# ExVCR
[](https://github.com/parroty/exvcr/actions)
[](https://coveralls.io/r/parroty/exvcr?branch=master)
[](https://hex.pm/packages/exvcr)
[](https://hex.pm/packages/exvcr)
[](http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
Record and replay HTTP interactions library for Elixir. It's inspired by
Ruby's VCR (https://github.com/vcr/vcr), and trying to provide similar
functionalities.
### Basics
The following HTTP libraries can be applied.
- <a href="https://github.com/cmullaparthi/ibrowse" target="_blank">ibrowse</a>-based libraries.
- <a href="https://github.com/myfreeweb/httpotion" target="_blank">HTTPotion</a>
- <a href="https://github.com/benoitc/hackney" target="_blank">hackney</a>-based libraries.
- <a href="https://github.com/edgurgel/httpoison" target="_blank">HTTPoison</a>
- support is very limited, and tested only with sync request of HTTPoison yet.
- <a href="http://erlang.org/doc/man/httpc.html" target="_blank">httpc</a>-based libraries.
- <a href="https://github.com/tim/erlang-oauth/" target="_blank">erlang-oauth</a>
- <a href="https://github.com/Zatvobor/tirexs" target="_blank">tirexs</a>
- support is very limited, and tested only with `:httpc.request/1` and `:httpc.request/4`.
- <a href="https://github.com/keathley/finch" target="_blank">Finch</a>
- the deprecated `Finch.request/6` functions is not supported
HTTP interactions are recorded as JSON file. The JSON file can be recorded
automatically (`vcr_cassettes`) or manually updated (`custom_cassettes`).
### Notes
- `ExVCR.Config` functions must be called from `setup` or `test`. Calls outside
of test process, such as in `setup_all` will not work.
### Install
Add `:exvcr` to `deps` section of `mix.exs`.
```elixir
def deps do
[ {:exvcr, "~> 0.11", only: :test} ]
end
```
Optionally, `preferred_cli_env: [vcr: :test]` can be specified for running `mix
vcr` in `:test` env by default.
```elixir
def project do
[ ...
preferred_cli_env: [
vcr: :test, "vcr.delete": :test, "vcr.check": :test, "vcr.show": :test
],
...
end
```
### Usage
Add `use ExVCR.Mock` to the test module. This mocks `ibrowse` by default. For
using `hackney`, specify `adapter: ExVCR.Adapter.Hackney` options as follows.
##### Example with ibrowse
```Elixir
defmodule ExVCR.Adapter.IBrowseTest do
use ExUnit.Case, async: true
use ExVCR.Mock
setup do
ExVCR.Config.cassette_library_dir("fixture/vcr_cassettes")
:ok
end
test "example single request" do
use_cassette "example_ibrowse" do
:ibrowse.start
{:ok, status_code, _headers, body} = :ibrowse.send_req('http://example.com', [], :get)
assert status_code == '200'
assert to_string(body) =~ ~r/Example Domain/
end
end
test "httpotion" do
use_cassette "example_httpotion" do
HTTPotion.start
assert HTTPotion.get("http://example.com", []).body =~ ~r/Example Domain/
end
end
end
```
##### Example with hackney
```Elixir
defmodule ExVCR.Adapter.HackneyTest do
use ExUnit.Case, async: true
use ExVCR.Mock, adapter: ExVCR.Adapter.Hackney
setup_all do
HTTPoison.start
:ok
end
test "get request" do
use_cassette "httpoison_get" do
assert HTTPoison.get!("http://example.com").body =~ ~r/Example Domain/
end
end
end
```
##### Example with httpc
```Elixir
defmodule ExVCR.Adapter.HttpcTest do
use ExUnit.Case, async: true
use ExVCR.Mock, adapter: ExVCR.Adapter.Httpc
setup_all do
:inets.start
:ok
end
test "get request" do
use_cassette "example_httpc_request" do
{:ok, result} = :httpc.request('http://example.com')
{{_http_version, _status_code = 200, _reason_phrase}, _headers, body} = result
assert to_string(body) =~ ~r/Example Domain/
end
end
end
```
##### Example with Finch
```Elixir
defmodule ExVCR.Adapter.FinchTest do
use ExUnit.Case, async: true
use ExVCR.Mock, adapter: ExVCR.Adapter.Finch
setup_all do
Finch.start_link(name: MyFinch)
:ok
end
test "get request" do
use_cassette "example_finch_request" do
{:ok, response} = Finch.build(:get, "http://example.com/") |> Finch.request(MyFinch)
assert response.status == 200
assert Map.new(response.headers)["content-type"] == "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
assert response.body =~ ~r/Example Domain/
end
end
end
```
#### Example with Start / Stop
Instead of single `use_cassette`, `start_cassette` and `stop_cassette` can serve as an alternative syntax.
```Elixir
use_cassette("x") do
do_something
end
```
```Elixir
start_cassette("x")
do_something
stop_cassette
```
#### Custom Cassettes
You can manually define custom cassette JSON file for more flexible response
control rather than just recoding the actual server response.
- Optional 2nd parameter of `ExVCR.Config.cassette_library_dir` method
specifies the custom cassette directory. The directory is separated from vcr
cassette one for avoiding mistakenly overwriting.
- Adding `custom: true` option to `use_cassette` macro indicates to use the
custom cassette, and it just returns the pre-defined JSON response, instead
of requesting to server.
```Elixir
defmodule ExVCR.MockTest do
use ExUnit.Case, async: true
import ExVCR.Mock
setup do
ExVCR.Config.cassette_library_dir("fixture/vcr_cassettes", "fixture/custom_cassettes")
:ok
end
test "custom with valid response" do
use_cassette "response_mocking", custom: true do
assert HTTPotion.get("http://example.com", []).body =~ ~r/Custom Response/
end
end
```
The custom JSON file format is the same as vcr cassettes.
**fixture/custom_cassettes/response_mocking.json**
```javascript
[
{
"request": {
"url": "http://example.com"
},
"response": {
"status_code": 200,
"headers": {
"Content-Type": "text/html"
},
"body": "<h1>Custom Response</h1>"
}
}
]
```
### Recording VCR Cassettes
#### Matching
ExVCR uses URL parameter to match request and cassettes. The `url` parameter in
the JSON file is taken as regexp string.
#### Removing Sensitive Data
`ExVCR.Config.filter_sensitive_data(pattern, placeholder)` method can be used
to remove sensitive data. It searches for string matches with `pattern`, which
is a string representing a regular expression, and replaces with `placeholder`.
Replacements happen both in URLs and request and response bodies.
```elixir
test "replace sensitive data" do
ExVCR.Config.filter_sensitive_data("<PASSWORD>. </PASSWORD>", "PLACEHOLDER")
use_cassette "sensitive_data" do
assert HTTPotion.get("http://something.example.com", []).body =~ ~r/PLACEHOLDER/
end
end
```
`ExVCR.Config.filter_request_headers(header)` and
`ExVCR.Config.filter_request_options(option)` can be used to remove sensitive
data in the request headers. It checks if the `header` is found in the request
headers and blanks out it's value with `***`.
```elixir
test "replace sensitive data in request header" do
ExVCR.Config.filter_request_headers("X-My-Secret-Token")
use_cassette "sensitive_data_in_request_header" do
body = HTTPoison.get!("http://localhost:34000/server?", ["X-My-Secret-Token": "my-secret-token"]).body
assert body == "test_response"
end
# The recorded cassette should contain replaced data.
cassette = File.read!("#{@dummy_cassette_dir}/sensitive_data_in_request_header.json")
assert cassette =~ "\"X-My-Secret-Token\": \"***\""
refute cassette =~ "\"X-My-Secret-Token\": \"my-secret-token\""
ExVCR.Config.filter_request_headers(nil)
end
```
```elixir
test "replace sensitive data in request options" do
ExVCR.Config.filter_request_options("basic_auth")
use_cassette "sensitive_data_in_request_options" do
body = HTTPoison.get!(@url, [], [hackney: [basic_auth: {"username", "password"}]]).body
assert body == "test_response"
end
# The recorded cassette should contain replaced data.
cassette = File.read!("#{@dummy_cassette_dir}/sensitive_data_in_request_options.json")
assert cassette =~ "\"basic_auth\": \"***\""
refute cassette =~ "\"basic_auth\": {\"username\", \"password\"}"
ExVCR.Config.filter_request_options(nil)
end
```
#### Allowed hosts
The `:ignore_urls` can be used to allow requests to be made to certain hosts.
```elixir
setup do
ExVCR.Setting.set(:ignore_urls, [~/example.com/])
ExVCR.Setting.append(:ignore_urls, ~/anotherurl.com/)
end
test "an actual request is made to example.com" do
HTTPoison.get!("https://example.com/path?query=true")
HTTPoison.get!("https://anotherurl.com/path?query=true")
end
```
#### Ignoring query params in URL
If `ExVCR.Config.filter_url_params(true)` is specified, query params in URL
will be ignored when recording cassettes.
```elixir
test "filter url param flag removes url params when recording cassettes" do
ExVCR.Config.filter_url_params(true)
use_cassette "example_ignore_url_params" do
assert HTTPotion.get(
"http://localhost:34000/server?should_not_be_contained", []).body =~ ~r/test_response/
end
json = File.read!("#{__DIR__}/../#{@dummy_cassette_dir}/example_ignore_url_params.json")
refute String.contains?(json, "should_not_be_contained")
```
#### Removing headers from response
If `ExVCR.Config.response_headers_blacklist(headers_blacklist)` is specified,
the headers in the list will be removed from the response.
```elixir
test "remove blacklisted headers" do
use_cassette "original_headers" do
assert Map.has_key?(HTTPoison.get!(@url, []).headers, "connection") == true
end
ExVCR.Config.response_headers_blacklist(["Connection"])
use_cassette "remove_blacklisted_headers" do
assert Map.has_key?(HTTPoison.get!(@url, []).headers, "connection") == false
end
ExVCR.Config.response_headers_blacklist([])
end
```
#### Matching Options
##### Matching against query params
By default, query params are not used for matching. In order to include query
params, specify `match_requests_on: [:query]` for `use_cassette` call.
```elixir
test "matching query params with match_requests_on params" do
use_cassette "different_query_params", match_requests_on: [:query] do
assert HTTPotion.get("http://localhost/server?p=3", []).body =~ ~r/test_response3/
assert HTTPotion.get("http://localhost/server?p=4", []).body =~ ~r/test_response4/
end
end
```
##### Matching against request body
By default, request body is not used for matching. In order to include request
body, specify `match_requests_on: [:request_body]` for `use_cassette` call.
```elixir
test "matching request body with match_requests_on params" do
use_cassette "different_request_body_params", match_requests_on: [:request_body] do
assert HTTPotion.post("http://localhost/server", [body: "p=3"]).body =~ ~r/test_response3/
assert HTTPotion.post("http://localhost/server", [body: "p=4"]).body =~ ~r/test_response4/
end
end
```
##### Matching against custom parameters
You can define and use your own matchers for cases not covered by the build-in
matchers. To do this you can specify `custom_matchers: [func_one, func_two, ...]`
for `use_cassette` call.
```elixir
test "matching special header with custom_matchers" do
matches_special_header = fn response, keys, _recorder_options ->
recorded_headers = always_map(response.request.headers)
expected_value = recorded_headers["X-Special-Header"]
keys[:headers]
|> Enum.any?(&(match?({"X-Special-Header", ^expected_value}, &1)))
end
use_cassette "special_header_match", custom_matchers: [matches_special_header] do
# These two requests will match with each other since our custom matcher matches (even if without matching all headers)
assert HTTPotion.post("http://localhost/server",
[headers: ["User-Agent": "My App", "X-Special-Header": "Value One"]]).body =~ ~r/test_response_one/
assert HTTPotion.post("http://localhost/server",
[headers: ["User-Agent": "Other App", "X-Special-Header": "Value One"]]).body =~ ~r/test_response_one/
# This will not match since the header has a different value:
assert HTTPotion.post("http://localhost/server",
[headers: ["User-Agent": "My App", "X-Special-Header": "Value Two"]]).body =~ ~r/test_response_two/
end
end
```
### Default Config
Default parameters for `ExVCR.Config` module can be specified in
`config\config.exs` as follows.
```elixir
use Mix.Config
config :exvcr, [
vcr_cassette_library_dir: "fixture/vcr_cassettes",
custom_cassette_library_dir: "fixture/custom_cassettes",
filter_sensitive_data: [
[pattern: "<PASSWORD>. </PASSWORD>", placeholder: "PASSWORD_PLACEHOLDER"]
],
filter_url_params: false,
filter_request_headers: [],
response_headers_blacklist: []
]
```
If `exvcr` is defined as test-only dependency, describe the above statement in
test-only config file (ex. `config\test.exs`) or make it conditional (ex. wrap
with `if Mix.env == :test`).
### Global mock experimental feature
The global mock is an attempt to address a general issue with **exvcr being slow**, see [#107](https://github.com/parroty/exvcr/issues/107)
In general, every use_cassette takes around 500 ms so if you extensively use cassettes it could spend minutes doing `:meck.expect/2` and `:meck.unload/1`. Even `exvcr` tests need 40 seconds versus 1 second when global mock is used.
Since feature is **experimental** be careful when using it. Please note the following:
- ExVCR implements global mock, which means that all HTTP client calls outside of `use_cassette` go through `meck.passthough/1`.
- There are some report that the feature doesn't work in some case, see [the issue](https://github.com/parroty/exvcr/issues/159).
- By default, the global mocking disabled, to enabled it set the following in config:
```elixir
use Mix.Config
config :exvcr, [
global_mock: true
]
```
All tests that are written for `exvcr` could also be running in global mocking mode:
```
$ GLOBAL_MOCK=true mix test
.........................................................
Finished in 1.3 seconds
141 tests, 0 failures
Randomized with seed 905427
```
### Mix Tasks
The following tasks are added by including `exvcr` package.
- [mix vcr](#mix-vcr-show-cassettes)
- [mix vcr.delete](#mix-vcrdelete-delete-cassettes)
- [mix vcr.check](#mix-vcrcheck-check-cassettes)
- [mix vcr.show](#mix-vcrshow-show-cassettes)
- [mix vcr --help](#mix-vcr-help-help)
#### [mix vcr] Show cassettes
```shell
$ mix vcr
Showing list of cassettes in [fixture/vcr_cassettes]
[File Name] [Last Update]
example_httpotion.json 2013/11/07 23:24:49
example_ibrowse.json 2013/11/07 23:24:49
example_ibrowse_multiple.json 2013/11/07 23:24:48
httpotion_delete.json 2013/11/07 23:24:47
httpotion_patch.json 2013/11/07 23:24:50
httpotion_post.json 2013/11/07 23:24:51
httpotion_put.json 2013/11/07 23:24:52
Showing list of cassettes in [fixture/custom_cassettes]
[File Name] [Last Update]
method_mocking.json 2013/10/06 22:05:38
response_mocking.json 2013/09/29 17:23:38
response_mocking_regex.json 2013/10/06 18:13:45
```
#### [mix vcr.delete] Delete cassettes
The `mix vcr.delete` task deletes the cassettes that contains the specified
pattern in the file name.
```shell
$ mix vcr.delete ibrowse
Deleted example_ibrowse.json.
Deleted example_ibrowse_multiple.json.
```
If `-i` (`--interactive`) option is specified, it asks for confirmation before
deleting each file.
```shell
$ mix vcr.delete ibrowse -i
delete example_ibrowse.json? y
Deleted example_ibrowse.json.
delete example_ibrowse_multiple.json? y
Deleted example_ibrowse_multiple.json.
```
If `-a` (`--all`) option is specified, all the cassettes in the specified folder
becomes the target for delete.
#### [mix vcr.check] Check cassettes
The `mix vcr.check` shows how many times each cassette is applied while
executing `mix test` tasks. It is intended for verifying the cassettes are
properly used. `[Cassette Counts]` indicates the count that the pre-recorded
JSON cassettes are applied. `[Server Counts]` indicates the count that server
access is performed.
```shell
$ mix vcr.check
...............................
31 tests, 0 failures
Showing hit counts of cassettes in [fixture/vcr_cassettes]
[File Name] [Cassette Counts] [Server Counts]
example_httpotion.json 1 0
example_ibrowse.json 1 0
example_ibrowse_multiple.json 2 0
httpotion_delete.json 1 0
httpotion_patch.json 1 0
httpotion_post.json 1 0
httpotion_put.json 1 0
sensitive_data.json 0 2
server1.json 0 2
server2.json 2 2
Showing hit counts of cassettes in [fixture/custom_cassettes]
[File Name] [Cassette Counts] [Server Counts]
method_mocking.json 1 0
response_mocking.json 1 0
response_mocking_regex.json 1 0
```
The target test file can be limited by specifying test files, as similar as
`mix test` tasks.
```shell
$ mix vcr.check test/exvcr_test.exs
.............
13 tests, 0 failures
Showing hit counts of cassettes in [fixture/vcr_cassettes]
[File Name] [Cassette Counts] [Server Counts]
example_httpotion.json 1 0
...
...
```
#### [mix vcr.show] Show cassettes
The `mix vcr.show` task displays the contents of cassettes JSON file in the
prettified format.
```shell
$ mix vcr.show fixture/vcr_cassettes/httpoison_get.json
[
{
"request": {
"url": "http://example.com",
"headers": [],
"method": "get",
"body": "",
"options": []
},
...
```
#### [mix vcr --help] Help
Displays helps for mix sub-tasks.
```shell
$ mix vcr --help
Usage: mix vcr [options]
Used to display the list of cassettes
-h (--help) Show helps for vcr mix tasks
-d (--dir) Specify vcr cassettes directory
-c (--custom) Specify custom cassettes directory
Usage: mix vcr.delete [options] [cassette-file-names]
Used to delete cassettes
-d (--dir) Specify vcr cassettes directory
-c (--custom) Specify custom cassettes directory
-i (--interactive) Request confirmation before attempting to delete
-a (--all) Delete all the files by ignoring specified [filenames]
Usage: mix vcr.check [options] [test-files]
Used to check cassette use on test execution
-d (--dir) Specify vcr cassettes directory
-c (--custom) Specify custom cassettes directory
Usage: mix vcr.show [cassette-file-names]
Used to show cassette contents
```
##### Notes
If the cassette save directory is changed from the default, [`-d`, `--dir`] option
(for vcr cassettes) and [`-c`, `--custom`] option (for custom cassettes) can be
used to specify the directory.
### IEx Helper
`ExVCR.IEx` module provides simple helper functions to display the HTTP
request/response in JSON format, instead of recording in the cassette files.
```elixir
% iex -S mix
Erlang R16B03 (erts-5.10.4) ...
Interactive Elixir (0.12.5) - press Ctrl C to exit (type h() ENTER for help)
iex(1)> require ExVCR.IEx
nil
iex(2)> ExVCR.IEx.print do
...(2)> :ibrowse.send_req('http://example.com', [], :get)
...(2)> end
[
{
"request": {
"url": "http://example.com",
"headers": [],
"method": "get",
"body": "",
"options": []
},
"response": {
"type": "ok",
"status_code": 200,
...
```
The adapter option can be specified as `adapter` argument of print function, as
follows.
```elixir
% iex -S mix
Erlang R16B03 (erts-5.10.4) ...
Interactive Elixir (0.12.5) - press Ctrl C to exit (type h() ENTER for help)
iex(1)> require ExVCR.IEx
nil
iex(2)> ExVCR.IEx.print(adapter: ExVCR.Adapter.Hackney) do
...(2)> HTTPoison.get!("http://example.com").body
...(2)> end
[
{
"request": {
"url": "http://example.com",
...
```
### Stubbing Response
Specifying `:stub` as fixture name allows directly stubbing the response
header/body information based on parameter.
```Elixir
test "stub request works for HTTPotion" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "http://example.com", body: "Stub Response", status_code: 200] do
response = HTTPotion.get("http://example.com", [])
assert response.body =~ ~r/Stub Response/
assert response.headers[:"Content-Type"] == "text/html"
assert response.status_code == 200
end
end
test "stub request works for HTTPoison" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "http://www.example.com", body: "Stub Response"] do
response = HTTPoison.get!("http://www.example.com")
assert response.body =~ ~r/Stub Response/
assert response.headers["Content-Type"] == "text/html"
assert response.status_code == 200
end
end
test "stub request works for httpc" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "http://www.example.com",
method: "get",
status_code: ["HTTP/1.1", 200, "OK"],
body: "success!"] do
{:ok, result} = :httpc.request('http://example.com')
{{_http_version, _status_code = 200, _reason_phrase}, _headers, body} = result
assert to_string(body) == "success!"
end
test "stub request works for Finch" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "http://www.example.com",
method: "get",
status_code: 200,
body: "Stub Response"] do
{:ok, response} = Finch.build(:get, "http://example.com/") |> Finch.request(MyFinch)
assert response.body =~ ~r/Stub Response/
assert Map.new(response.headers)["content-type"] == "text/html"
assert response.status_code == 200
end
test "stub multiple requests works on Finch" do
stubs = [
[url: "http://example.com/1", body: "Stub Response 1", status_code: 200],
[url: "http://example.com/2", body: "Stub Response 2", status_code: 404]
]
use_cassette :stub, stubs do
{:ok, response} = Finch.build(:get, "http://example.com/1") |> Finch.request(ExVCRFinch)
assert response.status == 200
assert response.body =~ ~r/Stub Response 1/
{:ok, response} = Finch.build(:get, "http://example.com/2") |> Finch.request(ExVCRFinch)
assert response.status == 404
assert response.body =~ ~r/Stub Response 2/
end
end
```
If the specified `:url` parameter doesn't match requests called inside the
`use_cassette` block, it raises `ExVCR.InvalidRequestError`.
The `:url` can be regular expression string. Please note that you should use
the `~r` sigil with `/` as delimiters.
```Elixir
test "match URL with regular expression" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "~r/(foo|bar)/", body: "Stub Response", status_code: 200] do
# ...
end
end
test "make sure to properly escape the /" do
# escape /path/to/file
use_cassette :stub, [url: "~r/\/path\/to\/file", body: "Stub Response", status_code: 200] do
# ...
end
end
test "the sigil delimiter cannot be anything else" do
use_cassette :stub, [url: "~r{this-delimiter-doesn-not-work}", body: "Stub Response", status_code: 200] do
# ...
end
end
```
### TODO
- Improve performance, as it's very slow.
