Orchestra Gherkin

Orchestra Gherkin

Generate Gherkin scenarios from an orchestra work item. Reads either a PRD or spec and produces a gherkin.md file alongside it.

Variables

SOURCE: $ARGUMENTS

Workflow

Step 1: Locate the source

If $ARGUMENTS is a file path, read it directly.

If $ARGUMENTS is a work item name, look for it in .orchestra/work/:

.orchestra/work/<name>/prd.md
.orchestra/work/<name>/spec.md

Prefer spec.md if both exist — it has more concrete implementation detail. If only prd.md exists, use that.

If no path or name is provided, STOP and ask the user to provide one.

Step 2: Determine source type

From a PRD — extract:

• Problem statement → Feature description
• User goals → high-level scenarios (happy path + edge cases)
• Success criteria → Then clauses
• Scope / out of scope → tag with @wip or @out-of-scope

From a spec — extract:

• Deliverables → Feature description
• Steps / implementation tasks → Scenario steps
• Acceptance criteria → Then clauses
• Risks → negative/error scenarios

Step 3: Generate Gherkin

Write the output file in the same directory as the source file:

• If source is spec.md → write gherkin-spec.md
• If source is prd.md → write gherkin-prd.md

Output format:

# Gherkin Scenarios: <Feature Name>

> Source: <relative path to PRD or spec>
> Generated: <date>

```gherkin
Feature: <feature name from PRD/spec title>
  <one-line description of the feature>

  Background:
    Given <any shared preconditions>

  Scenario: <happy path name>
    Given <initial state>
    When <user action or system event>
    Then <expected outcome>
    And <additional assertion>

  Scenario: <alternate path>
    Given <initial state>
    When <different action>
    Then <different outcome>

  Scenario: <error / edge case>
    Given <precondition>
    When <action that triggers the edge case>
    Then <error or fallback outcome>
```

Step 4: Rules

• Every scenario must have at least one Given, one When, one Then
• Use And to chain — never repeat Given/When/Then back to back
• Scenario names are sentence case, no punctuation
• Feature name matches the PRD/spec title exactly
• Include a Background: block only if 3+ scenarios share the same precondition
• Tag @wip on scenarios derived from items marked as out-of-scope or future
• Aim for 3–7 scenarios per feature — more than that, split into multiple features
• All output is wrapped in ```gherkin fenced blocks inside the markdown file

Step 5: Report

Tell the user:

• Path to the generated gherkin-spec.md or gherkin-prd.md
• How many scenarios were generated
• Any acceptance criteria from the source that couldn't be mapped to a scenario (and why)