# Phase 4: Advanced Testing Features
## Overview
Phase 4 extends the collections testing capabilities with advanced assertion types, validation, and flow control features.
## Features to Implement
### 1. Variable Validation
- Validate required variables before execution
- Type checking for variables
- Default values for missing variables
- Error on undefined variable usage
### 2. Advanced Assertions
- **Regex Matching**: Pattern matching for strings
- **JSONPath Queries**: Query nested JSON with JSONPath expressions
- **Schema Validation**: Validate against JSON Schema
- **Contains/Not Contains**: Check for presence of values
- **Length Assertions**: For arrays and strings
- **Type Assertions**: Verify data types
### 3. Performance Assertions
- Response time thresholds
- Size limits for responses
- Throughput measurements
- Performance trends tracking
### 4. Conditional Execution
- Skip requests based on previous results
- Run requests only if conditions are met
- Early exit on critical failures
- Dynamic request ordering
### 5. Request Hooks
- Pre-request scripts for setup
- Post-request scripts for cleanup
- Transform request data
- Custom validation logic
## Implementation Plan
### Step 1: Variable Validation
```yaml
# Example collection with validation
name: validated-collection
variables:
required:
- api_key
- environment
defaults:
timeout: 30
retries: 3
types:
api_key: string
timeout: number
retries: number
```
### Step 2: Regex and JSONPath Assertions
```yaml
expect:
body:
# JSONPath assertion
"$.data[0].email": { jsonpath: ".*@example.com" }
# Regex matching
id: { regex: "^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-" }
# Contains assertion
tags: { contains: "production" }
# Length assertion
items: { length: 10 }
# Type assertion
count: { type: "number" }
```
### Step 3: Performance Assertions
```yaml
expect:
performance:
responseTime: { max: 500 } # ms
size: { max: 1048576 } # 1MB
throughput: { min: 100 } # requests/sec
```
### Step 4: Conditional Execution
```yaml
requests:
- name: check_feature
operation: features/check
save_as: feature_status
- name: use_new_api
operation: v2/endpoint
condition: "{{feature_status.enabled}} == true"
- name: cleanup
operation: cleanup
runAlways: true # Run even on failure
```
### Step 5: Request Hooks
```yaml
requests:
- name: authenticated_request
operation: secure/data
pre:
- type: script
code: |
// Generate dynamic timestamp
context.set('timestamp', Date.now());
post:
- type: validate
code: |
// Custom validation
assert(response.data.length > 0);
```
## Benefits
- More robust testing capabilities
- Better error handling and validation
- Performance monitoring
- Complex test scenarios
- Dynamic test flows
## Priority Order
1. Variable validation (High)
2. Regex and JSONPath assertions (High)
3. Conditional execution (Medium)
4. Performance assertions (Medium)
5. Request hooks (Low)