In this blog, we'll dive into what the Keploy extension does, how it enhances your Visual Studio Code experience, and why it’s becoming an essential tool for developers and QA engineers alike.
What Is the Keploy VSCode Extension?
The Keploy VSCode Extension is a productivity booster that integrates seamlessly into your Visual Studio Code environment, enabling you to:
- Auto-generate test cases based on real-time API traffic
- Manage and edit mocks visually
- Run and view test results directly within VSCode
- Integrate with your existing CI/CD pipelines
Keploy uses AI to convert real HTTP API calls into deterministic test cases, allowing you to test applications without writing boilerplate code or brittle mocks.
Why You Should Use Keploy in VSCode
Let’s face it—writing and maintaining tests is often time-consuming and repetitive. The Keploy extension brings AI and automation directly into your IDE, solving many of these challenges:
1. Auto-Generate Tests Without Writing Code
Keploy listens to your API traffic during development and transforms it into reusable test cases. That means no more manually setting up tests for every endpoint. Just run your app and let Keploy do the heavy lifting.
2. Mock Third-Party Calls Easily
Instead of writing manual mocks for databases or external APIs, Keploy records the actual responses and reuses them. This creates deterministic tests that can run in isolation—even without a network connection.
3. Smooth Developer Experience
With everything available inside the VSCode interface, you can record, test, and debug—all in one place. No context switching, no terminal gymnastics.
4. Perfect for Local and CI Testing
The tests generated by Keploy work the same locally and in your CI environment, helping you catch bugs early and reduce the “it works on my machine” problem.
How to Use the Keploy VSCode Extension
Getting started is simple. Just follow these steps:
- Install the Extension
Go to the VSCode Marketplace and search for "Keploy". Install the extension in one click.
- Start Your Application
Run your app locally as you normally would.
- Capture Traffic
Use the Keploy panel to start capturing HTTP traffic. Keploy will automatically record incoming API requests and responses.
- Generate and Run Tests
Once captured, the extension will show generated test cases. You can run them right from the UI or export them for CI use.
- View Results and Logs
Each test shows pass/fail status and detailed logs, so debugging becomes quick and painless.
For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, check out our guide on how to run tests in Visual Studio Code.
Who Should Use Keploy?
The Keploy VSCode Extension is perfect for:
- Backend Developers: Automatically generate tests while developing new APIs.
- QA Engineers: Focus on exploratory and edge-case testing while letting Keploy handle the repetitive parts.
- SRE/DevOps: Use Keploy-generated tests in CI/CD to catch regressions and ensure system stability.
Real-World Use Cases
Here’s how teams are using Keploy effectively:
- Microservices: Isolate and test each service using auto-generated mocks.
- Legacy Systems: Capture traffic from stable endpoints and start writing tests—even when source code isn’t well documented.
- Collaborative Teams: Developers write features; Keploy captures tests; QA fine-tunes them. Win-win.
Why It’s Better Than Traditional Test Tools
Traditional testing frameworks often require writing extensive boilerplate code, setting up mocks, and constantly updating test cases when the API evolves. Keploy removes these hurdles by:
- Listening to real app behavior
- Generating realistic test data
- Creating tests that evolve with your application
All this, inside your favorite code editor.
Final Thoughts
The VSCode Extension Keploy isn’t just another testing tool—it’s a smarter way to build confidence in your code. Whether you’re working solo or in a large engineering team, Keploy’s traffic-based test generation and mocking save time, reduce errors, and let you focus on building features.
???? Get started by installing the Keploy extension in VSCode, and don’t forget to read our complete guide to running tests in Visual Studio Code for a hands-on walkthrough.