httpfake

A real fake HTTP server. For real tests.

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Your WebMock stubs are lying to you.

They test that your code constructs the right HTTP call. Not that the API would accept it. Not that the response shape matches what your code expects. Not that you haven't been sending a stale request format for six months while production quietly breaks.

httpfake spins up a real Rack server inside your tests — one that validates incoming request contracts, computes dynamic responses from real inputs, and fails loudly the moment your code sends something wrong.

No cassettes. No scattered stubs. No surprises on deploy day.

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The problem, illustrated

Three tests. Same feature. Different levels of lying.

Test 1 — WebMock (stub at the adapter layer)

stub_request(:post, "https://api.stripe.com/v1/charges")
  .with(body: { amount: "2000", currency: "usd" })
  .to_return(status: 200, body: '{"id":"ch_123","status":"succeeded"}')

This test passes even if:

• Your code sends paymet_method instead of payment_method (typo, ships to prod)
• Stripe adds a required field next week (stub keeps returning 200, forever)
• The response shape changes (your parser breaks in prod, not in tests)
• Your code sends "2000" as a string but Stripe requires an integer

The stub doesn't know anything about Stripe. It just pattern-matches and returns JSON.

Test 2 — VCR (record once, replay forever)

it "charges the customer", vcr: { cassette_name: "stripe/charge" } do
  result = StripeService.charge(amount: 2000)
  expect(result.status).to eq "succeeded"
end

This test passes even if:

• The cassette was recorded in 2022 and payment_method became required in 2023
• The cassette contains your actual Stripe test key (committed to git, forever)
• You need to test what happens when a card is declined (good luck editing cassette YAML)
• CI has no network access for the initial recording run

You end up with 50 YAML files nobody touches, all slowly diverging from reality.

Test 3 — httpfake (what tests should look like)

FakeStripe = HttpFake.define(:stripe) do
  base_url "https://api.stripe.com"

  post "/v1/charges" do
    requires_body :amount, :currency, :payment_method
    validates :amount,   type: Integer, min: 50
    validates :currency, inclusion: %w[usd gbp eur]

    respond 200, json: {
      id:       -> { "ch_#{SecureRandom.hex(8)}" },
      status:   "succeeded",
      amount:   -> { body[:amount] },
      currency: -> { body[:currency] }
    }
  end

  post "/v1/charges", scenario: :card_declined do
    respond 402, json: { error: { code: "card_declined" } }
  end
end

Now your tests:

• Fail immediately if your code sends a missing or invalid field
• Reflect real request data back in responses — no frozen stubs
• Test failure paths with one line: with_scenario(:card_declined) { ... }
• Work offline, in CI, on a plane, in an airgapped environment
• Live in one place — define once, use across every test in the suite

---

Install

# Gemfile
group :test do
  gem "httpfake"
end

bundle install

---

Quickstart (5 minutes)

1. Define your fake service

# spec/support/fakes/fake_stripe.rb
FakeStripe = HttpFake.define(:stripe) do
  base_url "https://api.stripe.com"

  post "/v1/charges" do
    requires_body :amount, :currency, :payment_method
    validates :amount, type: Integer, min: 50

    respond 200, json: {
      id:     -> { "ch_#{SecureRandom.hex(8)}" },
      status: "succeeded",
      amount: -> { body[:amount] }
    }
  end

  get "/v1/charges/:id" do
    respond 200, json: {
      id:     -> { path_params[:id] },
      status: "succeeded"
    }
  end

  post "/v1/charges", scenario: :card_declined do
    respond 402, json: {
      error: { code: "card_declined", message: "Your card was declined." }
    }
  end

  post "/v1/charges", scenario: :network_error do
    raise_error :timeout
  end
end

2. Load it in spec_helper

# spec/spec_helper.rb
require "httpfake"
require "support/fakes/fake_stripe"

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include FakeStripe.rspec_helpers
end

3. Write tests

RSpec.describe StripeService do
  describe "#charge" do
    it "creates a charge and returns the id" do
      result = StripeService.charge(amount: 2000, currency: "usd", payment_method: "pm_card_visa")
      expect(result.id).to match(/\Ach_/)
      expect(result.amount).to eq 2000
    end

    it "raises PaymentError on card decline" do
      with_scenario(:card_declined) do
        expect { StripeService.charge(amount: 2000, currency: "usd", payment_method: "pm_card_visa") }
          .to raise_error(StripeService::PaymentError, /declined/)
      end
    end

    it "raises NetworkError on timeout" do
      with_scenario(:network_error) do
        expect { StripeService.charge(amount: 2000, currency: "usd", payment_method: "pm_card_visa") }
          .to raise_error(StripeService::NetworkError)
      end
    end

    it "catches bad requests before they reach prod" do
      # Missing payment_method — httpfake raises immediately with a descriptive error
      expect { StripeService.charge(amount: 2000, currency: "usd") }
        .to raise_error(HttpFake::HandlerContext::ContractError, /payment_method is required/)
    end
  end
end

No setup per test. No per-test stub_request. No cassette files.

---

DSL Reference

Defining a server

MyFakeService = HttpFake.define(:my_service) do
  base_url "https://api.example.com"   # intercepted via WebMock automatically
  # ...routes
end

Routes

get    "/path"
post   "/path"
put    "/path"
patch  "/path"
delete "/path"

Path parameters:

get "/users/:id/posts/:post_id" do
  respond 200, json: { user_id: path_params[:id], post_id: path_params[:post_id] }
end

Query parameters:

get "/search" do
  respond 200, json: { results: [], query: query_params[:q] }
end

Request contract validation

post "/orders" do
  requires_body :item_id, :quantity              # presence check
  validates :quantity, type: Integer, min: 1     # type + range
  validates :status, inclusion: %w[pending paid] # enum

  respond 201, json: { order_id: -> { SecureRandom.uuid } }
end

When validation fails, httpfake raises HttpFake::HandlerContext::ContractError with a message naming the exact field and rule. Your test fails at the right place, with the right message.

Dynamic responses

Use lambdas anywhere in the response body — evaluated at request time with access to the full request:

post "/echo" do
  respond 200, json: {
    received_at: -> { Time.now.iso8601 },
    you_sent:    -> { body },
    your_ip:     -> { request.ip }
  }
end

Scenarios (failure simulation)

# Definition
post "/payments", scenario: :rate_limited do
  respond 429, json: { error: "Too many requests" }, headers: { "Retry-After" => "30" }
end

post "/payments", scenario: :timeout do
  raise_error :timeout
end

# Usage in tests
with_scenario(:rate_limited) do
  expect { PaymentService.pay(100) }.to raise_error(PaymentService::RateLimitError)
end

Available transport errors: :timeout, :reset, :refused.

Stateful sequences

get "/account/balance" do
  respond_sequence(
    [200, { json: { balance: 1000, status: "active" } }],
    [200, { json: { balance:    0, status: "active" } }],
    [403, { json: { error: "Account suspended" } }]
  )
end

First call → 1000. Second call → 0. Third call → 403. Wraps automatically.

Request assertions

it "sends the right payload" do
  StripeService.charge(amount: 500, currency: "usd", payment_method: "pm_123")

  expect(fake_server(:stripe)).to have_received_request(:post, "/v1/charges")
    .once
    .with(body: { amount: 500, currency: "usd" })
end

Chains: .once, .twice, .times(n), .with(body: ...).

---

RSpec integration

Suite-wide (recommended):

RSpec.configure do |config|
  config.include FakeStripe.rspec_helpers
  config.include FakeSendGrid.rspec_helpers
end

Inline per describe block:

RSpec.describe "degraded upstream" do
  include HttpFake::RSpec

  fake_server(:api) do
    get "/status" do
      respond 503, json: { status: "degraded" }
    end
  end

  it "handles it gracefully" do
    expect(MyApp.health_check).to eq :degraded
  end
end

---

Configuration

# Opt out of WebMock auto-interception (e.g. if you manage stubs manually)
HttpFake.configure do |config|
  config.auto_intercept = false
end

---

Why not WebMock / VCR? (honest comparison)

	WebMock	VCR	httpfake
Real server	No	No	Yes
Request contract validation	No	No	Yes
Dynamic responses	No	No	Yes
Failure scenario testing	Verbose	Very hard	One line
Works offline	Yes	First run: No	Yes
Secrets in version control	No	Risk	No
Cassettes to maintain	No	Yes	No
Define once, use everywhere	Requires setup	Yes	Yes
Catches API drift	No	No	Yes

httpfake uses WebMock internally to intercept requests — complementary, not a replacement.

---

Real-world examples

Stripe (payments)

```ruby FakeStripe = HttpFake.define(:stripe) do base_url "https://api.stripe.com" post "/v1/payment_intents" do requires_body :amount, :currency, :payment_method validates :amount, type: Integer, min: 50 respond 200, json: { id: -> { "pi_#SecureRandom.hex(12)" }, status: "succeeded", amount: -> { body[:amount] }, currency: -> { body[:currency] }, payment_method: -> { body[:payment_method] } } end post "/v1/payment_intents", scenario: :insufficient_funds do respond 402, json: { error: { code: "insufficient_funds", decline_code: "insufficient_funds" } } end end ```

SendGrid (email)

```ruby FakeSendGrid = HttpFake.define(:sendgrid) do base_url "https://api.sendgrid.com" post "/v3/mail/send" do requires_body :to, :from, :subject, :content respond 202, text: "" end post "/v3/mail/send", scenario: :invalid_email do respond 400, json: { errors: [{ message: "Invalid email address" }] } end end ```

Internal microservice

```ruby FakeInventory = HttpFake.define(:inventory) do base_url "https://inventory.internal" get "/products/:sku/stock" do respond 200, json: { sku: -> { path_params[:sku] }, stock: -> { rand(0..100) }, unit: "each" } end get "/products/:sku/stock", scenario: :out_of_stock do respond 200, json: { sku: -> { path_params[:sku] }, stock: 0 } end get "/products/:sku/stock", scenario: :service_down do respond 503, json: { error: "Inventory service is down" } end end ```

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Requirements

• Ruby 3.1+
• Runtime dependencies: webrick, rack (both lightweight)
• Optional: webmock for URL interception

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Contributing

git clone https://github.com/jibranusman/httpfake
cd httpfake
bundle install
bundle exec rspec      # run all tests
bundle exec rubocop    # lint

See CONTRIBUTING.md for full guidelines. Good first issues are labeled good first issue.

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License

MIT. See LICENSE.

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httpfake — stop testing your assumptions, start testing your contracts.