Testing

Overview

The ExpireEye Backend API uses FastAPI’s built-in interactive documentation for testing during development. This guide covers how to effectively test endpoints using Swagger UI, manual testing strategies, and common test scenarios.

Interactive API Testing with Swagger UI

FastAPI automatically generates interactive API documentation at /docs that you can use to test all endpoints without writing code.

Accessing Swagger UI

Start the development server:
```
uvicorn app.main:app --reload
```
Open your browser and navigate to:
```
http://localhost:8000/api/docs
```

Remember the /api prefix - the API root path is configured in app/main.py:31. All endpoints are automatically prefixed with /api.

Understanding the Interface

The Swagger UI organizes endpoints by tags:

auth - Authentication endpoints (login, signup)
Product Inventory - Product management
User Inventory - User’s product inventory
User Profile - User account management
Notifications - Notification system
YOLO Detection - Image-based product detection
Statistics - Usage and expiry statistics
Status - Health check endpoint
QR Code - QR code scanning

Testing Authentication Flow

Create a Test Account

Find the POST /api/auth/signup endpoint under the “auth” section
Click “Try it out”
Fill in the request body:

{
  "name": "Test User",
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "testpass123",
  "dob": "1990-01-01"
}

Click “Execute”
Check the response - you should receive a 200 status with a token

Password must be at least 6 characters (validated in app/routers/auth.py:85-88).

Copy the Authentication Token

From the signup response, copy the token value:

{
  "message": "User created successfully",
  "userId": 1,
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9..."
}

This JWT token is valid for 4000 minutes (configured in app/utils/jwt.py:9).

Authorize Future Requests

Click the “Authorize” button at the top right of the Swagger UI
In the “Value” field, enter: Bearer <your-token>
Click “Authorize”, then “Close”

Don’t forget the Bearer prefix! The middleware expects the format Bearer <token> (see app/main.py:78).

All subsequent requests will now include the Authorization header automatically.

Test Login

Verify authentication works by testing the login endpoint:

Find POST /api/auth/login
Click “Try it out”
Enter credentials:

{
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "testpass123"
}

Click “Execute”
You should receive a new token in the response

Testing Protected Endpoints

Once authorized, you can test any protected endpoint. Here are common test scenarios:

Product Detection (YOLO)

Test the image detection feature:

Test Image Detection Endpoint

Endpoint: POST /api/yolo/detectSteps:

Locate the endpoint under “YOLO Detection”
Click “Try it out”
Click “Choose File” and select an image containing food products
Click “Execute”

Expected Response:

{
  "detected_objects": [
    {
      "class": "apple",
      "confidence": 0.89,
      "bbox": [100, 150, 200, 250]
    }
  ],
  "image_path": "uploads/your_image.jpg"
}

What Happens:

Image is saved to the uploads/ directory (app/routers/detection.py:22-23)
YOLO model processes the image
Detected objects are returned with confidence scores

The endpoint requires authentication. The user ID is extracted from the JWT token (app/routers/detection.py:18).

QR Code Scanning

Test QR code detection:

Test QR Code Scanner

Endpoint: POST /api/qrSteps:

Generate a test QR code (use any online QR code generator)
Download the QR code image
In Swagger UI, find POST /api/qr under “QR Code”
Click “Try it out”
Upload the QR code image
Click “Execute”

Expected Response:

{
  "message": "QR Scanned successfully",
  "data": "Product barcode or text from QR"
}

If no QR detected:

{
  "error": "No QR code found in the image"
}

The QR code detector uses OpenCV (app/main.py:146-159).

User Inventory Management

Test product inventory operations:

Test Adding Products to Inventory

Endpoint: POST /api/product/user-inventorySteps:

Ensure you’re authorized (see authentication steps above)
Find the endpoint under “User Inventory”
Click “Try it out”
Enter product data:

{
  "product_name": "Milk",
  "category": "Dairy",
  "expiry_date": "2026-03-15",
  "quantity": 2
}

Click “Execute”

Expected Response:

{
  "message": "Product added to inventory",
  "product_id": 123
}

Statistics and Analytics

Test Statistics Endpoints

Endpoint: GET /api/stats/expiry-summaryRetrieve expiry statistics for the authenticated user:Steps:

Find GET /api/stats/expiry-summary
Click “Try it out”
Click “Execute”

Expected Response:

{
  "expired": 3,
  "expiring_soon": 5,
  "fresh": 12,
  "total_products": 20
}

This helps test that the scheduled expiry checking job is working (configured in app/main.py:173).

Manual Testing Strategies

Using cURL

Test endpoints from the command line:

# Test login
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"[email protected]","password":"testpass123"}'

# Test authenticated endpoint
curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/api/stats/expiry-summary \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"

# Test file upload
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/yolo/detect \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/image.jpg"

Using Postman

Import the OpenAPI spec from http://localhost:8000/api/openapi.json
Create an environment with variables:
- base_url: http://localhost:8000/api
- token: Your JWT token
Set Authorization header: Bearer {{token}}
Test endpoints using the imported collection

Using HTTPie

A more user-friendly alternative to cURL:

# Install HTTPie
pip install httpie

# Test login
http POST localhost:8000/api/auth/login \
  [email protected] password=testpass123

# Test with authentication
http GET localhost:8000/api/stats/expiry-summary \
  "Authorization:Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

# Upload file
http -f POST localhost:8000/api/yolo/detect \
  [email protected] \
  "Authorization:Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Testing Error Scenarios

Authentication Errors

Test Missing Authorization Header

Test: Call a protected endpoint without authentication

In Swagger UI, click “Authorize” and then “Logout”
Try calling GET /api/stats/expiry-summary
Click “Execute”

Expected Response: 401 Unauthorized

{
  "detail": "Authorization header missing or invalid."
}

This error comes from the middleware (app/main.py:74-77).

Test Invalid Token

Test: Use an expired or malformed token

Click “Authorize” and enter: Bearer invalid_token_123
Try any protected endpoint

Expected Response: 401 Unauthorized

{
  "detail": "Access token is invalid."
}

Token validation happens in app/main.py:86-93.

Test Invalid Credentials

Test: Login with wrong password

Call POST /api/auth/login with incorrect password

{
  "email": "[email protected]",
  "password": "wrongpassword"
}

Expected Response: 401 Unauthorized

{
  "detail": "Invalid email or password"
}

Password verification uses bcrypt (app/routers/auth.py:31-32).

Validation Errors

Test Required Field Validation

Test: Submit incomplete data

Call POST /api/auth/signup with missing required fields:

{
  "email": "[email protected]"
}

Expected Response: 422 Unprocessable Entity

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "field": "name",
      "message": "This field is required."
    },
    {
      "field": "password",
      "message": "This field is required."
    }
  ]
}

Custom validation error handler is in app/main.py:99-115.

File Upload Errors

Test Invalid File Upload

Test: Upload an invalid file type

Call POST /api/yolo/detect with a non-image file
Upload a .txt or .pdf file instead

Expected Response: 500 Internal Server ErrorThe YOLO service will fail to process the file and return an error (app/routers/detection.py:26-28).

Testing WebSocket Notifications

The API includes a WebSocket endpoint for real-time notifications:

// Connect to WebSocket
const token = "your_jwt_token";
const ws = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:8000/api/ws/notification?access_token=${token}`);

ws.onopen = () => {
  console.log("Connected to notifications");
};

ws.onmessage = (event) => {
  const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
  console.log("Notification:", data);
};

ws.onerror = (error) => {
  console.error("WebSocket error:", error);
};

Test Scenarios:

Connect with valid token
Connect with invalid/missing token
Receive notifications when products expire
Handle connection timeouts

WebSocket endpoint is at /ws/notification and requires the access_token query parameter (app/main.py:196-200).

Common Test Workflows

Complete User Journey Test

Create Account

POST /api/auth/signup

Add Products

POST /api/product/user-inventory (multiple times with different products)

Scan Products

POST /api/yolo/detect (test image recognition)

View Statistics

GET /api/stats/expiry-summary

Check Notifications

GET /api/notification (check for expiry alerts)

Update Profile

PUT /api/user/profile

Scheduled Job Testing

Wait for the scheduler to run (every 10 seconds in development) and check:

Console logs for “Scheduler started” message
Notifications for products expiring soon
Statistics update reflecting current expiry status

Monitor the console output to see when check_product_expiry executes.

Next Steps

Local Development

Set up your development environment

Troubleshooting

Solve common testing issues

Setup & Configuration

Development

Overview

Interactive API Testing with Swagger UI

Accessing Swagger UI

Understanding the Interface

Testing Authentication Flow

Testing Protected Endpoints

Product Detection (YOLO)

QR Code Scanning

User Inventory Management

Statistics and Analytics

Manual Testing Strategies

Using cURL

Using Postman

Using HTTPie

Testing Error Scenarios

Authentication Errors

Validation Errors

File Upload Errors

Testing WebSocket Notifications

Common Test Workflows

Complete User Journey Test

Scheduled Job Testing

Next Steps

Local Development

Troubleshooting

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Setup & Configuration

Development

​Overview

​Interactive API Testing with Swagger UI

​Accessing Swagger UI

​Understanding the Interface

​Testing Authentication Flow

​Testing Protected Endpoints

​Product Detection (YOLO)

​QR Code Scanning

​User Inventory Management

​Statistics and Analytics

​Manual Testing Strategies

​Using cURL

​Using Postman

​Using HTTPie

​Testing Error Scenarios

​Authentication Errors

​Validation Errors

​File Upload Errors

​Testing WebSocket Notifications

​Common Test Workflows

​Complete User Journey Test

​Scheduled Job Testing

​Next Steps

Local Development

Troubleshooting

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Interactive API Testing with Swagger UI

Accessing Swagger UI

Understanding the Interface

Testing Authentication Flow

Testing Protected Endpoints

Product Detection (YOLO)

QR Code Scanning

User Inventory Management

Statistics and Analytics

Manual Testing Strategies

Using cURL

Using Postman

Using HTTPie

Testing Error Scenarios

Authentication Errors

Validation Errors

File Upload Errors

Testing WebSocket Notifications

Common Test Workflows

Complete User Journey Test

Scheduled Job Testing

Next Steps