Local development

varis test calls your service on your own machine, exactly as Varis would in production. It checks your input, signs the request, calls your endpoint, and checks your output. Nothing is published, charged, or recorded.

RequirementsCopy Anchor Link

• The Varis CLI. For more information, see Install the CLI.
• For TypeScript and JavaScript projects, Node.js and npm. varis build runs the generator with npx. The CLI itself doesn't need Node.js.
• Your server must be running on your machine (or wherever the test_base_url points to).

Set up local testingCopy Anchor Link

Tell the CLI where your local server runs. You only do this once per project:

varis init --test-base-url http://localhost:3000

varis test doesn't call your production address. It takes each service's endpoint, swaps base_url for test_base_url, keeps the rest of the endpoint as it is, and calls the result.

base_url and test_base_url don't need the same path. Set test_base_url to wherever the same routes live on your local server.

For example, your production setup might route api.example.com to your app's /api folder, while locally the same routes live under localhost:3000/api:

{
  "base_url": "https://api.example.com",
  "test_base_url": "http://localhost:3000/api"
}

A service published at api.example.com/currency/convert is tested at localhost:3000/api/currency/convert.

If a service's endpoint_url doesn't start with base_url, such as rates.example.com/latest, varis test adds that endpoint's whole path to test_base_url. In this example, it calls localhost:3000/api/latest.

Test a serviceCopy Anchor Link

1. Start your dev server.

2. If you changed a define call, build:

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   varis build

3. Run varis test with the service's slug and an input:

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   varis test convert-currency --input '{"from":"USD","to":"EUR","amount":100}'

The CLI prints your service's output if the call would succeed. If it would fail, the CLI tells you exactly why, such as a missing field in your output or a failed signature check.

Give the inputCopy Anchor Link

If you give no input, the CLI sends {} when the service has no required fields. Otherwise, it names the fields you need to give.

How test requests are signedCopy Anchor Link

Your endpoint verifies a test request with verifyRequest, the same as a real one. You don't change your code to test.

While varis test runs, the CLI signs the request with a throwaway test key and serves the public half at 127.0.0.1:47823. In development, the SDK fetches the key from there.

This is safe in production. A test key is only reachable on the machine running varis test, so a production server never finds one, and a test request never verifies there.

Test requests have a request ID that starts with var_tst_req_. Real ones start with var_req_.

TroubleshootCopy Anchor Link

If a test request fails with 401, the CLI's message says whether your server fetched the test key.

• Your server didn't fetch the key: it can't reach the CLI, or it doesn't call verifyRequest. Check the cases in the following table.
• Your server fetched the key, but the check failed: something changed the request before verifyRequest saw it, such as a body parser or a proxy that rewrites the path. Verify before parsing the request body.

What's nextCopy Anchor Link

• Publish with varis publish.
• Handle requests.