Cucumber
Cucumber is an open-source test automation tool that runs Behavior-Driven Development scenarios written in Gherkin, mapping each plain-language step to a corresponding piece of automation code called a step definition. It's one of the most widely used BDD frameworks across multiple programming languages.
Cucumber's job is purely to parse Gherkin feature files and execute the matching step definitions — it doesn't handle browser automation or API calls itself, which is why Cucumber projects typically pair it with Selenium, Playwright, or a REST client underneath, using Cucumber as the orchestration and readability layer on top.
This separation is what lets the same feature file, reviewed and agreed on by a non-technical stakeholder, drive automation against a UI, an API, or even a CLI tool, depending on what the step definitions underneath actually implement.
