How to Run REST API Tests With pytest and requests in CI

pytest plus requests gives you real HTTP integration tests that assert on status codes and JSON bodies.

Read the base URL from an env var in a fixture, call the API with requests, and assert on the response. Emit JUnit XML with --junitxml.

Test

import os, requests

BASE = os.environ["API_BASE_URL"]

def test_health():
    r = requests.get(f"{BASE}/health", timeout=10)
    assert r.status_code == 200
    assert r.json()["status"] == "ok"

def test_create_user():
    r = requests.post(f"{BASE}/users", json={"name": "ci"}, timeout=10)
    assert r.status_code == 201
    assert r.json()["id"]

Workflow

jobs:
  api:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      API_BASE_URL: http://localhost:8000
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'
      - run: pip install -r requirements.txt pytest requests
      - run: |
          uvicorn app.main:app --port 8000 &
          npx wait-on http://localhost:8000/health
      - run: pytest --junitxml=results/pytest.xml

Gotchas

• Always set a timeout= on requests so a hung endpoint fails fast instead of stalling the job.
• Keep the base URL in API_BASE_URL so the same suite runs against local, preview, and staging.

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