How to Create a Karate Project in VSCode

Karate is a popular open-source tool used for API testing, in the simplest terms, it is a testing framework for web services. It enables developers to write automated functional tests” that dynamically validate the behavior of REST, SOAP, JSON, GraphQL, or other web services. VSCode is a free, open-source code editor that is widely used across multiple operating systems.

If you’re interested in using karate to test your APIs and are wondering about how to set up the karate project in Visual Studio Code (VSCode), look no further! In this blog post, we will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to create a karate project in VSCode.

Step 1: Install Java Development Kit (JDK)

Before we start with VSCode or Karate, we have to install JDK, as Karate is inbuilt in Java, and JDK is necessary for the karate to work. You can download the latest version of the JDK from the official Oracle website, and it is compatible with multiple operating systems.

Step 2: Install Visual Studio Code

The next step is to download and install VSCode from the official website. VSCode supports various programming languages like JavaScript, Typescript, C++, and many more. It has many extensions available in its own marketplace, which makes it a popular choice among developers.

Step 3: Install Karate Plugin for VSCode

Once you have set up JDK and VSCode, the next step is to install the Karate Plugin for VSCode. The best thing about Karate is that it’s an open-source tool, and anyone can create plugins or extensions for it. To add the karate plugin via VSCode, follow the below steps:

– Open VSCode
– Click on the Extension icon in the left pane
– Type the keyword Karate in the search bar
– Select the first result in the list named karate-plugin from Intuit

Once the Karate plugin is added to VSCode, it’s time to create a new project.

Step 4: Create a New Karate Project in VSCode

To create a new Karate project in VSCode, follow the below steps:

– Open VSCode
– Click on the Explorer icon on the left pane
– Create a new folder (where you want to keep your project) and give it a name
– Right-click on the folder to open the context menu
– Select the „New File“ option
– Give the file a name, e.g., „myapi.feature“
– Select the file
– Click on the „Open with“ button at the top right corner of the VSCode
– Select the option „Karate Feature Editor“
– Start writing your code for testing your APIs.

Step 5: Run Karate Test

To run the Karate Test, follow the below steps:

– Open the command prompt or terminal
– Go to the folder where you have kept your project
– Run the command – `mvn clean test`

This command will run the tests in your project and show the output in the console.

Frequently Asked Questions about Creating a Karate Project in Visual Studio Code

Karate is an open-source framework that makes testing web services easier. With its seamless integration with Visual Studio Code, developers can create, execute and maintain Karate test cases right from the editor. However, setting up a Karate project for the first time can be difficult, especially for beginners. In this post, we’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions about how to create a Karate project in Visual Studio Code.

1. What are the prerequisites for creating a Karate project in Visual Studio Code?

Before you start creating a Karate project, you must have the following installed on your computer:

• Java (JDK 8 or above)
• Maven (version 3.5.0 or above)
• Visual Studio Code (version 1.60.0 or above)
• Karate Plugin (version 0.0.33 or above)

2. How do I create a new Karate project in Visual Studio Code?

To create a new Karate project, follow these steps:

1. Open Visual Studio Code and click on the „View“ menu, then select „Command Palette“.
2. Type „Karate“ in the search bar and select „Karate: Create New Project“ from the list.
3. Enter the name of the project when prompted, and choose the location where you want to save it.
4. Wait for the project to be initialized, which will take a few minutes.

3. How do I create a Karate feature file?

To create a new Karate feature file, do the following:

1. Right-click on the „src/test/java“ folder in your Karate project and select „New Folder“ to create a new folder.
2. Enter a name for your folder, for example, „features“.
3. Right-click on the newly created folder and select „New File“.
4. Name the file with the extension „.feature“, for example, „homepage.feature“.
5. Open the feature file and start writing your Karate scenarios.

4. How do I run Karate tests in Visual Studio Code?

In Visual Studio Code, you can run Karate tests using the Karate Runners extension. To run a test, do the following:

1. Open the Karate feature file you want to run.
2. Click on the „Run“ icon located in the top right corner of the editor window.
3. Select „Karate Run File“ from the list of available runners.
4. Wait for the test to finish.

5. How do I configure Karate in Visual Studio Code?

To configure Karate in Visual Studio Code, follow these steps:

1. Open the „settings.json“ file in Visual Studio Code by clicking on the „View“ menu and selecting „Command Palette“.
2. Type „settings“ in the search bar and select „Preferences: Open User Settings“.
3. In the search bar, type „karate“ to filter the Karate settings.
4. Configure the desired Karate settings, such as the Karate version, the output directory, and the default test runner.

6. How do I debug Karate tests in Visual Studio Code?

To debug a Karate test in Visual Studio Code, do the following:

1. Open the Karate feature file you want to debug.
2. Click on the „Debug“ icon located in the top menu bar.
3. Click on the „Add Configuration“ button and select „Karate Test“.
4. Configure the desired debug settings, such as the Karate version, the test runner, and the debug port.
5. Start the debug session by clicking on the „Run“ button.

7. How do I generate a Karate test report in Visual Studio Code?

To generate a Karate test report in Visual Studio Code, do the following:

1. Open the Karate feature file you want to generate the report for.
2. Click on the „Run“ icon located in the top right corner of the editor window.
3. Select „Karate Cucumber Report“ from the list of available runners.
4. Wait for the test to finish.
5. Locate the generated HTML report in the „target/cucumber-html-reports“ directory of your Karate project.

Introduction

Visual Studio Code or VSCode is a widely used code editor for developing software applications. It offers a range of features and support for various programming languages. This blog post aims to show you how to create a karate project in VSCode. With the step-by-step instructions provided, you will be able to create a karate project with ease.

Prerequisites

Before we start, ensure that you have these prerequisites installed and set up:

• Java 8 or above installed and in the system path
• Apache Maven 3.5.2 or above installed and set up
• VSCode installed and set up
• Karate plugin installed in VSCode by following these steps:

1. Open VSCode and click on the “Extensions” option in the sidebar
2. In the search bar, type in “Karate runner” and click on the Install button next to the Karate runner plugin
3. Wait for the installation to complete
4. Now, you should be ready to start creating your Karate project

Creating the Karate Project in VSCode

Now that you have the necessary prerequisites set up, you can proceed with creating your Karate project.

Step 1: Create a New Maven Project

The first step is to create a new Maven project. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open VSCode and create a new folder where you want your project to be stored
2. Open a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Shift + ` for Windows or Cmd + Shift + ` for macOS
3. In the terminal, type the following command:

mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=com.mycompany.research -DartifactId=karateproject -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart -DinteractiveMode=false

This command creates a new Maven project with a group ID of “com.mycompany.research” and an artifact ID of “karateproject”. You can change these values as per your requirements.

Step 2: Add Dependencies to the POM File

The POM or Project Object Model file is a configuration file for Maven projects. It contains information about the project such as dependencies, plugins, and other details. To add the dependencies required for a Karate project, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the POM file located in the root directory of the project
2. Open the POM file in VSCode
3. Add the following dependencies to the dependencies section of the POM file:

„`xml

com.intuit.karate
karate-apache
0.9.6
test


com.intuit.karate
karate-junit4
0.9.6
test

„`

These dependencies are required for running Karate tests using Junit4 in Apache Maven.

Step 3: Create Karate Test Files

In Karate, a test is a feature file that contains scenarios written in Gherkin syntax. To create a Karate test file, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the src/test/java directory and select “New File”
2. Name the file with the .feature extension. For example, mytest.feature
3. Open the file and write your first Karate scenario. For example:

„`gherkin
Feature: My Test
Scenario: Sample Test
Given url ‚https://reqres.in/api/users/2‘
When method get
Then status 200
„`

In this example, we are sending a GET request to the URL https://reqres.in/api/users/2 and expecting a 200 status code.

Step 4: Run the Karate Tests

To run the Karate tests, follow these steps:

1. Open a terminal by pressing Ctrl + Shift + ` for Windows or Cmd + Shift + ` for macOS
2. In the terminal, navigate to the root directory of your project
3. Run the following command:

mvn test

This command will compile the code and run all the Karate tests in the project.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have seen how to create a Karate project in VSCode using Maven. We have also seen how to write Karate test scenarios and run them using Maven. With the help of the Karate runner plugin in VSCode, creating and running Karate projects has become easier than ever. We hope this article has been informative and helpful in getting you started with Karate testing.