A mock API that returns new fake users on every call

1. Write the body with fake helpers

Pass every string through | json. It adds the quotes and escapes them, so the body stays valid JSON.

{"name": {{ fake "name" | json }}, "email": {{ fake "email" | json }}}

2. Create a template rule

Send the rule to the REST API. template: true makes the body and every header value a template. {{ path "id" }} copies the id from the URL. This example sets seed: 42, which gives the same fake data on every request. Leave seed out (the default is 0) to get new data on every request.

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/mocks \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"method": "GET", "path": "/users/{id}", "template": true, "seed": 42,
       "headers": {"Content-Type": "application/json"},
       "body": "{\"id\": {{ path \"id\" }}, \"name\": {{ fake \"name\" | json }}, \"email\": {{ fake \"email\" | json }}}"}'

3. Call the mock

Point your app or test at http://127.0.0.1:8000/mock. With seed: 42, this is the answer every time.

curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/mock/users/42
# {"id": 42, "name": "Jessica Hills", "email": "jonathon.marquardt@wilkinson.biz"}

4. Find more generators

Numbers, UUIDs, cities, prices and many more are available. The full list with each generator's parameters comes from one endpoint.

GET /api/mocks/helpers

A template rule builds the body for each request instead of sending a fixed one. With seed: 0, the fake values change on every request. With any other seed, the fake data repeats, which suits tests that compare responses.