Is it possible to test API errors?
Posted Feb 11, 2025
I am writing an automation to accommodate for rate limit errors - specifically 429s. In order to do so, my error handling needs to pull the [ratelimit-reset] property from the error message, then add a delay. However, without hammering the end point and causing whatever errors across the production API, I'm not able to test for real world results.
Is there a way to test where you can manually trigger a 429 message without actually causing one?
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2 comments
Elaine
Thank you for your question. To test rate limit errors like 429 responses without impacting the production API, you might want to explore if the API offers a sandbox or test environment that simulates these rate limits.
Another option some APIs provide is the ability to set custom headers to trigger specific error responses, which can help in testing your error handling logic.
If these aren’t available, you could consider mocking the API responses within your testing framework to simulate a 429 error and verify that your automation behaves as expected.
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Furqan Hamid
You can check if the API provides a sandbox or test environment that simulates rate limits. Alternatively, some APIs allow you to set custom headers to trigger specific errors. If those options aren't available, you could mock API responses in your testing framework to simulate a 429 error.
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