Global Variables

Global variables allow us to use stored strings in multiple tests, so we only need to update them in one place.

View the global variable that we’ll use to perform our API test. Click on Global Variables under the cog icon. The global variable named env.encoded_auth will be the one that we’ll use to build the spotify API transaction.

Create new API test

Create a new API test by clicking on the Add new test button and select API test from the dropdown. Name the test using your team name, your initials, and Spotify API e.g. [Daisy] RWC - Spotify API

Authentication Request

Click on + Add requests and enter the request step name e.g. Authenticate with Spotify API.

Expand the Request section, from the drop-down change the request method to POST and enter the following URL:

https://accounts.spotify.com/api/token

In the Payload body section enter the following:

grant_type=client_credentials

Next, add two + Request headers with the following key/value pairings:

• CONTENT-TYPE: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
• AUTHORIZATION: Basic {{env.encoded_auth}}

Expand the Validation section and add the following extraction:

• Extract from Response body JSON $.access_token as access_token

This will parse the JSON payload that is received from the Spotify API, extract the access token and store it as a custom variable.

Search Request

Click on + Add Request to add the next step. Name the step Search for Tracks named “Up around the bend”.

Expand the Request section and change the request method to GET and enter the following URL:

https://api.spotify.com/v1/search?q=Up%20around%20the%20bend&type=track&offset=0&limit=5

Next, add two request headers with the following key/value pairings:

• CONTENT-TYPE: application/json
• AUTHORIZATION: Bearer {{custom.access_token}}
  • This uses the custom variable we created in the previous step!

Expand the Validation section and add the following extraction:

• Extract from Response body JSON $.tracks.items[0].id as track.id

To validate the test before saving, scroll to the top and change the location as needed. Click Try now. See the docs for more information on the try now feature.

When the validation is successful, click on < Return to test to return to the test configuration page. And then click Save to save the API test.

View results

Wait for a few minutes for the test to provision and run. Once you see the test has run successfully, click on the run to view the results:

Resources

• How to Create an API Test
• API Test Overview