Is it best practice to test my Web API controllers directly or through an HTTP client?

Question

I\'m adding some unit tests for my ASP.NET Core Web API, and I\'m wondering whether to unit test the controllers directly or through an HTTP client. Directly would look roughly

Answer 1

You can use Swagger (aka OpenAPI).

Install Swashbuckle.AspNetCore from nuget.

using Microsoft.OpenApi.Models;

//in  Startup.ConfigureServices

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
  services.AddSwaggerGen(c =>
  {
  c.SwaggerDoc("v1", new OpenApiInfo { Title = "My API", Version = "v1" });
  });
}

//in Startup.Configure

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
  app.UseSwagger();
  app.UseSwaggerUI(c =>
  {
    c.SwaggerEndpoint("/swagger/v1/swagger.json", "My API V1");
  });
}

Finally, add "launchUrl": "swagger", in launchSettings.json