@meshtest/cli

Live API testing for the AI era — import OpenAPI/Postman specs, run live regression suites, detect drift against stored baselines.

meshtest is a CLI that turns any OpenAPI 3.x spec or Postman v2.1 collection into runnable, source-controlled regression tests against a live API. It auto-detects auth, generates CRUD chains with capture variables, and snapshots responses as baselines so you can diff against future runs.

If you want AI agents (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) to drive this same engine over the Model Context Protocol, install @meshtest/server alongside it.

Install

# global (use the meshtest binary anywhere)
npm install -g @meshtest/cli

# project-local
npm install --save-dev @meshtest/cli
pnpm add -D @meshtest/cli

Node 18+ required.

Quickstart

# 1. Scaffold config, .env.example, and meshtest.auth.yaml
meshtest init

# 2. Import an OpenAPI spec or Postman collection into a runnable manifest
meshtest generate --from openapi ./openapi.yaml -o meshtest.yaml

# 3. Run live tests against your staging API
meshtest run --env staging

# 4. Record a baseline and diff future runs against it
meshtest diff --record
meshtest diff             # next time, fails if responses drifted

What you get

• Auto-imports — OpenAPI 3.x + Postman v2.1 → ready-to-run YAML manifest
• Auth auto-detection — bearer, api_key, basic, header, and OAuth2 client-credentials flows extracted from the source spec
• CRUD capture chains — POST → capture id → use in subsequent GET/PATCH/DELETE
• Setup/teardown hooks — seed and clean up test data per suite
• Built-in template vars — run_id, timestamp, iso_date, random_int, random_string
• Drift detection — store response snapshots, diff future runs, fail CI on unexpected changes
• Sensitive-data stripping — baseline.strip_on_record redacts secrets before they're written to disk
• Auto-discovery — --all finds every *.meshtest.yaml across configured registries

Example manifest

service:
  name: petstore
  base_url: https://api.petstore.example.com
  auth:
    type: bearer
    token: "${PETSTORE_TOKEN}"

vars:
  user_id: "${USER_ID}"

tests:
  - suite: Pet lifecycle
    tests:
      - name: Create a pet
        method: POST
        path: /pets
        body:
          name: "test-{{ vars.run_id }}"
        expect: { status: 201 }
        capture:
          pet_id: "$.id"

      - name: Get the created pet
        method: GET
        path: /pets/{{ captured.pet_id }}
        expect: { status: 200 }

      - name: Delete the pet
        method: DELETE
        path: /pets/{{ captured.pet_id }}
        expect: { status: 204 }

Documentation

Full reference, guides, and recipes: meshtest-docs.vercel.app

Quick links:

• Quickstart — 60-second walkthrough
• CLI reference — every command and flag
• Manifest schema — every YAML field
• Authentication guide — bearer, api-key, OAuth2, profiles
• Test data management — capture chains, setup/teardown, built-in vars
• Baselines & drift — record, diff, strip-on-record

License

See LICENSE. Free for personal, commercial, and internal business use. Source is not redistributed.

— Mukul Kumar · github.com/developerKumar