Use test helpers where they help

Start from the behavior you can observe. A helper creates a typed bookmark request, while the test independently asserts the resulting status and JSON.

Testing helpers reduce request-construction noise, but assertions should still describe observable HTTP behavior. The useful target is not encyclopedic coverage. Make one deliberate choice, observe its consequences, and know which requirement would make you revise it.

It is tempting to assert only that the helper call did not throw. That trades a clear decision for an assumption you will eventually have to debug. The stronger move is to use helpers for setup, then inspect the Response and external side effects as a real client would. Make the boundary explicit in code and in the project notes.

Tie the decision back to the larger job: Test the real Hono app and use inferred clients without pretending compile-time types validate network data at runtime. Record enough evidence that another developer can repeat the result without relying on your memory.

Repeat one test with a manually constructed Request to confirm the helper has not hidden a header or encoding assumption. Repeat it once with an invalid or hostile condition and write down the boundary the failure revealed.