behave/behave

Health v2 · maintenance only

Flags: no_license

Adoption not part of the score

3521 stars · 670 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

behave is a behavior-driven development (BDD) testing framework for Python that runs tests written in Gherkin natural-language syntax backed by Python step implementations. It is a Cucumber-like tool for collaborative acceptance testing between developers, QA, and business stakeholders.

Use cases

• write acceptance tests in gherkin and run them with python
• bdd framework for python projects
• run cucumber-style feature files in python
• collaborate with non-technical stakeholders on test scenarios
• automate behavior-driven acceptance testing
• parse and execute gherkin feature files

When to choose

• your team practices BDD and wants Gherkin feature files with Python step definitions
• you need a mature, Cucumber-like BDD tool in the Python ecosystem
• non-technical stakeholders must read or write test scenarios

When to avoid

• you want plain unit testing without natural-language scenarios - use pytest instead
• your stack is JVM-based - Cucumber or JBehave fit better
• you need JavaScript-based BDD - consider Cucumber.js

Facets

framework · maturity active

testing e2e-testing testing developer-tools python cli cross-platform bdd gherkin cucumber-like acceptance-testing behavior-driven-development automation

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="behave/behave")