How to Blacklist Headers in Rest Assured: A Comprehensive Guide

REST Assured is one of the most popular Java libraries for testing REST APIs. It provides a rich set of features to test various aspects of APIs, including handling headers, cookies, and response data. One of its lesser-known but highly useful features is the ability to blacklist headers from being included in requests or responses.

In this blog post, we will explore what header blacklisting is, its use cases, and how to implement it in Rest Assured.

What Does It Mean to Blacklist Headers?

Blacklisting headers refers to the process of excluding specific headers from being logged or displayed in Rest Assured's logs. This is particularly useful in scenarios where sensitive information, such as Authorization tokens or session identifiers, should not be exposed in logs for security and privacy reasons.

Why Blacklist Headers?

  • Security: Avoid leaking sensitive information like API keys, tokens, or credentials in logs.
  • Readability: Simplify logs by removing unnecessary or redundant headers.
  • Compliance: Ensure sensitive data is not exposed to unauthorized personnel or systems.

How to Blacklist Headers in Rest Assured

Rest Assured provides the HeaderConfig class, which allows you to define how headers should be handled during logging. Using the blacklistHeader method, you can specify the headers you want to exclude from logs.

Example: Blacklisting Specific Headers

Here's an example demonstrating how to blacklist the Authorization header:

import static io.restassured.RestAssured.*;

import io.restassured.config.RestAssuredConfig;

import io.restassured.config.HeaderConfig;

import io.restassured.response.Response;


public class BlacklistHeadersExample {


    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // Configure Rest Assured to blacklist the Authorization header

        RestAssuredConfig config = RestAssured.config()

                .headerConfig(HeaderConfig.headerConfig().blacklistHeader("Authorization"));


        // Set up the base URI

        baseURI = "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com";


        // Perform a GET request while blacklisting the Authorization header

        Response response = given()

                .config(config) // Apply the custom configuration

                .header("Authorization", "Bearer sensitive_token_here")

                .header("Content-Type", "application/json")

                .log().all() // Log request details

                .when()

                .get("/posts/1")

                .then()

                .log().all() // Log response details

                .extract()

                .response();


        // Print response body for verification

        System.out.println("Response Body: " + response.getBody().asString());

    }

}

What Happens in the Logs?

After running the above code:

  • The Authorization header will not appear in the request or response logs.
  • Other headers, such as Content-Type, will still be displayed.

Advanced Usage: Blacklisting Multiple Headers

You can blacklist multiple headers by chaining the blacklistHeader method calls:

RestAssuredConfig config = RestAssured.config()

        .headerConfig(HeaderConfig.headerConfig()

                .blacklistHeader("Authorization")

                .blacklistHeader("Set-Cookie"));

This ensures that both the Authorization and Set-Cookie headers are excluded from the logs.

Benefits of Using Header Blacklisting

  1. Improved Security: Protect sensitive information in your API tests.
  2. Simplified Debugging: Focus on the relevant parts of the logs.
  3. Professionalism: Create cleaner and more professional log outputs for reporting purposes.

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