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gherkin-expert

gherkin-expert

github.com/rysweetTesting & quality7651 installsUpdated 21w ago
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About gherkin-expert

gherkin-expert is a skill for coding agents that helps teams express requirements as Gherkin and BDD scenarios. It covers scenario structure, domain language, and when behavioral specifications are useful.

Key features

  1. 01Writes and reviews Gherkin scenarios
  2. 02Translates requirements to Given/When/Then
  3. 03Structures complex acceptance criteria
  4. 04Supports scenario outlines and data tables
  5. 05Advises on BDD scenario design

Use cases

  1. 01Specifying multi-step user workflows
  2. 02Making business rules testable
  3. 03Reviewing acceptance criteria for gaps
  4. 04Preparing behavioral context for code generation

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/rysweet/amplihack --skill gherkin-expert

After installing, type/gherkin-expertin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Details

From the project README

Gherkin Expert Skill

Purpose

Provides expert-level Gherkin/BDD specification assistance for writing behavioral scenarios that clarify acceptance criteria and improve downstream code generation quality.

When This Skill Activates

  • User asks to write or review Gherkin feature files or scenarios
  • User needs help structuring complex acceptance criteria
  • User wants to translate business requirements into Given/When/Then format
  • User asks about BDD methodology or scenario design
  • User wants behavioral specifications for multi-actor or multi-step workflows
  • User mentions Cucumber, SpecFlow, or BDD frameworks
  • User is working on features with complex acceptance criteria that would benefit from structured scenarios

How It Works

This skill delegates to the gherkin-expert agent which has knowledge of:

  1. Gherkin syntax and idioms — Feature/Scenario/Given/When/Then, backgrounds, scenario outlines, data tables, tags
  2. BDD methodology — discovery workshops, living documentation, specification by example
  3. Scenario design — single-behavior focus, declarative style, avoiding implementation details
  4. Domain modeling — ubiquitous language, bounded contexts expressed through scenarios
  5. AI prompt improvement — using Gherkin specs as prompt context for better code generation (empirically validated: +26% over English-only)

When Gherkin Adds Value (Judgment Call)

Gherkin is a tool, not a rule. Use judgment:

Good fit:

  • Complex multi-step behavioral requirements with many edge cases
  • Multi-actor scenarios (user does X, system responds Y, admin sees Z)
  • Business rules with combinatorial conditions (scenario outlines)
  • Acceptance criteria that stakeholders need to validate
  • Features where "what done looks like" is ambiguous in English

English is fine:

  • Simple CRUD operations with obvious behavior
  • Internal tooling with a single developer as audience
  • Config changes, styling, documentation
  • Requirements where the hard part is algorithm design, not behavior specification

Usage Examples

# Write scenarios for a feature
/gherkin-expert Write Gherkin scenarios for our user authentication flow

# Review existing scenarios
/gherkin-expert Review these acceptance criteria for completeness

# Translate requirements to BDD
/gherkin-expert Convert these business rules into Given/When/Then scenarios

# Decide if Gherkin is appropriate
/gherkin-expert Should I write Gherkin scenarios for this retry cascade feature?

# Improve scenarios
/gherkin-expert These scenarios feel too implementation-focused, help me make them declarative

Key Resources

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