Using Inspectr with GitHub Actions

Running API tests inside GitHub Actions is a typically workflow and part of testing pipeline, but it can be hard to see exactly what the runner sends and receives. Inspectr solves this by exposing a remote ingress domain that forwards traffic from your CI job to your local Inspectr instance.

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Why Use Remote Ingress?

• Capture every request made during CI runs
• Replay failing calls without re-triggering the workflow
• Share a single endpoint with multiple runners

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Step 1: Start Inspectr with --expose

Start Inspectr locally (or on any reachable machine) and open a public channel:

inspectr \
  --listen=:8080 \
  --backend=http://api.staging.com \
  --expose \
  --channel=ci-tests \
  --channel-code=secret123

Inspectr creates a public URL, for example:

https://ci-tests.in-spectr.dev

All traffic hitting this URL will be forwarded to the staging/testing/… service and recorded.

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Step 2: Configure GitHub Actions

Point your tests at the Inspectr URL. A minimal workflow might look like:

name: API Tests
on: [push]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      BASE_URL: https://ci-tests.in-spectr.dev
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

Update your tests so they use the BASE_URL environment variable when sending requests.

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Step 3: Inspect the Requests

While the workflow runs, Inspectr logs everything:

• Watch the CLI output or open http://localhost:4004
• View full request and response details
• Replay or modify requests from the UI

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Problem Solved

Without Inspectr, capturing traffic from GitHub Actions is tricky and usually requires custom logging. With a remote ingress domain you get real-time visibility into every request that are triggered in your GitHub CI workflow.

Benefits

• Centralized API debugging across all CI jobs
• No need to expose your test environment directly
• Works with any language or test framework