Vividus

Vividus Test Automation

Vividus is a JBehave-based BDD framework. Tests are plain-text .story files using a strict, pre-built step library — authors compose tests by wording, not Java. Plugins extend the step library per domain (web, REST, mobile, DB, cloud).

This skill knows the framework's conventions, file layout, properties model, and step phrasings so you can scaffold projects, add plugins, author/edit stories without invented steps, and run/debug suites.

Decision tree — pick a path

When in doubt, ground every step phrasing against the docs (https://docs.vividus.dev/vividus/latest/) or against ./gradlew printSteps output. Do not invent step phrases — Vividus matches steps by exact wording (with parameters). If a step doesn't match, it silently becomes a "pending" step at runtime.

Core concepts you must internalize

1. Tests are .story files under src/main/resources/story/.... Sections: Description:, Meta:, GivenStories:, Lifecycle:, Scenario:, Examples:. Steps start with Given/When/Then.
2. **Step parameters use backticks `, not quotes.** Example: Then `${name}` is equal to `Bob`. This is the #1 syntax error.
3. Variables: ${var} for read, <col> for ExamplesTable placeholders, #{expression(...)} for compile-time expressions (data generation, formatting).
4. Three orthogonal config axes: configuration.suites, configuration.profiles, configuration.environments. Each loads .properties files; first declared wins.
5. BOM-pinned versions: org.vividus:vividus-bom:<version> controls every plugin's version. Never override individual plugin versions.
6. JDK 21 (Temurin recommended). Older JDKs fail with cryptic errors.
7. Build system is a git submodule (vividus-build-system). Always git clone --recursive, or run git submodule update --init --recursive after a regular clone.

Bootstrap a project

The starter is a GitHub template repo: https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus-starter. Two paths:

A. Generate from template (preferred for real projects):

1. Open https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus-starter/generate (user does this in browser).
2. git clone --recursive <new-repo-url> and cd into it.

B. Local clone of the starter (for prototyping/learning):

git clone --recursive https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus-starter.git my-vividus-tests
cd my-vividus-tests
./gradlew build

If the user already cloned without --recursive, fix it with:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Then create the conventional directory tree (the starter ships nearly empty):

mkdir -p src/main/resources/story/web_app
mkdir -p src/main/resources/story/rest_api
mkdir -p src/main/resources/steps
mkdir -p src/main/resources/properties/suite/web_app
mkdir -p src/main/resources/properties/suite/rest_api
mkdir -p src/main/resources/properties/profile/web/desktop/chrome
mkdir -p src/main/resources/properties/environment/dev

Templates to copy as starting points (see assets/):

• assets/build.gradle.template — common plugin selection, BOM-pinned
• assets/configuration.properties.template — master config
• assets/suite.properties.template — batch + parallelism + composite-paths
• assets/example-web.story, assets/example-rest.story — runnable smoke stories
• assets/example-visual.story — visual regression template (ESTABLISH / COMPARE_AGAINST)
• assets/example.steps — composite step example

Always check the latest BOM version before pinning: https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus/releases. As of skill authoring, recent versions are around 0.6.16–0.6.18.

Add a plugin

Plugins are added in build.gradle under dependencies { ... }. The BOM picks the version automatically:

dependencies {
    implementation platform('org.vividus:vividus-bom:0.6.18')
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus')
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-web-app')      // Selenium-based web
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-rest-api')     // HTTP/REST
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-json')         // JSONPath assertions
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-db')           // JDBC databases
    implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-mobile-app')   // Appium iOS/Android
}

Use references/plugins.md to choose the right plugin for a capability. Quick map:

After adding a plugin, run ./gradlew build and the new steps are available in .story files. To list every available step in the project: ./gradlew printSteps.

Author a story

Story files end in .story and live under any path matching batch-N.resource-location (typically src/main/resources/story/...). Naming is human-readable, often Title Case With Spaces.story.

Minimal web example:

Description: Login smoke test

Meta:
    @feature login
    @priority 1

Scenario: Sign in with valid credentials
Given I am on main application page
When I go to relative URL `/login`
When I enter `tomsmith` in field located by `id(username)`
When I enter `SuperSecretPassword!` in field located by `id(password)`
When I click on element located by `cssSelector(button[type='submit'])`
Then text `You logged into a secure area!` exists

${web-application.main-page-url} is NOT a story variable. It is a Spring property consumed internally by the web plugin. Given I am on main application page is the correct step — it navigates to that configured URL without needing a variable. To expose a URL as a story variable (e.g., for building paths), declare it explicitly in environment.properties:

web-application.main-page-url=https://staging.example.com
variables.appUrl=https://staging.example.com   # same value — now usable as ${appUrl} in stories

Minimal REST example:

Description: Star Wars API smoke

Scenario: Verify Luke's eyes are blue
When I execute HTTP GET request for resource with URL `https://swapi.info/api/people/1/`
Then `${responseCode}` is equal to `200`
Then JSON element value from `${response}` by JSON path `$.eye_color` is equal to `blue`

Authoring rules (Vividus is finicky about syntax):

• Backticks around every parameter. No quotes, no plain values.
• Locators use a typed format: xpath(...), cssSelector(...), id(...), linkText(...), name(...), tagName(...), className(...), accessibilityId(...) (mobile), shadowCssSelector(...). Optional visibility flag (:v visible, :i invisible, :a all) and filter chain (->filter.<type>(<value>)).
• Variable scopes (narrowest wins): step < scenario < story < next_batches < batch < global. Use scenario by default; promote to story only when a value must persist across scenarios.
• Lifecycle blocks (Lifecycle: Before: / After:) declare scoped setup/teardown. Use Scope: STORY for one-time setup, Scope: SCENARIO for per-scenario.
• Comments in stories are lines starting with !-- (not #).
• Composite steps (re-usable phrases) live in src/main/resources/steps/**/*.steps. See assets/example.steps.
• Don't invent step phrasings. Read references/steps-cheatsheet.md for verified phrasings, or run ./gradlew printSteps in the project.

For the full step library with exact phrasings (web/REST/JSON/DB/mobile/lifecycle/composites), read references/steps-cheatsheet.md. For ExamplesTable, transformers (FROM_CSV, FROM_EXCEL, FROM_DB, FILTERING, MERGING, JOINING, ...), and expression syntax, read references/variables-and-tables.md.

Configure suites, profiles, environments

Master file: src/main/resources/properties/configuration.properties:

configuration.suites=web_app
configuration.profiles=web/desktop/chrome
configuration.environments=dev

• Suite → "what stories to run" — one or more directories of .story files plus per-batch settings (parallelism, meta filters). Files at properties/suite/<name>/suite.properties.
• Profile → "on what platform" — browser/device specifics. Cascading paths (web/desktop/chrome loads web then web/desktop then web/desktop/chrome).
• Environment → "against what host" — base URLs, endpoints, env-specific creds. File at properties/environment/<name>/environment.properties.
• Configuration sets bundle a triple of suite/profile/environment under one preset key (configuration-set.<key>.suites=...); activate via configuration-set.active=<key>.

Property precedence (high → low): -Pvividus.<key>=v (Gradle CLI) > overriding.properties > configuration.properties > suite > profile > environment > plugin defaults. Inside a single tier with multiple entries declared, first declared wins.

For full property tables, batch settings, and reporting properties, read references/configuration.md.

Run tests

# Run with active config from configuration.properties
./gradlew runStories

# Override the triple at the CLI (note the `-Pvividus.` prefix)
./gradlew runStories \
  -Pvividus.configuration.suites=web_app \
  -Pvividus.configuration.profiles=web/desktop/chrome \
  -Pvividus.configuration.environments=staging

# Single-story or pattern run
./gradlew runStories -Pvividus.batch-1.resource-include-patterns=Login*.story

# Filter by Meta tags (Groovy)
./gradlew runStories -Pvividus.bdd.all-meta-filters="groovy: smoke && !skip"

# Inject a variable
./gradlew runStories -Pvividus.variables.user=alice

# Faster local iteration (skips full build validation)
./gradlew debugStories

Useful inspection tasks:

• ./gradlew printSteps --args="-f available-steps.txt" — dump every step the project knows
• ./gradlew countSteps -t 5 — top 5 most-used steps
• ./gradlew countScenarios -d story/web_app — count under a directory
• ./gradlew validateKnownIssues — sanity-check known-issues.json
• ./gradlew replaceDeprecatedSteps / replaceDeprecatedProperties — auto-migrate to current names
• ./gradlew spotlessApply — autofix formatting

Read the report

Allure HTML output goes to output/reports/allure/index.html. Browsers refuse to load Allure JSON over file://, so serve it:

# pick one
( cd output/reports/allure && python3 -m http.server 8000 )
# or use VS Code Live Server, or VIVIDUS Studio's "Open Allure Report"

Then open http://localhost:8000.

When something is wrong

Read references/troubleshooting.md for the common failures (missing submodule, JDK mismatch, backtick vs quote, locator visibility, suite-property precedence, parallel-story flakiness, MCP-AI hallucinated steps, Allure file:// blank page). It's the fastest path through Vividus's sharp edges.

Working inside an existing project

When the user already has a Vividus project, before changing anything:

1. Read build.gradle to confirm the BOM version and which plugins are wired in. Don't add steps from a plugin not on the classpath.
2. Read properties/configuration.properties to learn the active suites/profiles/environments — your changes must respect the active set.
3. Skim a few existing .story files to match the project's conventions (locator style, variable scope choice, composite step naming).
4. For new step phrasings, run ./gradlew printSteps --args="-f /tmp/steps.txt" and grep — this is the ground truth for that project.
5. Run a focused test first (-Pvividus.batch-1.resource-include-patterns=YourStory.story) to validate before broader runs.

This avoids drifting from project norms and catches plugin/version mismatches that would otherwise surface as "step did not match".

Visual testing

Add implementation('org.vividus:vividus-plugin-visual') to build.gradle. See assets/example-visual.story for a runnable template.

Step pattern

When I $actionType baseline with name `$name`
When I $actionType baseline with name `$name` ignoring:$checkSettings

$actionType values:

Ignoring dynamic areas

Pass an ExamplesTable with exactly one data row. Combine multiple selectors with a CSS multi-selector when you need to ignore more than one area:

When I COMPARE_AGAINST baseline with name `home` ignoring:
|ELEMENT                                        |
|cssSelector(.cookie-banner, .hero-carousel)    |

Columns: ELEMENT (locator), AREA (pixel region), ACCEPTABLE_DIFF_PERCENTAGE (per-check override), REQUIRED_DIFF_PERCENTAGE.

Gotcha: ignoring: only supports one data row. Putting two rows throws IllegalArgumentException: Only one row of locators to ignore supported. Use a multi-selector CSS string to cover multiple elements.

Key properties

# in profile.properties or environment.properties
ui.visual.acceptable-diff-percentage=2   # allow up to 2% pixel diff (default: 0)
ui.visual.required-diff-percentage=70    # for CHECK_INEQUALITY_AGAINST (default: 70)
ui.visual.baseline-storage.filesystem.folder=./baselines   # relative to src/main/resources

Gotcha: The ./baselines folder must exist as a classpath resource before ESTABLISH writes. Create src/main/resources/baselines/.gitkeep so Gradle packages the (initially empty) directory.

Workflow

# 1. Seed baselines (first time or after intentional UI change)
./gradlew runStories -Pvividus.batch-1.resource-include-patterns="Visual.story"

# 2. Copy generated PNGs from output/ back into src/main/resources/baselines/ and commit them

# 3. Regression run (CI)
./gradlew runStories \
  -Pvividus.batch-1.resource-include-patterns="Visual.story" \
  -Pvividus."batch-1.variables.visualAction"=COMPARE_AGAINST

Pattern: store batch-1.variables.visualAction=ESTABLISH in suite.properties; override to COMPARE_AGAINST at the CLI for diff runs.

AI-assisted authoring and the MCP server

The biggest risk when generating Vividus stories with an LLM is hallucinated step phrasings — invented steps that look plausible but don't exist, silently becoming "pending" at runtime.

The best defence is the Vividus MCP server: it exposes your project's actual available steps to the LLM via the Model Context Protocol, so the model can verify phrasings against the real classpath rather than guessing from training data.

Setup

// build.gradle
implementation('org.vividus:vividus-mcp-server')   // available from 0.6.16+

# Start the server (keep running while you author stories)
./gradlew startMcpServer -q -p /path/to/project

Then point your AI tool at it:

• VS Code GitHub Copilot — add to .github/copilot-instructions.md or mcp.json
• Claude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json

Docs: https://docs.vividus.dev/vividus/latest/user-guides/ai.html

Without the MCP server

If you can't run it, ground every new step phrasing before writing it:

1. Check references/steps-cheatsheet.md
2. Run ./gradlew printSteps --args="-f /tmp/steps.txt" and grep
3. Never invent — if a step doesn't appear in printSteps output, it doesn't exist

Reference index

• references/steps-cheatsheet.md — exact step phrasings for web, REST, JSON, DB, mobile, lifecycle, composites; locator & comparator syntax
• references/configuration.md — suites, profiles, environments, batches, common properties, configuration sets, reporting properties
• references/plugins.md — full 47-plugin catalog grouped by domain with use-cases and links
• references/variables-and-tables.md — variable scopes, dynamic variables, expressions (#{...}), ExamplesTable transformers (FROM_CSV/EXCEL/JSON/DB, FILTERING, MERGING, JOINING, ...)
• references/troubleshooting.md — submodule, JDK, backticks, locators, precedence, parallelism, AI-hallucinated steps, Allure viewing

External sources of truth (cite these when uncertain):

• Docs: https://docs.vividus.dev/vividus/latest/
• Core repo: https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus
• Starter: https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus-starter
• Sample tests: https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus-sample-tests
• Releases (current BOM version): https://github.com/vividus-framework/vividus/releases