performance

HTTP Methods​

GET Request​

${response}=    GET On Session    mysession    /users

POST Request​

${response}=    POST On Session    mysession    /users    json=${payload}

PUT / PATCH / DELETE​

Used for update and delete operations.

Headers and Payloads​

Headers:

&{headers}=    Create Dictionary    Content-Type=application/json

Payloads:

  • JSON dictionaries
  • External JSON files
  • Dynamic data

Response Validation​

Common validations:

  • Status code
  • Response body
  • Headers

Example:

Should Be Equal As Integers    ${response.status_code}    200

JSON Parsing​

Use built-in and Collections library to parse JSON responses.

Common use cases:

  • Field-level validation
  • Extracting IDs for next calls

API Test Design Best Practices​

  • Keep API logic in keywords
  • Use sessions consistently
  • Validate business behavior
  • Avoid UI-style waits

Common Mistakes ❌​

  • Hardcoding URLs
  • No session usage
  • Over-validating response structure
  • Mixing UI and API logic

Key Takeaways​

  • RequestsLibrary enables API automation
  • Session-based execution is recommended
  • Clean validations improve reliability
  • API tests are CI-friendly