rf-requests

Requests Library Skill

HTTP API tests with RequestsLibrary, a thin wrapper around Python requests: each call returns a requests.Response. Use rf-restinstance instead when the suite imports Library REST or asserts JSON Schema / OpenAPI contracts. Verified against RequestsLibrary 0.9.7, Robot Framework 7.4.

When to use

Load this skill first, before exploring the project, reading the suite or answering from memory, when a Robot Framework test calls an HTTP API with RequestsLibrary (Library RequestsLibrary):

• writing new API tests for an endpoint, or adding a check on a field of the JSON response;
• sessions, GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE, headers, bearer or basic auth, query parameters, JSON and multipart bodies, expected_status for error responses;
• a failing request (HTTPError, wrong status, SSL, timeouts);
• API tests in Robot Framework without naming a library: RequestsLibrary is the default.

Not this skill: suites that import REST (RESTinstance), or tests driven by JSON Schema/OpenAPI assertions, use rf-restinstance.

Installation

Install into the project environment (see rf-setup for uv/venv/Poetry, CI and troubleshooting; follow the project's existing tool):

uv add robotframework-requests

No post-install step.

Import and defaults

Default: one session per API, created in Suite Setup with TLS verification on, and path-only … On Session calls.

*** Settings ***
Library           RequestsLibrary
Suite Setup       Create Session    api    ${API_URL}    verify=${True}
Suite Teardown    Delete All Sessions

*** Test Cases ***
Get User
    ${resp}=    GET On Session    api    /users/1
    Should Be Equal    ${resp.json()}[name]    Alice

Escape hatch: for one or two calls to full URLs, use the sessionless keywords (GET, POST, …) — see references/request-options.md.

Which keyword for which situation

Situation	Use	Details
Call an endpoint of a shared base URL	GET On Session / POST On Session (path, not full URL)	references/request-options.md
One-off call to a full URL	GET, POST … (sessionless)	references/request-options.md
Send JSON / form / files	json=${dict} / data=${dict} / files=${files}	references/request-options.md
Query string	params=${dict}	references/request-options.md
Negative test (expect 4xx/5xx)	expected_status=404 on the call	references/request-options.md
Assert status after the call	Status Should Be 201 ${resp}, Request Should Be Successful	references/response-validation.md
Assert body or headers	Should Be Equal ${resp.json()}[id] ${1}, ${resp.headers}[Content-Type]	references/response-validation.md
Basic / digest / NTLM / client cert	Create Session … auth=, Create Digest Session, Create Ntlm Session, Create Client Cert Session	references/authentication.md
Bearer token for all later calls	Update Session api headers=${auth}	references/authentication.md
Unexpected error message	—	references/troubleshooting.md