How to Check URL Validity

Introduction

After a software release, ensuring that all URLs are accessible is critical. This blog post demonstrates how to use Pytest and the requests library to check if URLs return a 200 status code, indicating they are valid and accessible. This approach is fast, reliable, and easy to integrate into your testing pipeline.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Pytest (pip install pytest)
• Requests library (pip install requests)

Sample Code

Below is a simple Pytest script to check if a URL returns a 200 status code:

import pytest
import requests
def test_url_returns_200():
    url = "https://www.cryan.com"
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
        assert response.status_code == 200
    except requests.RequestException as e:
        pytest.fail(f"Request failed: {e}")
                

This test sends a GET request to the specified URL and checks if the response status code is 200. If the request fails (e.g., due to a timeout or network issue), the test fails with an error message.

Running the Test

Save the code in a file (e.g., test_urls.py) and run it using the following command:

pytest test_urls.py -v
                

The -v flag provides verbose output, showing the test results in detail.

Scaling to Multiple URLs

To test multiple URLs, you can use Pytest's parameterization feature. Here's an example:

import pytest
import requests
@pytest.mark.parametrize("url", [
    "https://www.cryan.com",
    "https://www.example.com",
    "https://www.python.org",
])
def test_url_returns_200(url):
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, timeout=5)
        assert response.status_code == 200
    except requests.RequestException as e:
        pytest.fail(f"Request failed for {url}: {e}")
                

This script tests multiple URLs in a single test function, making it efficient for checking several endpoints after a release.

Best Practices

• Set a reasonable timeout (e.g., 5 seconds) to avoid hanging tests.
• Use parameterization to test multiple URLs efficiently.
• Integrate tests into your CI/CD pipeline for automated checks post-release.
• Log failures with detailed messages to aid debugging.

Conclusion

Using Pytest and the requests library, you can quickly validate URLs after a release. This approach is simple, scalable, and integrates well with automated testing workflows. By incorporating these tests into your pipeline, you can ensure your application's URLs remain accessible and reliable.