How to properly test applications that request third-party APIs?

Question

PHPUnit

The project has a SomethingApi.php class that has methods for requesting a third-party service (getting data, editing, etc.).
This class is used mainly in queues (Jobs), you need to write tests for these tasks.
My solution:
1. Create a class like MockSomethingApi.php , whose methods will return static JSON, without actually calling the API, then inject this class into Jobs..

Answer 1

Good afternoon!
You don't need to create a separate mock class. Laravel comes out of the box with a Mockery package and a wrapper above it. Therefore, you can mock an object partially (usually the api calls themselves), while the rest of the methods continue to work without changes.
Inside the test:

$client = factory(Client::class)->create();
$mock = Mockery::mock(Client::class);
$this->app->instance($class, $mock);
$mock->shouldReceive('createFromApi')
            ->withAnyArgs()
            ->andReturn($client);

In this example, the createFromApi method of the Client class is mocked (which, let's say, creates an instance based on the data of the API call). Now, by specifying andReturn($client), we know for sure that an instance of the Client class will be returned. All other methods remain unchanged.
$this->app->instance installs a "tweaked" instance when resolving from DI. In this way, you are mocking specific API methods that are called within your test.