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behave-testing

Configures Behave for Python BDD scenarios - `pip install behave`, authors `.feature` files in Gherkin, writes step implementations in `features/steps/*.py`, configures via `environment.py` for setup/teardown hooks, organizes via tags, runs via `behave`. Use for Python codebases that want Cucumber-family BDD without Cucumber-Ruby / Cucumber-JS.

Install with skills.sh (any agent)

npx skills add testland/qa --skill behave-testing
View source

behave-testing

Overview

Per behave-docs (opens in new window):

"behave is behaviour-driven development, Python style." It employs "tests written in a natural language style, backed up by Python code."

Per behave-docs (opens in new window): "Behavior-driven development encourages collaboration between developers, QA and non-technical or business participants in a software project."

Per cucumber-install (opens in new window), Behave is in the semi-official Cucumber tier (uses Cucumber components but maintained outside the main org).

When to use

  • The codebase is Python and the team uses BDD.
  • Acceptance criteria are authored in Gherkin (per acceptance-criteria-extractor in the qa-shift-left plugin).
  • pytest with parametrize isn't sufficient - non-engineers read the tests.

Step 1 - Install

pip install behave

Step 2 - Project layout

Behave's conventional layout:

project/
├── features/
│   ├── cart.feature                # Gherkin features
│   ├── steps/
│   │   ├── cart_steps.py            # step implementations
│   │   └── shared_steps.py
│   └── environment.py               # setup/teardown hooks
└── ...

Step 3 - Author a Feature

# features/cart.feature
Feature: Apply promo code at checkout

  Background:
    Given a logged-in user
    And the cart contains 1 of "BOOK-001" at $24.99

  Scenario: Apply valid promo
    When I enter "WELCOME10" in the promo input
    And I click "Apply"
    Then the subtotal updates to $22.49

  Scenario Outline: Promo validation
    When I enter "<code>" in the promo input
    And I click "Apply"
    Then an error appears: "<error>"

    Examples:
      | code      | error                 |
      | EXPIRED50 | This code has expired |
      | NOTREAL   | Code not found        |

Step 4 - Write step implementations

# features/steps/cart_steps.py
from behave import given, when, then
from app.cart import Cart
from app.checkout import CheckoutPage
from tests.fixtures import login_user

@given('a logged-in user')
def step_logged_in_user(context):
    context.user = login_user()
    context.page = CheckoutPage(context.user)

@given('the cart contains {qty:d} of "{sku}" at ${price:f}')
def step_cart_contains(context, qty, sku, price):
    context.cart = Cart()
    context.cart.add_item(sku, qty, price)
    context.page.set_cart(context.cart)

@when('I enter "{code}" in the promo input')
def step_enter_promo(context, code):
    context.page.enter_promo(code)

@when('I click "{label}"')
def step_click(context, label):
    context.page.click(label)

@then('the subtotal updates to ${expected:f}')
def step_subtotal(context, expected):
    assert abs(context.page.get_subtotal() - expected) < 0.01, \
        f"Expected {expected}, got {context.page.get_subtotal()}"

@then('an error appears: "{message}"')
def step_error(context, message):
    assert message in context.page.get_error_message()

The context object carries state across steps within a scenario.

Step 5 - Hooks via environment.py

Per behave-docs (opens in new window), environment.py provides "Environmental Controls":

# features/environment.py
def before_all(context):
    """Once before any scenario runs."""
    context.config.setup_logging()
    context.db = setup_test_database()

def after_all(context):
    """Once after all scenarios finish."""
    context.db.close()

def before_scenario(context, scenario):
    """Before each scenario."""
    context.db.start_transaction()

def after_scenario(context, scenario):
    """After each scenario (use scenario.status to check pass/fail)."""
    context.db.rollback()

def before_tag(context, tag):
    """Before scenarios with a specific tag."""
    if tag == 'requires_browser':
        context.browser = launch_browser()

def after_tag(context, tag):
    if tag == 'requires_browser':
        context.browser.quit()

The hook hierarchy: before_all > before_feature > before_scenario > before_step (and the matching after_*).

Step 6 - Tags + filtering

Per behave-docs (opens in new window), "Controlling Things With Tags" is the filter mechanism:

@critical @regression
Scenario: Apply valid promo
  ...

@wip
Scenario: New checkout flow (work in progress)
  ...
# Run only critical
behave --tags=critical

# Skip wip
behave --tags=~wip

# Combine
behave --tags=critical --tags=~slow

Step 7 - Reporting

# Plain text + JUnit XML for CI
behave --junit --junit-directory reports/junit/

# Per-feature output, no colors
behave --format=plain --no-color > test-results.txt

The JUnit XML feeds junit-xml-analysis (in the qa-test-reporting plugin).

Step 8 - Run

behave                         # all features
behave features/cart.feature   # one feature
behave --tags=@critical         # by tag
behave -i cart                  # match file pattern

Step 9 - pytest-bdd alternative

Per behave-docs (opens in new window), Behave is the canonical Python BDD; the ecosystem also includes pytest-bdd which integrates Gherkin into pytest. Choose:

Behavepytest-bdd
Standalone runnerpytest plugin
Closer to Cucumber semanticsReuses pytest fixtures
Better for pure-BDD teamsBetter when mixing BDD + xUnit-style tests

Anti-patterns

Anti-patternWhy it failsFix
Mixing fixtures across context and module-level stateHidden coupling; test order matters.Use context only; reset per scenario via before_scenario (Step 5).
Step regex too greedyOne step matches multiple Gherkin lines.Use {var} placeholders + type hints ({qty:d} per Step 4).
before_all setup that failsAll scenarios fail; debugging hard.Quick smoke check in before_all; fail fast with clear message.
@wip scenarios shipping in CITest runner counts them as passes.behave --tags=~wip in CI (Step 6).
One step file with 200 stepsHard to navigate; merge conflicts.Split per-feature: cart_steps.py, checkout_steps.py, etc.

Limitations

  • Slower than pytest. Behave's parsing + step matching adds overhead; pytest is faster for non-BDD use.
  • No native parallel runner. Use behave-parallel plugin OR shard at CI level via tag filtering.
  • Gherkin variations. Some Cucumber features (Rule blocks per Gherkin 6+) have spotty Behave support; verify for the version pinned.

References

  • bd (opens in new window) - Behave overview: BDD Python-style; step implementations + environment.py + tags; cross-stakeholder collaboration framing.
  • cucumber-testing, reqnroll-testing - sibling language wrappers.
  • bdd-step-library-curator - keeps step proliferation in check.

Related skills

acceptance-test-from-criteria

ATDD (Acceptance Test-Driven Development) workflow that generates @AC-N-tagged Gherkin scenarios from a signed-off acceptance-criteria list, scaffolds NotImplementedError step stubs, and produces an AC-to-test traceability table, all before implementation begins, in the team's BDD framework (Cucumber / Behave / Reqnroll). Use when devs are gated on green acceptance tests and failures must map back to a specific criterion. For story-narrative-to-Gherkin without prior ACs, use gherkin-from-stories. For BDD scenario authoring without the ATDD test-first gate, use a general BDD scenario-authoring workflow.

bdd-overview

Teaches behaviour-driven development end to end for a newcomer: what BDD is and how discovery, formulation and automation fit together; a decision table that picks the runner from the project's language and build files (Cucumber-JVM, Cucumber-JS, Cucumber-Ruby, Behave for Python, Reqnroll for .NET, and why SpecFlow is end-of-life); install and first-run commands for each; the declarative-versus-imperative Gherkin discipline with a worked bad-versus-good pair; Background, Scenario Outline and domain-organised step libraries; the traps that make BDD collapse into an expensive UI-automation wrapper; and an honest account of when BDD is not worth adopting. Use when a team is adopting BDD, choosing a Gherkin runner, or a *.feature file needs writing and nobody has settled the conventions.

bdd-step-library-curator

Keeps a BDD step-definition library DRY across a Cucumber / Behave / Reqnroll project - inventories every step definition, detects duplicates (different patterns matching the same intent), recommends canonical consolidations, reorganizes steps by domain, and publishes a step-library README the team greps for "is there already a step for X?" before authoring new ones. Use when a BDD project's step count grows past ~50, on a quarterly step-library review, or when a new engineer cannot find an existing step and is about to write a duplicate.

cucumber-testing

Configures Cucumber for BDD scenarios - Cucumber-JVM (Java/Kotlin via JUnit 5), Cucumber-JS (Node), Cucumber-Ruby. Authors `.feature` files in Gherkin, writes step definitions in the host language, runs via the framework's runner, integrates with JUnit XML reporting. Use when the user mentions Cucumber, Gherkin, `.feature` files, or behavior-driven (BDD) tests in Java, Kotlin, JavaScript, or Ruby, as the canonical wrapper for any of the three official implementations.

gherkin-from-stories

Build-an-X workflow that converts user stories into Gherkin scenarios - extracts the actor / capability / value triple from "As a … I want … so that …", maps acceptance criteria to Scenario blocks, identifies parameterizable axes for Scenario Outlines, and emits a Feature file ready for `bdd-step-library-curator`-curated step definitions. Starts from the story itself rather than from an already-extracted acceptance-criteria list; this skill operates at the user-story layer and produces Gherkin directly. Emits Gherkin only: no step definition stubs and no runner detection. For a full runnable artifact (Feature file plus scaffolded step definitions), follow this skill with step-definition scaffolding for the detected runner. Use when a PM hands over a user story or a backlog of stories and the team's first test artifact is the `.feature` file rather than a separate AC doc.

living-documentation-publisher

Converts passing Cucumber JSON output into stakeholder-facing living documentation: generates HTML reports via multiple-cucumber-html-reporter (Node) or Serenity BDD aggregate (JVM), applies Gherkin tags to drive report sections, and publishes to GitHub/GitLab Pages in CI. Use when BDD scenarios are in use and the team needs an always-current, non-test-engineer-readable document showing which acceptance criteria pass.

manual-step-to-gherkin

Translates an existing manual test step (table row, prose bullet, TestRail/Qase exported step) into a declarative Gherkin Given/When/Then step phrased in business language - strips UI mechanics ("clicks the button", "types in the field"), elevates the user intent ("signs in", "adds the product"), and aligns vocabulary with the project's existing step library. The input is an already-written manual step - not a user story and not an acceptance-criteria list. Use when a team is migrating manual test scripts to BDD, or when a manual tester is handing a script off to an automation engineer.

reqnroll-testing

Configures Reqnroll (the canonical .NET BDD framework) - install via `dotnet add package Reqnroll`, author `.feature` files in Gherkin, write step bindings as `[Given/When/Then]`-decorated methods in any C# class, runs via `dotnet test`. Reqnroll is the SpecFlow successor (originated as a community port off the SpecFlow codebase); new .NET BDD work targets Reqnroll. Use for .NET projects starting BDD or migrating from SpecFlow.

specflow-testing

Maintains SpecFlow tests on existing .NET projects - authors Gherkin `.feature` files, writes C# `[Binding]` step definitions, runs them via xUnit/NUnit/MsTest, and migrates a project to Reqnroll. SpecFlow is the legacy .NET BDD framework and Reqnroll is its maintained fork. Use only for existing SpecFlow projects, especially mid-migration; new .NET BDD projects use `reqnroll-testing` instead.