Default and conditional responses in Postman - Test Execution Trace

Test Overview

This test sends a request to an API endpoint and verifies the response status code and body content. It checks for a default response and a conditional response based on a query parameter.

Test Code - Postman

Postman

pm.test("Status code is 200", function () {
    pm.response.to.have.status(200);
});

const jsonData = pm.response.json();
const url = pm.request.url.toString();

pm.test("Response contains default message", function () {
    if (!url.includes("param=hello")) {
        pm.expect(jsonData.message).to.eql("Default response");
    } else {
        pm.expect(true).to.be.true; // Skip if condition not met
    }
});

pm.test("Conditional response when param=hello", function () {
    if (url.includes("param=hello")) {
        pm.expect(jsonData.message).to.eql("Hello response");
    } else {
        pm.expect(true).to.be.true; // Skip if condition not met
    }
});

Execution Trace - 4 Steps

Step	Action	System State	Assertion	Result
1	Send GET request to API endpoint without query parameter	API server is running and ready to respond	Check response status code is 200	PASS
2	Parse JSON response body	Response body received: {"message": "Default response"}	Verify response message equals 'Default response'	PASS
3	Send GET request to API endpoint with query parameter param=hello	API server is running and ready to respond	Check response status code is 200	PASS
4	Parse JSON response body	Response body received: {"message": "Hello response"}	Verify response message equals 'Hello response' when param=hello	PASS

Failure Scenario

Failing Condition: API returns a status code other than 200 or response message does not match expected

Execution Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the test verify when no query parameter is sent?

A Response status code is 404

B Response message is 'Default response'

C Response message is 'Hello response'

D Response body is empty

Key Result

Always verify both the status code and the response body content to ensure the API behaves correctly for default and conditional cases.