executable-stories-cypress

BDD-style executable stories for Cypress with documentation generation. Uses Cypress’s native describe/it; story meta is sent from the browser to Node via cy.task and merged with run results for the reporter.

Install

npm i -D executable-stories-cypress

Setup

1. Plugin — register the task in cypress.config.ts:

import { defineConfig } from "cypress";
import { registerExecutableStoriesPlugin } from "executable-stories-cypress/plugin";

export default defineConfig({
  e2e: {
    setupNodeEvents(on) {
      registerExecutableStoriesPlugin(on);
    },
  },
});

2. Support file — import the support file so story meta is sent after each test (e.g. in cypress/support/e2e.ts):

import "executable-stories-cypress/support";

3. Reporter (optional) — to generate Markdown/HTML from runs, use the reporter or build a RawRun and pass it to the formatters. See Reporter options below.

Usage

In a spec, call story.init() at the start of each test that should be documented, then use step markers:

import { story } from "executable-stories-cypress";

describe("Calculator", () => {
  it("adds two numbers", () => {
    story.init();

    story.given("two numbers 5 and 3");
    const a = 5, b = 3;

    story.when("I add them together");
    const result = a + b;

    story.then("the result is 8");
    expect(result).toBe(8);
  });
});

Scenario-level helpers are also available:

story.skip("legacy scenario", () => {
  story.given("legacy behavior");
});

story.only("focused scenario", () => {
  story.given("focused behavior");
});

Framework-native attach to plain Cypress tests:

import { doc, story } from "executable-stories-cypress";

it("plain test name", () => {
  doc.story("Friendly scenario title");
  story.given("documented setup");
});

Step markers support metadata modifiers for report intent:

story.given.skip("legacy precondition");
story.when.concurrent("action can run in parallel");
story.then.todo("assertion to implement");

With options:

story.init({
  tags: ["smoke"],
  ticket: "JIRA-123",
  traceUrlTemplate: "https://grafana.example.com/explore?traceId={traceId}",
});

When traceUrlTemplate is set and spans are attached via story.attachSpans(...), the story docs include a Trace ID entry and a View Trace link.

Reporter options

The package outputs to the executable-stories-formatters schema (RawRun). You can:

• Use the Mocha reporter (when Cypress invokes it) with --reporter executable-stories-cypress/reporter and --reporter-options outputDir=...,outputName=....
• Or use the Module API: after cypress.run(), call buildRawRunFromCypressResult(result, options) then generateReportsFromRawRun(rawRun, options) (see exports from executable-stories-cypress/reporter).

Options match the formatters’ FormatterOptions (e.g. formats, outputDir, outputName, markdown, rawRunPath).

Exports

• Main: story, doc, getAndClearMeta, types from executable-stories-cypress.
• Support: executable-stories-cypress/support (side-effect: registers afterEach + cy.task).
• Plugin: registerExecutableStoriesPlugin from executable-stories-cypress/plugin.
• Reporter: default reporter and buildRawRunFromCypressResult, generateReportsFromRawRun from executable-stories-cypress/reporter.