Change Log

By Alan RichardsonUpdated 2026-08-05

2026/08/05 - Site refresh, progress tracking, and hosted API clients

Added the Buggy API practice mode for exercising API testing against deliberately flawed behaviour.
Expanded the tutorials and reference sections with more practical API testing guidance and clearer supporting material.
Restyled the site content pages and navigation to improve readability, structure, and access to tutorials, references, practice modes, tools, and solutions.
Added in situ request editors to tutorial pages so examples can be tried directly from the page.
Improved API Challenges progress tracking, including clearer challenge progress, solution flow, and achievement handling.
Re-enabled server-side storage of challenge progress so challenge state can be restored more reliably.
Added hosted online API client pages for the Basic Client and Swagger Client.
Added the OpenAPI Converter to convert OpenAPI files into more permissive tester specifications in the browser.
Added tester OpenAPI profile controls to the Online Swagger UI so imported files can be rendered as original, practical, or aggressive tester-friendly specs.

Added PATCH support for API Challenges todo instance routes and Simple API item instance routes.
Added partial JSON, JSON Merge Patch, and JSON Patch update styles.
Added three final PATCH /todos/{id} (200) challenges and solution walkthroughs.
Expanded HTTP verb tutorials with HEAD, PATCH, and QUERY notes and current RFC links.

Added QUERY support for API Challenges, Simple API, Simulation, and Mirror practice modes.
Added OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2 JSON endpoints, with openapi.json defaulting to OpenAPI 3.1.
Added ?permissive support to the generated versioned OpenAPI JSON endpoints.
Added ?download support to generated OpenAPI JSON endpoints so they can return attachment headers.
Added ?download support to API From Hell OpenAPI JSON endpoints.
Added a new final QUERY /todos (200) challenge and solution walkthrough.

added the curl.exe checkbox to make working with Windows easier (curl is the inbuilt bad one and curl.exe is the installed good one)
expanded the Mockaroo From Hell prototype and made it a built in practice API to challenge REST Clients.

Expanded the status codes to cover 431, 422 and 409, rather than use 400 for everything
Added new challenges for 431 for a Too Long X-Challenger header and 409 mismatched X-Challenger GUIDs
Added inline clients into the API Challenges solution pages to make solving within the browser possible (for most challenges).
Fixing API responses to be more accurate e.g. 204 for no-content 200 responses e.g. DELETE
Added the Copy for AI buttons to Swagger UI
re-ordered navigation API Simulator, API Challenges, Simple API

Added page for Toolshop. The Toolshop is a UI and API with a range of API calls and .

Added page for RestListicator showing how to run, and sample exercises to get started. The RestListicator API is a simple (basic authentication) CRUD API.

Added page for Device Registry API showing how to run, and sample exercises to get started. The Device Registry API is a simple (basic authentication) CRUD API with Open API documentation and a Swagger UI.

Added page for Best Buy API Playground showing how to run, and sample exercises to get started. The Best BUY API Playground is a full CRUD API with Open API documentation and a Swagger UI. The application also has a lot of data available when it starts.
Added page for FX Trade Hub showing how to run, and sample exercises to get started. The FX Trade Hub is a simple API with a Swagger UI. Has a lot of default data installed and is suitable for full CRUD operation testing.
Added page for tracks showing how to run, and sample exercises to get started. Tracks offers a Web App UI and a REST API and was the case study application used in my book Automatinc and Testing a REST API
Removed TODO API Sample from list of practice apps because during testing in docker the api failed to work