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In this guide we will see how to configure and use the HttpTarget class to interact with any HTTP-based LLM API endpoint.

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Basic Configuration

The HttpTarget class requires a few essential parameters to work: 
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://api.example.com/chat",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
    },
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={
            "messages": [
                {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
                {"role": "user", "content": "{{ message }}"}
            ]
        },
        message_regex="{{ message }}"
    ),
    concatenate_field="choices.0.message.content"
)

​
Key Parameters

  • url: The endpoint URL for the LLM API
  • headers: HTTP headers to include in requests
  • payload_config: Configuration for request payload formatting
  • concatenate_field: Path to extract the response content from the JSON response

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Validate Configuration

To verify that your HttpTarget is properly configured and working, you can test it with a simple message: 
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://api.example.com/chat",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
        "Authorization": "Bearer your-token"
    },
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={
            "messages": [
                {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
                {"role": "user", "content": "{{ message }}"}
            ]
        },
        message_regex="{{ message }}"
    ),
    concatenate_field="choices.0.message.content"
)


response = target.respond("Hello World")
print(response)
This will:
  1. Send a simple “Hello World” message to your configured endpoint
  2. Print the response if successful
  3. Raise an exception if there are any configuration issues

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Advanced Configuration

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Token Authentication

For APIs that require token-based authentication on request, you can use the TokenConfig: 
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig, TokenConfig

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://api.example.com/chat",
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={"prompt": "{{ message }}"},
        message_regex="{{ message }}"
    ),
    token_config=TokenConfig(
        url="https://auth.example.com/token",
        payload={"client_id": "123", "service": "chat"},
        secret="your-secret-key",
        headers={"Content-Type": "application/json"}
    )
)

​
Error Handling

Returns the error message instead of raising an exception. Useful for firewall response detection. 
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig, ErrorHandelingConfig

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://api.example.com/chat",
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={"prompt": "{{ message }}"},
        message_regex="{{ message }}"
    ),
    error_config=ErrorHandelingConfig(
        status_code=400,
        concatenate_field="errors.0.message"
    )
)

​
Retry Configuration

Add retry logic for failed requests: 
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig, RetryConfig

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://api.example.com/chat",
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={"prompt": "{{ message }}"},
        message_regex="{{ message }}"
    ),
    retry_config=RetryConfig(
        max_retries=3,
        base_delay=1.0,
        max_delay=10.0,
        exponential_base=2.0
    )
)

​
Using HttpTarget in an Evaluation Scenario

Here’s how to use the HttpTarget in an evaluation scenario: 
target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://chat.neuraltrust.ai/api/chat",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json"
    },
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={
            "messages": [
                {"role": "system", "content": "**Welcome to Airline Assistant**."},
                {"role": "user", "content": "{{ test }}"},
            ]
        },
        message_regex="{{ test }}",
    ),
    concatenate_field=".",
)

scenario = EvaluationScenario(
    name="Functional Test",
    description="Functional test example.",
    evaluator_suite=EvaluatorSuite(
        evaluators=[
            CorrectnessEvaluator(),
            ToneEvaluator(),
            CompletenessEvaluator(),
        ],
        criteria="any_fail",
    ),
)

dataset_path = "data/qa_dataset.json"
dataset = Dataset.from_json(path=dataset_path)
test_set = DatasetProbe(target=target, dataset=dataset).get_test_set()
results = scenario.evaluate(test_set)

​
Complete Example

import os

from dotenv import load_dotenv

import trusttest
from trusttest.dataset_builder import Dataset
from trusttest.evaluation_scenarios import EvaluationScenario
from trusttest.evaluator_suite import EvaluatorSuite
from trusttest.evaluators import (
    CompletenessEvaluator,
    CorrectnessEvaluator,
    ToneEvaluator,
)
from trusttest.targets.http import HttpTarget, PayloadConfig
from trusttest.probes import DatasetProbe

load_dotenv(override=True)

target = HttpTarget(
    url="https://chat.neuraltrust.ai/api/chat",
    headers={
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    payload_config=PayloadConfig(
        format={
            "messages": [
                {"role": "system", "content": "**Welcome to Airline Assistant**."},
                {"role": "user", "content": "{{ test }}"},
            ]
        },
        message_regex="{{ test }}",
    ),
    concatenate_field=".",
)

scenario = EvaluationScenario(
    name="Functional Test",
    description="Functional test example.",
    evaluator_suite=EvaluatorSuite(
        evaluators=[
            CorrectnessEvaluator(),
            ToneEvaluator(),
            CompletenessEvaluator(),
        ],
        criteria="any_fail",
    ),
)

dataset_path = "data/qa_dataset.json"
dataset = Dataset.from_json(path=dataset_path)
test_set = DatasetProbe(target=target, dataset=dataset).get_test_set()
results = scenario.evaluate(test_set)
results.display()