Web Debugger

Purpose & User Intent: Identify and diagnose web API interactions by constructing HTTP requests, validating responses, and surfacing discrepancies. Target users include frontend engineers, backend developers, QA analysts, and API teams who need reproducible tests across environments, diagnose flaky endpoints, or verify integrations with third-party services. Core value lies in structured inputs, precise outputs, and deterministic comparisons that reduce debugging time.
Core Logic & Features: Form-based multi-field input management for base_url, endpoint path, method, headers, query parameters, and optional body. Core features include request construction, execution, response capture, latency measurement, and status/header/body validation. Advanced features add environment variables, authentication schemes, preset templates, JSON-path diffing, and export of results.
Inputs & Outputs: Inputs include base_url (string, required), endpoint (string, required), method (GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE, required), headers (object, optional), query_params (object, optional), body (string, optional), expected_status (integer, optional), expected_headers (object, optional), and expected_body_pattern (string, optional). Outputs include actual_status (integer), actual_headers (object), actual_body (string), latency_ms (number), and diffs (array of strings). Formatting rules: JSON bodies compared when content-type is application/json; otherwise raw string diff; numeric comparisons use exact match unless tolerance is configured.
Algorithms & Calculations: Build request URL from base_url and endpoint, merge headers, append query parameters, and send HTTP request. Time the round-trip to compute latency_ms. If response is JSON, perform structured comparison against expected_body_pattern or targeted JSON paths; otherwise apply textual diff. Flag mismatches for status, headers, or body content, and produce a concise diffs list with field-path references.
Error & Edge Cases: Handles invalid inputs (e.g., missing URL, unsupported method), network errors, timeouts, and non-deterministic responses. Redacts sensitive headers, enforces UTF-8, and returns standardized error codes with optional retry guidance. Large payloads or streaming responses are bounded; when external data is unavailable or rate-limited, partial results and error codes are returned.
Industry/Region & Localization: HTTP/1.1/2 standards, RFC-conforming header handling, and ISO-8601 timestamps for latency reporting. Supports UTC-based timings and locale-neutral string handling; no currency or regional formatting is required unless extended by inputs.
Assumptions & Exclusions: Assumes network access and valid, well-formed inputs. Not a full test framework; excludes browser context, UI rendering, or automated end-to-end workflows beyond HTTP-level validation.