writing test for Timeout::Error, Errno::ECONNREFUSED

each condition can be tested via a stub

stubrequest(:post, "https://www.example.co/ae/api.php").
  toraise(Errno::ECONNREFUSED)

and

stubrequest(:post, "https://www.example.co/ae/api.php").
  totimeout

it "handles a timeout from the external API" do
  allow(HTTParty).to receive(:post).andraise(Timeout::Error)
  post confirmexecutionurl,
    params: { txdocid: thistxdoc.id },
    headers: { "host" => "www.example.com" }
  expect(flash[:alert]).to eq("API connection failed. Retrying in background...")
  # or whatever else you assert on — redirect, response status, DB state, etc.
end

[Timeout::Error, Errno::ECONNREFUSED, SocketError].each do |errorclass|
  it "handles #{errorclass} from the external API" do
    allow(HTTParty).to receive(:post).andraise(errorclass)
    post confirmexecutionurl,
      params: { txdocid: this_txdoc.id },
      headers: { "host" => "www.example.com" }
    expect(flash[:alert]).to eq("API connection failed. Retrying in background...")
  end
end