Bad payload mocks completely fixed how I test APIs.

For a long time, using clean mock data during API integration felt fast and smooth. The problem was that edge-case bugs always snuck into production whenever real data contained missing fields, null values, or unexpected formatting.

Three weeks ago, I completely changed my approach. Now, before I write a single line of frontend code, I make AI generate worst-case API payloads—missing fields, broken timestamps, and oversized strings.

Last Friday, testing against these broken mocks helped me spot a critical UI crash in under five minutes locally. Under my old workflow, this bad data issue would have quietly slipped through and wasted hours during QA.

Are you still using clean mock data during development, or do you test against bad payloads first?