yatl-testing 0.1.2

Yet Another Testing Language

YATL — Yet Another Testing Language

YATL is a declarative, YAML‑based testing language for API testing. If you know HTTP and YAML, you know YATL.

Install & Run

pip install yatl-testing

Create your first test file ping.yatl.yaml:

name: ping
base_url: google.com

steps:
  - name: simple_test
    request:
      method: GET
    expect:
      status: 200

Run it:

yatl ping.yatl.yaml

That’s it!

Why YATL?

Writing API tests in code is cumbersome. YATL turns tests into pure data — declarative, readable, and accessible to every team member.

The Problem

• You have to write code – even for a simple GET request
• High entry barrier – need to know programming languages well
• Complex dependencies – chaining requests becomes spaghetti code
• Hard to maintain – tests become unreadable over time

The Solution

YATL is a domain‑specific language that lets you describe API tests in clean YAML. No imperative code, no hidden magic.

If you know HTTP and YAML, you know YATL.

Key Features

• Declarative syntax – describe what to test, not how
• Data extraction & templating – use Jinja2 to reuse response data
• Multiple data formats – JSON, XML, form data, multipart files
• Parallel execution – run tests in parallel with --workers
• Skip tests & steps – disable tests without deleting them
• Advanced validation – validate with rules like gt, regex, type

Example

name: User API
base_url: https://api.example.com

steps:
  - name: login
    request:
      method: POST
      url: /auth/login
      body:
        json:
          username: "test"
          password: "secret"
    expect:
      status: 200
    extract:
      token: "response.access_token"

  - name: get_profile
    request:
      method: GET
      url: /profile
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer {{ token }}"
    expect:
      status: 200

Usage

Running Tests

# Run all `.yatl.yaml` files in a directory
yatl tests/

# Run a single file
yatl myapi.yatl.yaml

# Run with 5 parallel workers
yatl tests/ --workers 5

Writing Tests

Every YATL test is a YAML file with a .yatl.yaml extension. The structure is simple:

name: Test Suite Name
base_url: https://api.example.com

steps:
  - name: step_one
    request:
      method: GET
      url: /endpoint
    expect:
      status: 200
      body:
        json:
          field: "expected_value"

See the full documentation for all available options.

Documentation

Full documentation is available in the docs/ directory:

• Usage Guide (English)
• Руководство по использованию (Russian)

CI/CD Integration

YATL fits seamlessly into CI pipelines. Example GitHub Actions workflow:

- name: Run YATL tests
  run: yatl tests/ --workers 5