How to test a REST API before you integrate it
By SyncBuilder
A REST API lets systems talk to each other over HTTP. Before you wire one into an integration, you want to confirm it actually responds the way the documentation says — the right status code, the right headers, and a body in the shape your workflow expects.
What to check
- The HTTP status code (200 OK, 201 Created, 401 Unauthorized, 429 Too Many Requests…)
- Response headers — content-type, caching, and any rate-limit hints
- The body shape — are the fields you need present and correctly typed?
- Authentication — API key, Bearer token or basic auth
- Latency — how long the endpoint takes to respond
A quick manual test
Send a request with the method and URL, add any authentication headers, and inspect the raw response. Start with a GET against a read-only endpoint before you try anything that writes data, so a mistake can't change real records.
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