Testing Express APIs in Node.js
From the Express.js REST API cheat sheet ยท Error Handling & Testing ยท verified Jul 2026
Testing Express APIs
Write unit and integration tests for API endpoints
javascript
// Jest test example
const request = require('supertest');
const app = require('../app');
describe('User API', () => {
test('GET /api/users should return users', async () => {
const response = await request(app)
.get('/api/users')
.expect(200);
expect(response.body).toHaveProperty('users');
expect(Array.isArray(response.body.users)).toBe(true);
});
test('POST /api/users should create user', async () => {
const userData = {
name: 'John Doe',
email: 'john@example.com',
password: 'password123'
};
const response = await request(app)
.post('/api/users')
.send(userData)
.expect(201);
expect(response.body.user.name).toBe(userData.name);
});
});๐ข Essential - Tests ensure API reliability
๐ก Use Jest + Supertest for API testing
๐ Test both success and error scenarios
โก Mock external dependencies for unit tests
๐ฏ Aim for 80%+ code coverage
๐ Related: Postman for manual API testing