Using Rspec, how do I test the JSON format of my controller in Rails 3.0.11?

I realize that setting :format => :json is one solution (as noted above). However, I wanted to test the same conditions that the clients to my API would use. My clients would not be setting the :format parameter, instead they would be setting the Accept HTTP header. If you are interested in this solution, here is what I used:

# api/v1/test_controller_spec.rbrequire 'spec_helper.rb'describe Api::V1::TestController do  render_views  context "when request sets accept => application/json" do    it "should return successful response" do      request.accept = "application/json"      get :test      response.should be_success    end  endend

Try moving the :format key inside the params hash of the request, like this:

describe ApplicationsController do  render_views  disconnect_sunspot  let(:application) { Factory.create(:application) }  subject { application }  context "JSON" do    describe "creating a new application" do      context "when not authorized" do        it "should not allow creation of an application" do          params = { :format => 'json', :application => { :name => "foo", :description => "bar" } }          post :create, params           Expect(Application.count).to eq(0)          expect(response.status).to eq(403)          expect(JSON.parse(response.body)["status"]).to eq("error")          expect(JSON.parse(response.body)["message"]).to match(/authorized/)        end       end       context "authorized" do      end     end  endend

Let me know how it goes! thats the way I have set my tests, and they are working just fine!