CWT-Cucumber: A C++20 Cucumber Interpreter

Welcome to CWT-Cucumber, a lightweight, modern C++20 BDD testing framework for native C++ projects.

📚 Full docs & examples: Read the docs
🚀 Available on Conan Center: cwt-cucumber

CWT-Cucumber interprets Gherkin feature files, letting you write test cases in plain language and define behavior-driven development (BDD) scenarios in C++.

Tested compilers: GCC 13, Clang17, MSVC 19

Thanks to Jörg Kreuzberger, who has contributed and tested a lot.

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Highlights & Advantages of CWT-Cucumber:

• ✅ No mandatory dependencies – easy to integrate anywhere
• ✅ DataTables support via cuke::table in step definitions
• ✅ Tagged hooks for filtering, skipping, or ignoring scenarios
• ✅ Step definitions with Cucumber expressions
• ✅ Supports custom parameter types
• ✅ Conan-ready for modern C++ projects
• ✅ Lightweight, fast, and modern C++20-based
• ✅ Full BDD support: Scenarios, Scenario Outlines, Rules, Backgrounds, Hooks

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Quick Example

Feature file (examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature):

Feature: Putting apples into a box

  Scenario: Lets start with two apples
    Given An empty box
    When I place 2 x "apple" in it
    Then The box contains 2 items

Step implementation:

GIVEN(init_box, "An empty box")
{
  const box& my_box = cuke::context<box>();
  cuke::equal(my_box.items_count(), 0);
}
WHEN(add_item, "I place {int} x {string} in it")
{
  const std::size_t count = CUKE_ARG(1);
  const std::string item = CUKE_ARG(2);

  cuke::context<box>().add_items(item, count);
}
THEN(box_items_count, "The box contains {int} item(s)")
{
  const int items_count = CUKE_ARG(1);
  const box& my_box = cuke::context<box>();
  cuke::equal(my_box.items_count(), items_count);
}

Try it out, open a terminal in the project directory and build the examples:

cmake -S . -B ./build
cmake --build ./build -j12

Now, just run it: ./build/bin/example examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature

Feature: My first feature  examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature:1

Scenario: First Scenario  examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature:4
[   PASSED    ] Given An empty box  examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature:5
[   PASSED    ] When I place 1 x "apple" in it  examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature:6
[   PASSED    ] Then The box contains 1 item  examples/features/1_first_scenario.feature:7


1 Scenarios (1 passed)
3 Steps (3 passed)

Disclaimer

This project has started as an educational project after reading "Crafting Interpreters" by Robert Nystorm. It has evolved into a stable production ready state and I'm happy to maintain it. All of the work here is done in my free time.

Found a Bug? Need a Feature?

Don't hesitate and open an Issue.

❤️ Support

If you find cwt-cucumber useful and want to support its development, you can sponsor me on GitHub.

Every bit of support is greatly appreciated and helps me keep improving the project. Thank you! 🙌

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Cheers 🍻

2026 Coding with Thomas
https://www.codingwiththomas.com/