Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products to specify and test open communication protocols. A messaging client executing on a processor of a client device may generate a request stanza based on a first specification file of a plurality of specification files for the messaging client. The messaging client may validate the request stanza based on one or more parameters specified by the first specification file. The messaging client may invoke a response handler for the request stanza. The messaging client may receive a response stanza from a server. The response handler may process the response stanza. The messaging client may display an output of the processing of the response handler.