Back in days when I was working with Ruby on a MacBook Pro, I got Curl. However, now as I am using a PC in a .NET shop, I need to use compatible technology to test API – HttpClient is my solution.

Install the Web API Client Libraries via Package Manager Console

Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client

Sample code as below:


  • [Fact] is merely an XUnit notation indicating that this is a unit test
  • using creates an HttpClient instance which is only active within the scope
  • await suspends operation until the execution is completed
  • Method is declared as async as HttpClient methods perform I/O
  • ReadAsStringAsync() will read the output as string
  • JsonConvert.Deserializeobject<> will parse the string into the object model LanguageDictionary
  • You can use many methods from the HttpResponseMessage to verify the response from the API