The API Challenges

A learning environment to experiment, explore, and play with API Testing and Tooling

Welcome to The API Challenges, a site dedicated to helping you learn API Testing. With all the tutorials, practice APIs and information you need to practice and improve your API Testing skills.

We provide:

A simple functioning API for you to practice API Testing
A learning experience based on a full API, with a set of challenges to help you learn API Testing
A multi-user playground to experiment within
API documentation to read and learn from
An API Simulator to practice your tooling
An HTTP Mirror API tool to 'see' the full details of your API Tool requests.

How To Learn API Testing

Start by Reading through our Learning Zone content
- What is an API?
- How to Learn API Testing?
Download an API Client
- Recommended API Clients
Use the API Simulator
- follow our step by step guide
Experiment with a Real API
- our Simple API does not require any authentication and supports all HTTP Requests
Work through the API Challenges
- solve each of the API Challenges to gain practical experience of Testing APIs
Experiment with other APIs
- we maintain a list of Recommended Practice API Sites

Video Welcome

Watch on YouTube: "API Challenges Overview Video"

Learn how to Test APIs with our online tutorials and guides

The API Simulator

If you want a follow along guide to learn basic API interaction then you can use our API Simulator.

It is a real API so you can experiment with different content types, but no data is saved to the server and all responses use pre-defined data for the simulated scenario.

This is the safest and easiest way to start learning API interaction before moving on to a live API.

Start working through the API Simulator Scenarios.

The Simple API

When reviewing all the practice APIs available we noticed a lack of APIs that allow you to experiment with all HTTP verbs without authentication and with no risk of releasing private information.

Our Simple API has a domain model that does not allow any unwanted data exposure. Additionally there is a limit on the number of records that can be created, and test data is automatically added when there are a low number of records in the system.

Use our Simple API to experiment with all basic HTTP Verbs for creation, updating and retrieval.

The API Challenges Application

The API Challenges is a simple and fully functional API for managing a To-Do list.

You need to authenticate to create a session in the system. This will create a unique API repository with basic test data. As you interact with the API there are a variety of challenges to complete e.g. Get all TODOs, Delete a Todo, etc.

Each challenge is designed to teach you some aspect of how APIs work, and how to test them.

Get started with the API Challenges

Tooling

We recommend that you use an API GUI Client to interact with the API.

API Clients make it easy to send requests to the API and view the responses.

Most API Clients will also import Open API format files which document the API. By importing an Open API file into your client you will see all the requests that you can use on the API and make it easy to get started.

All the APIs on our site have Open API files that you can import into your favourite tool.

If you don't know what API Client to use then you can find a list of recommended clients in our Learning Zone.

Learn more about:

Books

Recommended books for learning about API Testing are:

Automating and Testing a REST API