How to get Response Status Code with Selenium WebDriver?

In web automation and testing, obtaining the HTTP response status code is crucial for validating the accessibility and health of web pages. While Selenium WebDriver is widely recognized for its powerful capabilities in automating browser interactions, it does not directly provide methods for fetching HTTP response status codes. However, you can seamlessly integrate Selenium with other tools to achieve this.

HTTP response status codes are three-digit numbers sent by the server to indicate the result of a client's request. These codes help in understanding whether a request was successful or if there were issues, such as errors or redirects. For comprehensive web testing, combining Selenium WebDriver with libraries like HttpURLConnection allows you to not only automate user interactions but also verify the status codes to ensure that your web applications are performing as expected.

Prerequisites

• Java with JDK installation
• Any ideal setup of IDE for Java

What is the Response Status Code?

A response status code is part of the HTTP response message sent by a server to a client's request. It indicates the result of the server's attempt to handle the request. Common status codes include:

• 200 OK: The request was successful, and the server returned the requested resource.
• 404 Not Found: The requested resource could not be found.
• 500 Internal Server Error: The server encountered an error and could not complete the request.

Why Get Response Status Codes in Selenium?

Getting response status codes is essential for:

• Validating API Responses: Ensure that backend services are responding as expected.
• Performance Monitoring: Identify issues related to server response times and availability.
• Error Handling: Check for and handle errors in web applications.

Steps to get Response Status Code with Selenium WebDriver

Step 1 : Make a new Folder ( eg: Webdriver automation). Make a libs folder inside the project.

Step 2 : Downloading dependencies is important. You need 2 main dependencies(including the JAR files) to be extracted in the libs folder.

Listed below are the required dependencies:

• Selenium JAR Files: Go to Selenium website and select Java under downloads> Selenium Clients and WebDriver Language Bindings.
• WebDriverManager JAR Files: Use the below code on any Online maven download tool to get the zip folder.

 <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
            <artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
            <version>4.23.1</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.github.bonigarcia</groupId>
            <artifactId>webdrivermanager</artifactId>
            <version>5.5.0</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

Step 3 : Next, extract both of these zip folders to the libs folder that we made in our project library earlier.

Step 4 : Send an HTTP Request:

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import io.github.bonigarcia.wdm.WebDriverManager;

import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
import java.net.URL;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            // Make a direct HTTP request using HttpURLConnection
            URL url = new URL("https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/");
            HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
            connection.setRequestMethod("GET");
            int statusCode = connection.getResponseCode();
            System.out.println("HTTP Status Code: " + statusCode);

            // Check if the request was successful
            if (statusCode == HttpURLConnection.HTTP_OK) {
                System.out.println("Connection successful.");
            } else {
                System.out.println("Failed to connect, status code: " + statusCode);
            }

            // Set up Selenium WebDriver using WebDriverManager to handle ChromeDriver setup
            WebDriverManager.chromedriver().setup();
            ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();

            // Initialize the ChromeDriver with the specified options
            WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver(options);

            // Navigate to the URL using WebDriver
            driver.get("https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/");
            System.out.println("Title of the page is: " + driver.getTitle());

            // Close the browser
            driver.quit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Step 5: Compile the code by writing the command : javac -cp "libs/*" Main.java in the terminal. Make sure your present working directory is your project -folder itself.

Step 6: Run the Java program by using : java -cp ".;libs/*" Main command in terminal.

Output In Terminal:

Output In eclipse Editor:

A browser also pops up opening the GFG website landing page. A successful response code is seen in output.

Conclusion

In summary, getting response status codes with Selenium WebDriver is essential for effective web testing and automation. Although Selenium WebDriver itself doesn't provide direct methods for retrieving HTTP response codes, you can utilize tools like BrowserMob Proxy or the Chrome DevTools Protocol to achieve this. BrowserMob Proxy offers a straightforward way to capture and analyze HTTP traffic, while the Chrome DevTools Protocol provides a more integrated approach for Chrome users. By incorporating these tools into your testing workflow, you can ensure that your web applications are functioning correctly and efficiently, providing valuable insights into server responses and performance.