I am an API tester Newbie help!

Imagine you receive an API document containing 75+ endpoints (with URIs, parameters, request bodies, response bodies, status codes, etc.). How should you approach testing it? Do you simply import everything into Postman and verify that each endpoint works as described in the API documentation—such as checking the status codes, response times, and responses? Is that the correct approach? if not please guide me which a correct example

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Hey @zara ,

Welcome to the Community that’s a great question and you are definitely not the only one with it. Just about every beginner in API testing, when confronted with a long API documentation, will ask, “Should I just hit all the endpoints in Postman and see if it works?” :sweat_smile:

Well, this is part of API testing… but it is just scratching the surface of the whole process.

Let me propose a more practical approach that not only scales but also manages to uncover all the bugs:

1. Get to know the API first

Before making requests, it’s good practice to understand:

The functionality that the API is supposed to provide

The inter-relationship of the endpoints (for instance, the sequence of creating → updating → deleting)

Required and optional fields
This will make sure that you are not doing blind testing and that you are not skipping the important flows.

2. Change your approach to the real workflows and not just exhausting the endpoints

For example:
Testing /createUser, /getUser, and /deleteUser one by one is not the best way, rather go through the process: Create → Get → Update → Delete → Get again (expect 404)

Workflows will detect problems while documents won’t.

3. Generate test cases but only with requests

Make sure to verify:

Valid inputs

Invalid / omitted / boundary inputs

Auth failure cases

Wrong HTTP methods used

Rate limit exceeded

Versioning
Most bugs will become visible only in these tests.

4. Then automate the parts that you can foresee

A smoke suite plus a regression suite can be automated in the end, but do not rush — continue to learn the behavior of the API first.

5. Postman is good but not the only thing

Postman can handle most of the testing process but it is still mainly used for:

thinking, being unsure and writing documentation that gradually gets to negative and edge cases testing.

I will illustrate this step by step with one example.

For case of POST /login endpoint.

Initial check:

Correct credentials give → 200 + token.

A more sophisticated check:

Unauthorized user → 401.

Wrong password → 401.

No input → 400.

SQL injection attempt → 400 or 401.

Request limit crossed → 429.

Token duration until login expires → 401 after.

Now one is not only checking the documentation but also the actual risks…

So in short:
:check_mark: Importing everything into Postman is just the first step
:cross_mark: But only “checking each endpoint works” is not actual API testing
:fire: Actual API testing consists of comprehending the workflows, breaking the inputs, and verifying the security + logic + reliability.

You have already started to ask the right questions — continue this way and API testing will turn out to be the most pleasant part of QA. :flexed_biceps:

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thanks ramanan it was really helpful Any website api to check the scenario which you said in pratical? i know few website like reqres.in etc ….they does not give the correct result ? like real world scenario

Hello @zara ,

Sure! Most of the public demo APIs (such as reqres, swagger-petstore, etc.) are really good for practicing the basic CRUD operations, but they will not land you in a situation of wrong auth, rate limits, business validations, expired tokens, etc., which happens in real life. Therefore, one will not encounter too many “bug-like” scenarios in these APIs.

Here are some options which will be more realistic:

:small_blue_diamond: Restful Booker API — offers the auth + negative validations + booking workflow

:small_blue_diamond: Library API by ToolsQA — supports full workflow (create → update → delete), and gives realistic error codes

:small_blue_diamond: Fake Store API — has e-commerce endpoints + cart + auth

:small_blue_diamond: JSON Placeholder + Postman Echo combo — really good for working with requests with headers, params, auth, body types.

If you require the real-product behavior (401/415/429/5xx + token expiry + validation checks), then you should start with Restful Booker → it’s the most akin to a production-like experience.

And one more piece of advice do not restrict yourself to the “happy path”. For every endpoint that you test, think of the following:

missing fields
wrong datatype / long string / special chars
expired token
wrong token
high load / multiple requests
wrong HTTP method
using another user’s data

This is where real bugs and the API-tester instincts come into play :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

Just let me know I am always glad to help :handshake:

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