How do I run API tests from GitHub Actions?

A common way is to run your API tests as part of a GitHub Actions workflow on every push or pull request.

1) Put your tests in the repo

Typically you’ll have:

• API test code in a folder like tests/
• a test runner like:
  • pytest for Python
  • jest/supertest for Node.js
  • newman for Postman collections
  • curl + shell scripts for simple checks

2) Create a workflow file

Add a file like:

.github/workflows/api-tests.yml

3) Example: Python + pytest

If your API tests are in Python:

name: API Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  api-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: testdb
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd="pg_isready -U test"
          --health-interval=10s
          --health-timeout=5s
          --health-retries=5

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -r requirements.txt

      - name: Run API tests
        env:
          API_BASE_URL: http://localhost:8000
        run: |
          pytest tests/api

4) Example: Node.js + Jest

If your API tests are Node-based:

name: API Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  api-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Run API tests
        env:
          API_BASE_URL: https://staging.example.com
        run: npm test

5) If your API needs to be started in CI

If the API is part of the same repo, you may need to start it before tests:

- name: Start API
  run: |
    npm run start &
    sleep 10

Better is to wait for a health endpoint rather than using a fixed sleep.

Example:

- name: Wait for API
  run: |
    until curl -sf http://localhost:3000/health; do
      echo "Waiting for API..."
      sleep 2
    done

6) Use secrets for auth tokens

If your tests need credentials, store them in GitHub Secrets and reference them:

env:
  API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.API_TOKEN }}

7) Postman/Newman example

If you use Postman collections:

name: API Tests

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  newman-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install Newman
        run: npm install -g newman

      - name: Run Postman collection
        run: newman run tests/postman/collection.json

Best practices

• Run tests on push and pull_request
• Use environment variables for base URLs and secrets
• Prefer a health check over arbitrary sleep
• If possible, run tests against a disposable test environment
• Upload test reports/artifacts if you want CI visibility

If you want, I can give you a workflow tailored to your stack (Python, Node, Postman, Java, etc.) and whether your API runs inside the workflow or against a deployed staging server.