Create API connections

API connections let you define reusable endpoints and settings, such as authentication, timeouts, and encryption, which you can use across your API tests. This keeps your tests consistent and save time on maintenance.

Create a new connection

To create a new connection, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Configurations > API connections and select Create connection.

  2. Enter your connection details:

    Property

    Description

    Name

    Enter a unique name for the connection.

    Type

    Currently, Tosca Cloud supports HTTP only.

    Endpoint

    Specify the endpoint to which you want to send messages. This can be a URI, a port, or an IP address.

  3. Select Create.

Set up connection details

After you create a connection, you can configure additional settings. Select a connection from the list and use the properties panel on the right to adjust the following:

The connection type defines the technology your connection uses to communicate with the API endpoint. Currently, Tosca Cloud supports HTTP only.

Specify the authentication method for your connection. Select an authentication type and enter the required details.

Select None if the endpoint doesn't require authentication. If you want to provide a custom authorization header in your API message, set authentication to None and add the header manually.

Send a username and password with your request.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Username

Enter your username.

Password

Enter your password.

Pre-authenticate

Enable this option to send authentication details with your first request. Without pre-authentication, the first request doesn't include credentials, and the server returns a challenge before you can authenticate.

Authenticate requests to Amazon Web Services (AWS) with your access key and secret key.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Access Key

Enter your AWS access key ID.

Secret Key

Enter your AWS secret access key.

Session Token

Optional. Enter your session token if you use temporary credentials.

Service Name

Enter the name of the AWS service you want to authenticate with. For example, sqs or s3.

Region

Select the AWS region of the service endpoint.

Use a certificate file to verify your identity.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Certificate

Enter the file path to your client certificate.

Passphrase

Enter your passphrase if your certificate requires one.

Securely transmit credentials as a hash, so the server never receives your password in plain text.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Username

Enter your username.

Password

Enter your password.

Use certificates stored in a Java Keystore file to authenticate your connection.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Keystore

Enter the file path to your .jks file.

Keystore Password

Enter the password if the keystore requires one.

Certificate

Select the certificate from your keystore.

Certificate Password

Enter the password if the certificate requires one.

Authenticate with Kerberos tickets or Simple and Protected GSSAPI Negotiation Mechanism (SPNEGO) for Single Sign-On (SSO) in environments that support Kerberos.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Username

Enter your username.

Password

Enter your password.

Domain

Specify the domain of the authentication service.

Authenticate with the NT LAN Manager (NTLM) challenge-response protocol, common in Windows environments. NTLM verifies user identity without transmitting the password over the network.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Username

Enter your Windows username.

Password

Enter your Windows password.

Domain

Specify the Windows domain against which to authenticate.

Use token-based authentication. Select a grant type that matches your authorization flow and enter the required details.

Configure the following properties:

Property

Description

Grant Type

Select how the application receives the access token. The following grant types are available:

  • Authorization Code

  • Authorization Code (PKCE)

  • Implicit

  • Password

  • Client Credentials

Authorization Endpoint

Enter the authorization server URI.

Token Endpoint

Enter the token server URI.

Redirect URI

Optional. Enter the redirect URI.

Client ID

Enter the client identifier issued by the authorization server when you registered your application.

Client Secret

Enter the client secret to authenticate the identity of your application.

Username

Enter your username. Required for the Password grant type.

Password

Enter your password. Required for the Password grant type.

Scope

Optional. Specify the scope of permissions the application requests. Enter one or more space-separated values, for example openid profile.

Send Client Secret

Specify how Tosca Cloud sends the client secret during authentication.

  • As Header sends it as an authorization header.

  • As Content sends it as a parameter in the request payload.

  • Default sends it in both.

Send Origin header

Specify whether Tosca Cloud should send the CORS (origin) header. The Default option uses the same behavior as in earlier versions.

Code Challenge Method

Required for the Authorization Code (PKCE) grant type. Select SHA-256 to hash the code verifier or Plain to use it as-is.

Code Verifier

Optional. To connect the authorization request to the token request, enter a cryptographically random string between 43 and 128 characters long. Use the letters A-Z and a-z, the numbers 0-9, and the characters -._~. If you leave this field empty, Tosca Cloud automatically generates a value.

Configure XML and Web Services (WS) security for your connection.

From the Elements to Generate dropdown menu, select which security elements you want to include in your messages. Then, select one of the following:

  • Action: Adds a SOAP action element to the SOAPAction header. By default, the system uses the existing SOAPAction header of the message. Disable the default to specify a custom action URL, for example http://CalculatorService/ICalculator/Add.

  • To: Adds an address element that specifies the recipient for your messages. By default, Tosca Cloud uses the URL from the connection and the resource identifier from the message. Disable the default to specify a custom address, for example https://webservice.toscacloud.com/signature.svc.

  • Timestamp: Adds a timestamp element that defines a time period during which the message is valid. Specify the time to live in seconds.

  • Signature: Adds a digital signature that signs selected elements of the message. Configure the signature settings below.

  • Username: Adds a username token in the message header for WS Security. Configure the username settings below.

Property

Description

Type of Signature

Select Signature in Security Header (SOAP Standard) to sign the SOAP message or Enveloped Signature to sign a specific element within the message.

Elements to Sign

Select which parts of the message to sign:

  • Body

  • Timestamp

  • To

  • Custom element

  • All

Custom Element Id

Enter the ID of the element to sign. Required when you select Custom element for Elements to Sign.

Canonicalization Algorithm

Select the canonicalization algorithm (opens in new tab). Canonicalization ensures that logically equivalent XML documents produce identical signatures.

Digest Algorithm

Select the digest algorithm (opens in new tab) to calculate the hash value that creates and verifies the signature.

Signature Method

To generate the signature, select the signature algorithm (opens in new tab).

Key Identifier Type

Select how to include the public key for signature validation:

  • Do not Include

  • RSA or DSA key value

  • Issuer and Serial Number

  • X509v3 Certificate Data

  • Binary Security Token

Certificate

Select the certificate type to use for the signature.

Property

Description

Username

Enter the username for the Web Services (WS) security token.

Password

Enter the password.

Password Type

Select Plain text to send the password as-is or Digest to send it in hashed format.

Add Nonce

Optional. Enable to include a unique random value that prevents replay attacks.

Add Created

Optional. Enable to include a creation timestamp for the token.

To route your API requests through a proxy server, specify its address, username, and password.

Configure additional settings, such as response timeout in milliseconds, to control how your connection behaves when it communicates with the API endpoint.

Edit a connection

To update any connection setting, select a connection from the list, change the values in the properties panel, then select Save.

What's next

Create API messages and start using your connections in your API tests.