Test Specifications

name: Test Specifications
description: Documentation that defines the requirements, procedures, and expected outcomes for testing software systems and
  APIs. Test specifications establish the criteria that implementations must satisfy, bridging the gap between product requirements
  and executable test cases. They include test plans, test case definitions, acceptance criteria, and conformance requirements.
  Effective use of this practice reduces bugs in production, supports contract testing, and enables a culture of quality-driven
  development aligned with OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and JSON Schema standards.
url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_specification
tags:
- Acceptance Testing
- Contract Testing
- Documentation
- OpenAPI
- Quality Assurance
- Testing
created: '2025'
modified: '2026-05-03'
apis:
- name: OpenAPI Initiative
  description: The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) is the de-facto standard for describing RESTful APIs. OpenAPI documents serve
    as machine-readable test specifications that tools such as Dredd, Schemathesis, and Postman use to auto-generate and validate
    test suites against live API implementations.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://www.openapis.org/
  baseURL: https://spec.openapis.org/oas/v3.1.0
  tags:
  - REST
  - Specification
  - Standards
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://spec.openapis.org/oas/v3.1.0
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/OAI/OpenAPI-Specification
- name: AsyncAPI Initiative
  description: AsyncAPI is an open specification standard for event-driven and message-based APIs. AsyncAPI documents define
    the channels, messages, and schemas of asynchronous interfaces, providing a test specification baseline for contract and
    integration testing of Kafka, WebSocket, AMQP, and MQTT APIs.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://www.asyncapi.com/
  baseURL: https://www.asyncapi.com/
  tags:
  - AsyncAPI
  - Event-Driven
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.asyncapi.com/docs
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/asyncapi/spec
- name: JSON Schema
  description: JSON Schema provides a vocabulary for annotating and validating JSON documents. Used extensively as the payload
    specification layer in test specifications, JSON Schema enables both human-readable documentation and machine-executable
    validation of API request and response bodies.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://json-schema.org/
  baseURL: https://json-schema.org/
  tags:
  - JSON
  - Schema Validation
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://json-schema.org/learn/getting-started-step-by-step
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/json-schema-org/json-schema-spec
- name: Gherkin / Cucumber BDD
  description: Gherkin is a plain-text language used to write behavior-driven test specifications in Given-When-Then format.
    Cucumber and Karate consume Gherkin feature files as executable test specifications that bridge business requirements
    and automated test implementation for API testing.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://cucumber.io/docs/gherkin/
  baseURL: https://cucumber.io/
  tags:
  - BDD
  - Gherkin
  - Test Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://cucumber.io/docs/gherkin/reference/
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber
- name: Pact Contract Testing
  description: Pact is a consumer-driven contract testing tool where consumers write test specifications (pacts) that define
    what responses they expect from provider APIs. Providers then verify their implementation satisfies all consumer-authored
    specifications via the Pact Broker.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://pact.io/
  baseURL: https://pact.io/
  tags:
  - Consumer-Driven Contracts
  - Contract Testing
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.pact.io/
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/pact-foundation/pact-specification
- name: Swagger Editor
  description: Swagger Editor is an open-source web-based editor for designing OpenAPI specifications that double as test
    specifications. It provides real-time validation, mock server generation, and exportable spec files that integrate with
    testing pipelines.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://editor.swagger.io/
  baseURL: https://editor.swagger.io/
  tags:
  - API Design
  - OpenAPI
  - Test Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://swagger.io/docs/specification/about/
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/swagger-api/swagger-editor
- name: Optic API
  description: Optic is a developer tool that uses API specifications as the source of truth for testing. It tracks specification
    changes, generates changelog diffs, and validates live traffic against OpenAPI specs to detect contract drift between
    specifications and implementations.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://www.useoptic.com/
  baseURL: https://api.useoptic.com
  tags:
  - API Governance
  - Contract Testing
  - OpenAPI
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.useoptic.com/docs
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/opticdev/optic
- name: Spectral
  description: Spectral is an open-source JSON/YAML linter and specification validator. It evaluates OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and
    custom specification documents against rulesets, serving as a static test specification compliance checker integrated
    into CI/CD pipelines via the Spectral CLI.
  image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
  humanURL: https://stoplight.io/open-source/spectral
  baseURL: https://stoplight.io/open-source/spectral
  tags:
  - API Governance
  - Linting
  - OpenAPI
  - Specification
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.stoplight.io/docs/spectral
  - type: GitHubOrg
    url: https://github.com/stoplightio/spectral
common:
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/test-specifications-domain-security.yml
- type: GitHubOrg
  url: https://github.com/api-evangelist/test-specifications
- type: JSONSchema
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/test-specifications/main/json-schema/test-specifications-schema.json
- type: JSONStructure
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/test-specifications/main/json-structure/test-specifications-structure.json
- type: JSONLDContext
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/test-specifications/main/json-ld/test-specifications-context.jsonld
- type: Vocabulary
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/test-specifications/main/vocabulary/test-specifications-vocabulary.yml