The PACT Methodology and Network by WBCSD defines a way to calculate and exchange product carbon footprints between companies in supply chains. The data model and API for this data exchange (the PACT Network) are described in the PACT Technical Specifications
Software solutions implementing these specs should be able to exchange data peer-to-peer. However, by its nature, the footprint data will differ between companies and industries. Also, software solution providers have certain amount of freedom in choosing what parts of the specification to implement.
Therefore, in order to demonstrate that a software implementation is of a certain standard, application vendors conduct a mutual conformance approval process by testing each other, and publish the results in the PACT web site. This tool was built by Takuro Okada to facilitate and automate a large part of this process.
Per the PACT Network Contribution Policy this tool has been adopted in October 2024 by the PACT community and will now be maintained on the WBCSD GitHub.
PACT aims to use the API Testbed as the official conformance testing tool beginning of 2025. We strongly recommend using this tool right now as an aid in verifying PACT conformance.
- Node.js 18.0 later
If Node.js is not installed on your system, see here.
The test tool will make calls TO the API implementation to be tested, but will also expect incoming calls FROM the implementation. Please make sure any firewall settings accomodate for that.
The Tech-Spec-implemented application under test can be connected to via HTTPS. Its endpoints, authentication information, etc. are described in the following YAML.
version: "2.2.0"
authContextPath: https://example.com
userName: USER_NAME
password: PASSWORD
dataContextPath: https://example.com
filterSupport: true
limitSupport: true
eventsSupport: true
log: stdout
stubContextPath: http://localhost:3000
keepStub: true
stubData:
companyIds:
- urn:uuid:38503239-8214-43c6-bc4e-3580a6def72b| Key | Setting contents |
|---|---|
| version | The version of the PACT Tech Spec to test against. |
| authContextPath | Context path of Action Authenticate. Usually, this context path plus /auth/token becomes the endpoint. If OpenID Connect Discovery is supported, this context path plus /.well-known/openid-configuration is accessed to determine the authentication method. |
| userName | Username to use in Action Authenticate. |
| password | Password to use in Action Authenticate. |
| dataContextPath | Context path for Action ListFootprints, Action GetFootprint, and Action Events. In Tech Spec ver 2, this context path with /2/footprints appended will be the endpoint. |
| filterSupport | Set to true if the application under test implements the $filter request parameter in Action ListFootprints. |
| limitSupport | Set to true if the application under test implements the limit request parameter in Action ListFootprints. |
| eventsSupport | Set to true if the application under test implements Action Events. |
| log | Destination for output of test results. If stdout is selected, the result will be displayed in the standard output. If file is selected, the result will be output to the current directory as result.log. |
| userAgent | Set if UserAgent is required in the HTTP header of the request. |
| stubContextPath | Action Events requires two-way communication. Setting the context path here will start the HTTP server with the configured protocol and port. The application under test should be able to respond to this context path when responding to requests. |
| stubData/* | If you want to set a fixed value for ProductFootprint when responding to an Action Events request, specify the ProductFootprint property under stubData. |
| keepStub | If set to true, the stub server will not terminate when the test case ends. This can be used when sending Action Events from the application under test and verifying the request data. |
| url | OPTIONAL: URL to a custom schema for development purposes, if no version is specified. Can be a http(s):// or local file:// resource. |
PACT Technical Specifications that the application must follow are also provided in the OpenAPI format. This tool usually obtains them over the Internet and inspects the application's response.
To test from an environment without Internet access, download the OpenAPI specification from PACT Network OpenAPI Schema Definitions in advance and specify the file path in url of the configuration file.
To run this tool, use npx.
If you want to install it in the current directory beforehand, run the following command. (if it is not installed, npx will ask you if you want to install it.)
npm install @wbcsd/pact-api-testbedSet the YAML file created in Test Settings to the setting argument as shown below and execute it.
npx @wbcsd/pact-api-testbed --setting test.yamlAlternatively, you can configure it interactively on the command line by starting it without any parameters:
npx @wbcsd/pact-api-testbedIf the application being tested responds according to PACT Technical Specifications, PASS is output. If a problem is found, NG is output along with the cause.
© Takuro Okada