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Keploy as a Vert.x testing framework

Keploy tests Vert.x 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 Vert.x tests free
keploy record -c "java -jar target/app.jar"
18.4K+VS Code1.2M+300M+mocks created

What Keploy gives a Vert.x team

Any Vert.x service, unchanged

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

  • Any Vert.x version
  • Middleware runs unchanged
  • Routing and serialisation real
  • No plugin or adapter
The problem

Why Vert.x 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.

Three ways to do it

Testing Vert.x: by hand, with vertx-junit5, or with Keploy

vertx-junit5 describes the exchange by hand and still needs the dependency supplied. Keploy records both halves once and replays them with nothing running.

Select any row for the full comparison, with code.

Same coverage, three costs

What you write for Vert.x 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.

vertx-junit51–2 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());
}
}

vertx-junit5 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.

Keploy vs the alternatives

Vert.x 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.

Best in classStrongPartialNot covered

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

How it works

Record your Vert.x app once, replay it forever

Keploy sits below your Vert.x 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.

Keploy records a GET call to /api/v1/orders/{id} on a Vert.x service and captures the dependency calls it makes.

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.
Mock coverage

What Keploy mocks for Vert.x, with zero config

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

Quick start

Your first Vert.x test suite in under five minutes

Every command below runs against your existing Vert.x 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"
  3. 3Exercise the paths you care about

    Use curl, your frontend, or an existing smoke script. Every request becomes a test case with its Vert.x 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" --delay 15

Ready to try it on your own Vert.x service?

Ecosystem

Works with the rest of your Vert.x stack

Keploy records at the network layer, so framework and driver choices inside your Vert.x app do not change how it captures traffic.

FAQ

Vert.x testing with Keploy: common questions

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