Delete a User

How it works

DELETE asks the server to remove the resource at a URI. When it succeeds and has nothing more to say, the right answer is 204 No Content: a success status with no message body at all. That is what testkru returns for DELETE /users/1. An id outside the five demo users gets 404 with a JSON error instead.

A DELETE carries no payload, so in REST Assured it is the shortest request in the course: given() followed by delete() with the path. The Response still has a status code and headers, and getBody().asString() returns an empty string, which is the simplest way to confirm the server sent nothing back.

Be careful with parsing here. There is no JSON in a 204. jsonPath() itself still returns, but the first value you read from it throws a JsonPathException instead of returning null. Read the status first and parse only when you know a body exists. Note too that the sandbox does not really remove anything: a repeat DELETE is again 204 and a GET still finds John Doe.

About the assignment

Delete user 1 and prove the server answered with a bare success: status 204 and a body that is completely empty.

What you will do

1. 1Send a DELETE to /users/1 with given() and delete(), keeping the Response.
2. 2Write out the status, labelled Status:.
3. 3Turn the body into a string with getBody().asString() and ask it isEmpty().
4. 4Print that boolean after the label Body is empty:.

Common mistakes

• Asserting 200 for a delete

  Some APIs return 200 with a confirmation body, but this one returns 204. Copying statusCode(200) from an earlier lesson makes a passing delete look like a failure.

• Parsing the empty body

  Reaching for jsonPath().getString() out of habit fails with a JsonPathException, because there is no document to parse. Check emptiness on the raw string instead.

• Treating a repeat delete as proof

  A real API may answer a second DELETE with 404 or with 204 again. Decide which your contract promises, and confirm removal with a follow-up GET rather than with the delete status alone.

In a real test suite

Related lessons

• OPTIONS RequestAsks the server which methods, DELETE among them, /users supports.
• HEAD RequestAnother response with no body: a HEAD request that still returns headers.
• Handle 404 Not FoundShows the 404 JSON error an unknown user id produces.

To try one of these calls on any API endpoint without a task, open the Online Selenium Java Compiler (REST Assured is included).

Starter code

The editor above opens with this code. Fill in the TODO lines, then run and submit it.

import io.restassured.RestAssured;
import io.restassured.response.Response;
import io.restassured.specification.RequestSpecification;
import static io.restassured.RestAssured.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        RestAssured.baseURI = "https://testkru.com/api";

        // TODO: DELETE /users/1
        // TODO: Print the status code
        // TODO: Check if body is empty: response.getBody().asString().isEmpty()
    }
}