[aphyr]

Author here--from discussions with Capela's team, I think this sort of early testing can be remarkably helpful, because it offers a test suite that Capela's team can check their work against as they move forward.

I would suggest against this kind of integration test when the data model or API are in constant flux, because then you have to re-write or even re-design the test as the API changes. Small changes--adding fields or features, changing HTTP paths or renaming fields--are generally easy to keep up with, but if there were, say, a redesign that removed core operations, or changed the fundamental semantics, it might require extensive changes to the test suite.