Mocking API requests in React tests ensures components render correctly with different data scenarios without making real network calls. With over 12 years of React development experience since 2014 and as the creator of CoreUI, I’ve written comprehensive test suites with extensive API mocking. Jest and Mock Service Worker (MSW) provide powerful tools to intercept and mock HTTP requests at different levels. This approach creates fast, reliable tests that don’t depend on external APIs or network availability.