Does Keploy replace JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension?

No. Keep JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension for unit tests, where it is the right tool. Keploy covers the integration layer, where the cost is the dependencies rather than the assertions.

Do I have to change my Dropwizard code?

No. Keploy runs the process you already run and captures at the socket, so no annotation, no wrapper and no dependency injection change is needed.

What happens when a dependency changes?

Re-record. One command refreshes every captured interaction in the suite, so a changed contract shows up as a diff rather than as a silently passing stale mock.

Does it work with Dropwizard middleware?

Yes, and that is a reason to prefer recording here: middleware, authentication and serialisation all run on every recorded request, so the test covers the real request path rather than a handler called directly.

Can I run this in CI?

Yes, and that is the point: replay needs nothing running. No database service, no broker, no network access to upstreams, so the job is the same on every runner.

Keploy as a Dropwizard testing framework

Keploy tests Dropwizard services by recording real HTTP and database traffic from a running process, then replaying it as assertions. There is no test context to assemble and no framework wiring to change, because capture happens below the framework at the socket.

Generate Dropwizard tests free

keploy record -c "java -jar target/app.jar server config.yml"

18.4K+

1.2M+300M+mocks createdSlack

What Keploy gives a Dropwizard team

Any Dropwizard service, unchanged

Keploy runs the Dropwizard process unchanged. Routing, middleware and serialisation all execute on every recorded request, because capture is at the socket rather than inside the framework.

Any Dropwizard version
Middleware runs unchanged
Routing and serialisation real
No plugin or adapter

Try Keploy for free Explore the docs

The problem

Why Dropwizard integration tests slow teams down

The friction is rarely the assertions. It is everything around them — spinning up dependencies, keeping mocks honest, and repairing tests after every refactor.

Book a call Explore the docs

Three ways to do it

Testing Dropwizard: by hand, with JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension, or with Keploy

JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension describes the exchange by hand and still needs the dependency supplied. Keploy records both halves once and replays them with nothing running.

By hand

JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension

With Keploy

Select any row for the full comparison, with code.

Get started Book a call

Same coverage, three costs

What you write for Dropwizard vs what Keploy records

All three produce the same assertion. Only the third still passes after the next refactor without anyone editing it.

By hand2–4 hours

OrderControllerTest.java

hand-written

import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;

// The framework loads the context; the repository is replaced.

class OrderControllerTest {

@Mock OrderRepository repository;

@Mock PaymentClient payments;

@Test

void confirmsAnOrder() {

when(repository.findById("o-1"))

.thenReturn(new Order("o-1", 4200, "NEW"));

when(payments.authorize(any()))

.thenReturn(new Auth("AUTHORIZED"));

var res = controller.confirm("o-1");

assertEquals("CONFIRMED", res.status());

}

The mocks exist only for this test and return objects, not rows.

JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension1–2 hours

OrderControllerWireMockTest.java

tool-assisted

import static com.github.tomakehurst.wiremock.client.WireMock.*;

class OrderControllerWireMockTest {

static WireMockServer wireMock = new WireMockServer(8787);

@BeforeAll

static void stubUpstream() {

wireMock.start();

stubFor(post(urlEqualTo("/v1/payment_intents/tok_123/confirm"))

.willReturn(okJson("{\"status\":\"AUTHORIZED\"}")));

}

// A real Postgres is still needed, migrated and seeded per run.

@Test

void confirmsAnOrder() {

var res = controller.confirm("o-1");

assertEquals("CONFIRMED", res.status());

}

JUnit + DropwizardAppExtension serves the upstream. The database is still a real one.

With Keploy~5 minutes

keploy/test-set-0/test-1.yaml

auto-generated

version: api.keploy.io/v1beta1

kind: Http

name: test-1

spec:

req:

method: POST

url: /orders/o-1/confirm

resp:

status_code: 200

body: '{"id":"o-1","status":"CONFIRMED","total":4200}'

assertions:

noise:

- body.confirmedAt

---

kind: Postgres

spec:

query: select id, total, status from orders where id = $1

rows:

- { id: "o-1", total: 4200, status: "NEW" }

---

kind: Http

spec:

request:

url: https://api.payments.example.com/v1/payment_intents/tok_123/confirm

response:

body: '{"status":"AUTHORIZED"}'

Recorded from one real request. Nothing here was typed by hand.

Times are estimates for authoring one endpoint’s coverage from scratch, not measurements.

Explore the docs Request a trial

Keploy vs the alternatives

Dropwizard testing tools, compared

The options a team on the JVM actually reaches for, and where each one genuinely wins. Select a row for the full comparison.

Keploy

JUnit + Mockito

WireMock

REST Assured

Testcontainers

Postman

SmartBear ReadyAPI

Best in classStrongPartialNot covered

Assessments reflect each tool’s documented behaviour, not benchmark measurements.

Request a trial Book a call

How it works

Record your Dropwizard app once, replay it forever

Keploy sits below your Dropwizard process at the network layer. It watches the calls your app already makes, then serves them back on replay so tests run with no dependencies attached.

Your Dropwizard appGET/api/v1/orders/{id}200

RecordingKeploy proxyeBPF · userspace

PostgreSQLPostgres protocol beneath the ORM

MySQLMySQL protocol beneath the driver

RedisRESP beneath the cache client

Outbound HTTPEvery outbound HTTP call

+2 more Dropwizard dependencies

An example shape of a captured call. Your own endpoints and dependencies come from your real traffic, so nothing here has to be written by hand.

Try Keploy for free Request a trial

Mock coverage

What Keploy mocks for Dropwizard, with zero config

6 of the 6 dependencies a typical Dropwizard service talks to are stubbed from the recording itself — no mock classes, no fixture files, no containers in CI.

Auto-mocked
PostgreSQLView page
Postgres protocol beneath the ORM
Auto-mocked
MySQLView page
MySQL protocol beneath the driver
Auto-mocked
RedisView page
RESP beneath the cache client
Outbound HTTP
Auto-mocked
Outbound HTTP
Every outbound HTTP call
JDBI
Auto-mocked
JDBI
SQL beneath JDBI
Auto-mocked
Apache KafkaView page
Kafka protocol beneath the client

Explore the docs Book a call

Quick start

Your first Dropwizard test suite in under five minutes

Every command below runs against your existing Dropwizard service. Nothing in your source tree changes.

1
1Install the Keploy CLI
A single binary. It needs a Linux kernel with eBPF support, or Docker on macOS and Windows — and it adds nothing to your project's dependencies.
curl -sSL https://keploy.io/install.sh | bash
2
2Record your service
Pass the command you already use to start the app. Keploy runs it and watches every socket it opens.
keploy record -c "java -jar target/app.jar server config.yml"
3
3Exercise the paths you care about
Use curl, your frontend, or an existing smoke script. Every request becomes a test case with its Dropwizard calls captured alongside it.
curl -X POST localhost:8080/orders/o-1/confirm
curl localhost:8080/orders/o-1
4
4Replay in CI
Replay serves the recorded dependency responses, so the job needs no service containers and no Docker daemon.
keploy test -c "java -jar target/app.jar server config.yml" --delay 15