Make API request

The API/makeApiRequest extension sends an HTTP request from inside a Virtuoso journey and returns response details such as the response body, HTTP status, response headers, and request duration.

This is useful when your test needs to call an API, validate a response, capture response headers, or measure how long the request takes before reusing the returned value in later journey steps.

Parameters:

• method required, the HTTP method as a string, for example GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE;
• url required, the full API endpoint URL where the request should be sent;
• body required for POST, PUT, and PATCH requests. This must be a valid JSON string because the source code parses it with JSON.parse(body) for these methods;
• headers optional, request headers as a valid JSON string. If this input is blank, the extension sends an empty headers object.

How to apply this to your journey

Use the extension in a journey by calling API/makeApiRequest with the execute command. Pass each value to the matching extension input using as inputName.

To make a POST API request:

execute "API/makeApiRequest" using "POST" as method, "https://reqres.in/api/login" as url, '{"email":"peter@klaven"}' as body, '{"content-type":"application/json"}' as headers returning $response

To make a GET API request:

execute "API/makeApiRequest" using "GET" as method, "https://reqres.in/api/users/2" as url, "" as body, '{"content-type":"application/json"}' as headers returning $response

You can also use Virtuoso variables to make the same step reusable across different methods, URLs, request bodies, or headers:

execute "API/makeApiRequest" using "$method" as method, "$url" as url, "$body" as body, "$headers" as headers returning $response

Example setup using variables before calling the extension:

store value "POST" in $method
store value "https://reqres.in/api/login" in $url
store value '{"email":"peter@klaven"}' in $body
store value '{"content-type":"application/json"}' in $headers
execute "API/makeApiRequest" using "$method" as method, "$url" as url, "$body" as body, "$headers" as headers returning $response

The extension returns a JSON string that includes the response data, HTTP status, response headers, and request duration:

{
  "data": {},
  "status": 200,
  "headers": {},
  "duration": "123.45 ms"
}

This extension requires the following resource:

• https://unpkg.com/axios/dist/axios.min.js 

The extension should be configured as:

• Run asynchronously: Yes
• Scope: Global

Add the extension to your Virtuoso instance

Select the domain that matches your Virtuoso account.

const makeRequestWithTiming = async (method, url, body, headers = '') => {
  const startTime = performance.now(); // Capture the start time with high resolution

  try {
    const config = {
      method: method.toLowerCase(),
      url,
      headers: headers ? JSON.parse(headers) : {},
    };

    // Only include the body for methods that support it
    if (['post', 'put', 'patch'].includes(method.toLowerCase())) {
      config.data = JSON.parse(body);
    }

    const response = await axios(config);

    const { data, status, headers: responseHeaders } = response;
    const duration = performance.now() - startTime; // Calculate the duration (request time) in milliseconds

    const responseBody = {
      data,
      status,
      headers: responseHeaders,
      duration: `${duration.toFixed(2)} ms`, // Include the duration in the response with "ms" suffix
    };

    done(JSON.stringify(responseBody));
  } catch (e) {
    const duration = performance.now() - startTime; // Calculate the duration (request time) in milliseconds

    const responseBody = e.response
      ? {
          data: e.response.data,
          status: e.response.status,
          headers: e.response.headers,
          duration: `${duration.toFixed(2)} ms`, // Include the duration in the response with "ms" suffix
        }
      : {
          error: e.message,
          duration: `${duration.toFixed(2)} ms`, // Include the duration in the response with "ms" suffix
        };

    console.error(e); // Log the error for debugging purposes
    done(JSON.stringify(responseBody));
  }
};

// Validate required parameters
if (!method) {
  throw new Error('HTTP method parameter is missing');
}

if (!url) {
  throw new Error('URL parameter is missing');
}

if (['POST', 'PUT', 'PATCH'].includes(method.toUpperCase()) && !body) {
  throw new Error(`Body parameter is missing for ${method.toUpperCase()} request`);
}

// Execute the request
makeRequestWithTiming(method, url, body, headers);