2026-03-04 –, RoboCon Online
I did build a new library for ease testing REST interfaces which have OpenAPI schema. This talk points out how that library works and how good tools we have already in the Robot Framework ecosystem to help library developers. I also want to highlight what was my personal motivation to build yet another library for users and for me to maintain as developer.
Robot Framework SchemathesisLibrary, what it is for and why I did it? RoboCon 2025, there was many talks which pointed me to look at Schemathesis project direction. After some reading and trying the Schemathesis out with some dummy projects, I tough that Schemathesis project looks really interesting. I tough this because Schemathesis promises to automatically generate thousands of test cases from OpenAPI or GraphQL schema and finds edge cases that break your API. It also nicely fits for me, because I have blank spot in API testing. Although I am familiar with APIs and have done some API testing in the past, I am not very proficient with OpenAPI schemas.
When I did start creating SchemathesisLibrary, I did set out few goals for me.
First I should learn how to build a REST service with modern Python tools and how using OpenAPI schemas enables automatic test case generation. Secondly this project should give me better backgorund when talking at work about building RESt services and why doing an OpenAPI schema is an good idea.
Did I achieve all my goals, well to be honest, only partially. But along the way building the SchemathesisLibrary and discovering features from Schemathesis, Robot Framework, DataDriver and many other things. So although I did not reach all my goals, I along the way I did discover new paths to discover and learn. In conclusion, the project can be considered successful from my perspective and I hope that it is also usefull for the community.
Library, OpenAPI, learing, DataDriver, PythonLibCore, Schemathesis, Python.
Is this suitable for ..?: Intermediate RF User, Advanced RF User Describe your intended audience:Test automation engineers who are want to do more with Robot Framework. Also test automation engineers managers who might struggle to see why building a library is good idea.
Tatu Aalto has been doing testing for 25 years and have been part of the Robot Framework ecosystem for 15 years. He maintains several projects in Robot Framework world, mainly focusing on UI automation and library development. He is currently the lead developer of Browser library and is working on a new SchemathesisLibrary. He currently works at OP where he builds testing capabilities as service.