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Compatibility

Gherkin PowerTools is built to run everywhere VS Code runs.

Framework Compatibility

Generic Gherkin (Supported & Tested)

The core editing features (Formatting, Structural Linting, Quick Fixes, Outline, Analytics, Highlighting) are completely framework-independent. They will work flawlessly with standard .feature files used by: - Cucumber (Java, Ruby, JS, etc.) - SpecFlow (.NET) - Karate - Playwright BDD - Any framework that adheres to the standard Gherkin syntax.

Python Behave (Supported & Tested)

The advanced integrations (Go to Definition, Hover, Autocomplete, Step Generation, Test Explorer Execution, Debugging) are exclusively designed for Python Behave. - The extension parses @given, @when, @then, and @step Python decorators. - The extension runs tests by spawning the behave process.

Note: The extension does not provide step definitions or execution integration for Cucumber.js, SpecFlow, or other frameworks. You can use Gherkin PowerTools alongside the official Cucumber extension for those frameworks.

Environment Compatibility

Environment Support Level Notes
VS Code Desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux) Supported & Tested Requires VS Code 1.93.0 or later.
Dev Containers Supported & Tested Fully isolated execution within the container.
WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) Supported & Tested Native file system and process execution.
SSH Workspaces Supported & Tested
GitHub Codespaces Supported & Tested

Python & Behave Requirements

  • Python Versions: Tested and Supported on Python 3.8 through 3.12.
  • Behave Versions: Tested and Supported on Behave 1.2.6.
  • Python Extension: Required only for Debugging features in the Test Explorer (ms-python.python).
  • Behave Executable: Required only for test execution from the Test Explorer (pip install behave). The extension can execute Behave via system PATH, Poetry, Pipenv, or explicit virtual environment paths.

Standalone CLI Requirements

  • Node.js Engine: The @carlos-camara/gherkin-pt CLI executable requires Node.js >= 18.0.0.
  • Supported OS: Windows, macOS, and Linux. No native dependencies are required.

Workspace Constraints

  • Multi-Root Workspaces: Supported. Configuration settings in .vscode/settings.json apply to their specific workspace folders.
  • Paths with Spaces / Unicode Paths: Supported. The extension uses native URI parsing to properly encode/decode file paths for regex matching and command execution.
  • Case-Insensitive File Systems: Supported. The extension uses strict case-insensitive URI normalization (added in v1.8.2) to prevent duplicate index entries or cache misses natively on macOS and Windows.
  • Monorepos: Supported. Configure gherkinPowerTools.behave.stepGlobs to point to all sub-directories where steps reside.
  • Large Workspaces: Supported. The AST parser and file system watchers are deferred and operate in the background. Ensure gherkinPowerTools.behave.ignoreGlobs correctly ignores virtual environments to prevent parsing timeouts.
  • Massive Documents: Supported but limited. While typical .feature files parse instantly (<20ms), auto-generated files exceeding 1MB or 10,000 scenarios will cause brief Extension Host UI blocking during parsing. Limit manual editing of generated files over 2MB.

Gherkin Dialects

  • Language Support: Supported & Tested. The semantic parser automatically adapts to 70+ languages (e.g. Spanish Dado, French Soit) via the # language: <lang> header.