Below is a production-quality, well-structured README.md you can use directly in your repository. It’s written to be clear for newcomers, credible for senior engineers, and useful for CI / long-term maintenance.

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API Test Automation Framework

Playwright + Cucumber + TypeScript

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📌 Overview

This project is a scalable and maintainable API test automation framework built using:

• Playwright – fast, reliable HTTP client & test runner
• Cucumber (BDD) – business-readable tests with Gherkin
• TypeScript – strong typing, better refactoring, fewer runtime errors

The framework is designed with clean architecture principles, focusing on:

• Separation of concerns
• Reusability
• Readability
• Easy onboarding for both technical and non-technical stakeholders

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🧠 Key Concepts

• BDD-first approach: Business scenarios are written in Gherkin
• Service-based API abstraction: API logic lives in service classes
• Centralized API client: Headers, auth, retries handled in one place
• Typed models: Request & response objects are strongly typed
• Environment-driven: Easy switching between Dev / Test / UAT

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🛠 Tech Stack

Tool	Purpose
Playwright	API request handling & assertions
Cucumber	BDD / Gherkin test definitions
TypeScript	Type safety & maintainability
Node.js	Runtime
ts-node	TypeScript execution
AJV / Zod (optional)	Schema validation
CI/CD	Jenkins / GitHub Actions compatible

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📂 Project Structure

api-test-framework/
│
├── src/
│   ├── config/          # Environment & endpoint configuration
│   ├── core/            # Framework core (API client, context, hooks)
│   ├── features/        # Gherkin feature files & step definitions
│   ├── models/          # Typed request/response models
│   ├── services/        # API business logic layer
│   ├── utils/           # Reusable helpers & utilities
│   └── types/           # Custom TypeScript types
│
├── reports/             # Test execution reports
├── cucumber.js          # Cucumber configuration
├── tsconfig.json        # TypeScript configuration
├── package.json         # Dependencies & scripts
└── README.md

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🏗 Architecture Overview

Feature (Gherkin)
   ↓
Step Definitions
   ↓
Service Layer (Business API Logic)
   ↓
API Client (Playwright)
   ↓
HTTP Request

Responsibilities

• Feature files → Describe what is being tested

• Step Definitions → Glue code only, no API logic

• Services → Encapsulate API calls and endpoints

• Core → Authentication, request context, hooks

• Utils → Common reusable helpers (logging, validation, data handling)

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🚀 Getting Started

1️⃣ Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+
• npm or yarn
• Access to target API environments

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2️⃣ Install Dependencies

npm install

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3️⃣ Environment Configuration

Set environment variables:

export BASE_URL=https://api.dev.example.com
export API_TOKEN=your-token

Or use .env file if supported.

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4️⃣ Run Tests

Run all API tests:

npm test

Run a specific feature:

npx cucumber-js src/features/user/user.feature

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✍ Writing Tests

Feature File Example

Feature: User API

  Scenario: Create a new user
    Given I have a valid user payload
    When I send a create user request
    Then the response status should be 201

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Step Definition Guidelines

✅ Keep steps thin ❌ Do not call Playwright directly in steps ✅ Always delegate to services

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🧩 Service Layer Example

export class UserService {
  constructor(private api: ApiClient) {}

  createUser(payload: User) {
    return this.api.post('/users', payload);
  }
}

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🧪 Assertions & Validation

• HTTP status checks
• Response body validation
• Optional schema validation (AJV / Zod)
• Custom reusable validators

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🔐 Authentication Strategy

• Token-based authentication supported

• Centralized in authHelper

• Easy to extend for:

  • OAuth2
  • JWT refresh
  • API keys

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📊 Reporting

• Cucumber HTML reports

• Easily extendable to:

  • Allure
  • JSON reports
  • CI dashboards

Reports are generated under:

reports/

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⚙ CI/CD Ready

The framework is designed to run seamlessly in:

• Jenkins
• GitHub Actions
• GitLab CI

Supports:

• Headless execution
• Parallel runs
• Environment-based configuration

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✅ Best Practices Followed

✔ Clean architecture ✔ DRY principles ✔ Typed API contracts ✔ Centralized configuration ✔ Easy scalability ✔ CI-friendly execution

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🛣 Roadmap

Planned improvements:

• 🔹 OAuth token refresh support
• 🔹 API schema contract testing
• 🔹 Allure reporting
• 🔹 Performance assertions
• 🔹 Test data generation
• 🔹 AI-assisted test creation

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👥 Contribution Guidelines

1. Follow existing folder structure
2. Add services for new APIs
3. Keep step definitions minimal
4. Write meaningful Gherkin scenarios
5. Ensure tests are environment-agnostic

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📄 License

This project is intended for internal / enterprise use. License can be defined based on organizational needs.

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📞 Support

For questions or improvements:

• Contact the QA / Automation team
• Raise an issue or pull request

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