SOAP API Testing
Learn SOAP API testing techniques and XML-based web services. This is a foundational concept in quality assurance and test automation that professional developers rely on daily. The explanations below are written to be beginner-friendly while covering the depth and nuance that comes from real-world Software Testing experience. Take your time with each section and practice the examples
45 min•By Priygop Team•Last updated: Feb 2026
SOAP API Concepts
- XML-based protocol for web services — a critical concept in quality assurance and test automation that you will use frequently in real projects
- WSDL (Web Service Description Language) — a critical concept in quality assurance and test automation that you will use frequently in real projects
- SOAP Envelope structure — a critical concept in quality assurance and test automation that you will use frequently in real projects
- HTTP POST method for requests — a critical concept in quality assurance and test automation that you will use frequently in real projects
- XML request/response format — a critical concept in quality assurance and test automation that you will use frequently in real projects
SOAP Request/Response Example
Example
// SOAP Request
POST /soap/UserService HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: "getUser"
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Header>
<Authentication>
<Token>abc123token</Token>
</Authentication>
</soap:Header>
<soap:Body>
<getUser xmlns="http://example.com/userservice">
<userId>123</userId>
</getUser>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
// SOAP Response
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Body>
<getUserResponse xmlns="http://example.com/userservice">
<user>
<id>123</id>
<name>John Doe</name>
<email>john@example.com</email>
<status>active</status>
</user>
</getUserResponse>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>
// SOAP Fault Response
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<soap:Envelope xmlns:soap="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
<soap:Body>
<soap:Fault>
<faultcode>soap:Client</faultcode>
<faultstring>Invalid user ID</faultstring>
<detail>
<ErrorCode>INVALID_USER_ID</ErrorCode>
<ErrorMessage>User ID must be a positive integer</ErrorMessage>
</detail>
</soap:Fault>
</soap:Body>
</soap:Envelope>