# Mocking

The goal of mocking HTTP requests is to simulate the behavior of an actual API. This can involve:

* Returning hard-coded responses
* Returning recorded reponses
* Generating responses

Stoobly's mocking relies on returning hard-coded or recorded responses.

## How are requests matched?

### Scenario

{% hint style="info" %}
If a scenario is specified, then only requests within that scenario will be considered.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
If no scenario is specified, then any request will be considered.
{% endhint %}

If there are multiple matches in a scenario, then each response will be returned in the order in which they were recorded.

### Components

The following request components are matched in a case-sensitive manner:

* HTTP Method
* Path
* Body
* Query Parameters
* Headers
* Body Parameters

#### HTTP Method

Which HTTP method(s)/verb(s) the rule applies to such as GET, POST, DELETE, etc.

#### Path

e.g. `/users`

#### Body

If provided, a strict matching of the body is required.

{% hint style="info" %}
The following requests components can be marked as optional in the UI. An optional request component will not be used for matching purposes when mocking a request. To learn more, visit [here](/core-concepts/agent/proxy-settings/match-rules.md).
{% endhint %}

#### Query Parameters

e.g. `?organization=1`

The order of the query parameters are sorted in alphabetical order before comparison.

#### Headers

e.g. `Content-Type: application/json`

The order of the headers are sorted in alphabetical order before comparison.

#### Body Parameters

Body parameters are dependent on the `Content-Type` header in the request. If the body is a parseable format, body parameters will be parsed out, sorted in alphabetical order, and compared. The following parseable formats are currently supported:

* `application/json`
* `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`

## When are requests matched?

<figure><img src="/files/BX9l2krBJX03y74wqnIM" alt=""><figcaption><p>Mocking a HTTP request with Stoobly</p></figcaption></figure>


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.stoobly.com/core-concepts/agent/intercept-modes/mocking.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.