Gauge

Overview

Gauge is an open-source test automation framework created by ThoughtWorks that uses Markdown as its specification language. Unlike Gherkin's rigid Given/When/Then structure, Gauge allows free-form, natural-language specifications written as plain Markdown files (.spec). This makes specifications more readable for non-technical stakeholders while remaining fully executable.

Gauge separates the specification layer (Markdown) from the implementation layer (code in any supported language), enabling teams to write test specs that read like documentation.

Core Concepts

Specification Files (.spec)

A specification is a Markdown file containing a heading (the spec name) and one or more scenarios.

# User Authentication

This specification covers the login and logout flows
for registered users of the application.

## Successful Login

* Navigate to the login page
* Enter username "alice@example.com"
* Enter password "Str0ng!Pass"
* Click the login button
* Verify the dashboard is displayed
* Verify the welcome message shows "Hello, Alice"

## Failed Login with Wrong Password

* Navigate to the login page
* Enter username "alice@example.com"
* Enter password "wrong-password"
* Click the login button
* Verify the error message "Invalid credentials" is displayed

• The # heading is the specification name.
• The ## headings are scenario names.
• Lines beginning with * are steps.
• Free-form text between headings is documentation (not executed).

Steps

Steps are the executable units in Gauge. Each step in the spec maps to a step implementation in code.

Steps can contain parameters in quotes or angle brackets:

• Static parameters: * Enter username "alice@example.com"
• Dynamic parameters: * Enter username <username>
• Table parameters (passed as data tables)
• File parameters: * Upload file <file:data/sample.csv>

Concepts

Concepts are reusable groups of steps -- like macros or subroutines for specifications. They are defined in .cpt files.

File: specs/concepts/login.cpt

# Login as user <username> with password <password>

* Navigate to the login page
* Enter username <username>
* Enter password <password>
* Click the login button

Using the concept in a spec:

## Successful Login

* Login as user "alice@example.com" with password "Str0ng!Pass"
* Verify the dashboard is displayed

Concepts reduce duplication and create a higher-level vocabulary for specs.

Tags

Tags categorize specifications and scenarios for filtered execution.

# User Authentication

Tags: authentication, smoke

## Successful Login

Tags: happy-path, critical

* Login as user "alice@example.com" with password "Str0ng!Pass"
* Verify the dashboard is displayed

Run filtered: gauge run --tags "smoke & !wip" specs/

Data Tables

Tabular data can be embedded directly in specifications for data-driven scenarios.

## Create users with different roles

   | username | role   | permissions        |
   |----------|--------|--------------------|
   | alice    | admin  | read,write,delete  |
   | bob      | editor | read,write         |
   | charlie  | viewer | read               |

* Create user <username> with role <role>
* Verify user <username> has permissions <permissions>

The scenario runs once per row with the column values substituted into the dynamic parameters.

Data-Driven Testing with External Sources

Gauge supports CSV and other external data sources for large data sets.

Using a CSV data source:

## Validate product pricing

Tags: data-driven

table: data/products.csv

* Search for product <name>
* Verify the displayed price is <expected_price>
* Verify the stock status is <stock_status>

data/products.csv:

name,expected_price,stock_status
Wireless Mouse,$29.99,In Stock
Mechanical KB,$89.99,In Stock
USB-C Hub,$49.99,Out of Stock

Teardown Steps

Steps that run after every scenario in a specification, used for cleanup.

# Shopping Cart

## Add item to cart

* Login as user "shopper@example.com" with password "Pass123"
* Add product "Wireless Mouse" to cart
* Verify cart contains 1 item

## Remove item from cart

* Login as user "shopper@example.com" with password "Pass123"
* Add product "Wireless Mouse" to cart
* Remove product "Wireless Mouse" from cart
* Verify cart is empty

___
* Clear the shopping cart
* Logout the current user

The ___ (three or more underscores) marks the beginning of teardown steps.

Context Steps

Steps that run before every scenario in a specification, similar to Gherkin's Background.

# Shopping Cart

* Login as user "shopper@example.com" with password "Pass123"
* Navigate to the product catalog

## Add item to cart

* Add product "Wireless Mouse" to cart
* Verify cart contains 1 item

## View empty cart

* Navigate to the cart page
* Verify the cart is empty

Steps placed between the specification heading and the first scenario heading are context steps.

Step Implementations

JavaScript / TypeScript

const { Step, BeforeSuite, AfterSuite } = require('gauge-ts');
const { openBrowser, closeBrowser, goto, click, write, into, textBox, text } = require('taiko');

Step('Navigate to the login page', async () => {
    await goto('https://app.example.com/login');
});

Step('Enter username <username>', async (username) => {
    await write(username, into(textBox({ id: 'email' })));
});

Step('Enter password <password>', async (password) => {
    await write(password, into(textBox({ id: 'password' })));
});

Step('Click the login button', async () => {
    await click('Login');
});

Step('Verify the dashboard is displayed', async () => {
    assert.ok(await text('Dashboard').exists());
});

C# (.NET)

using Gauge.CSharp.Lib.Attribute;
using FluentAssertions;

public class LoginSteps
{
    [Step("Navigate to the login page")]
    public void NavigateToLogin()
    {
        // navigate to login page
    }

    [Step("Enter username <username>")]
    public void EnterUsername(string username)
    {
        // type username into field
    }

    [Step("Enter password <password>")]
    public void EnterPassword(string password)
    {
        // type password into field
    }

    [Step("Verify the error message <message> is displayed")]
    public void VerifyErrorMessage(string message)
    {
        // assert error message
    }
}

Python

from getgauge.python import step, before_suite, after_suite

@step("Navigate to the login page")
def navigate_to_login():
    # navigate to login page
    pass

@step("Enter username <username>")
def enter_username(username):
    # type username into field
    pass

@step("Enter password <password>")
def enter_password(password):
    # type password into field
    pass

@step("Verify the dashboard is displayed")
def verify_dashboard():
    # assert dashboard is visible
    pass

Java

import com.thoughtworks.gauge.Step;

public class LoginSteps {
    @Step("Navigate to the login page")
    public void navigateToLogin() {
        // navigate to login page
    }

    @Step("Enter username <username>")
    public void enterUsername(String username) {
        // type username into field
    }

    @Step("Enter password <password>")
    public void enterPassword(String password) {
        // type password into field
    }

    @Step("Verify the dashboard is displayed")
    public void verifyDashboard() {
        // assert dashboard is visible
    }
}

Complete Specification Example

# E-Commerce Checkout

Tags: checkout, e2e

This specification covers the end-to-end checkout process
including cart review, shipping, payment, and order confirmation.

* Login as user "shopper@example.com" with password "Shop!Pass1"
* Navigate to the product catalog

## Purchase a single item

Tags: happy-path, smoke

* Add product "Wireless Mouse" to the cart
* Navigate to the cart page
* Verify the cart total is "$29.99"
* Proceed to checkout
* Enter shipping address:

   | field       | value              |
   |-------------|--------------------|
   | name        | Alice Smith        |
   | street      | 123 Main St        |
   | city        | Springfield        |
   | state       | IL                 |
   | zip         | 62701              |

* Select shipping method "Standard (5-7 days)"
* Enter payment card "4111111111111111" expiry "12/27" cvv "123"
* Place the order
* Verify order confirmation is displayed
* Verify confirmation email is sent to "shopper@example.com"

## Apply discount code during checkout

Tags: discounts

* Add product "Mechanical KB" to the cart
* Navigate to the cart page
* Apply discount code "SAVE10"
* Verify the discount of "10%" is applied
* Verify the cart total is "$80.99"
* Proceed to checkout
* Place the order with saved shipping and payment
* Verify order confirmation is displayed

## Checkout with empty cart

Tags: negative

* Navigate to the cart page
* Verify the cart is empty
* Verify the checkout button is disabled
* Verify the message "Add items to your cart to proceed" is displayed

___
* Clear the shopping cart
* Logout the current user

Reporting

Gauge generates reports automatically after each run.

Generate HTML report: gauge run specs/ Generate XML for CI: gauge install xml-report && gauge run specs/

Gauge vs Gherkin

CLI Reference

# Install Gauge
npm install -g @getgauge/cli
# or: brew install gauge

# Initialize a new project
gauge init js        # JavaScript
gauge init csharp    # C#
gauge init python    # Python
gauge init java      # Java

# Run all specs
gauge run specs/

# Run specific spec file
gauge run specs/checkout.spec

# Run by tags
gauge run --tags "smoke" specs/
gauge run --tags "checkout & !wip" specs/

# Run in parallel
gauge run --parallel -n 4 specs/

# Validate specs (check for unimplemented steps)
gauge validate specs/

# List unimplemented steps
gauge --unimplemented specs/

# Install plugins
gauge install html-report
gauge install xml-report
gauge install json-report

Project Structure

project-root/
  env/
    default/
      default.properties
  specs/
    concepts/
      login.cpt
      navigation.cpt
    authentication/
      login.spec
      registration.spec
    checkout/
      checkout.spec
      payment.spec
    data/
      products.csv
      users.csv
  tests/           # Step implementations
    authentication_steps.js
    checkout_steps.js
    hooks.js
  manifest.json

Best Practices

• Write specs as documentation first -- the specification should be readable and valuable even without the automation layer.
• Use concepts to build a domain vocabulary -- concepts create a high-level language specific to your application that makes specs concise and expressive.
• Keep steps atomic -- each step should do one thing. Compose complex behaviors using concepts.
• Use context steps for shared setup -- avoid duplicating login or navigation steps across every scenario.
• Use teardown steps for cleanup -- ensure each scenario leaves the system in a clean state.
• Externalize large data sets -- use CSV files for data-driven testing rather than embedding large tables in spec files.
• Tag consistently -- adopt a tagging convention (smoke, regression, wip, feature area tags) and document it for the team.
• Run specs in parallel -- Gauge supports parallel execution natively; structure specs to be independent so they run reliably in parallel.
• Integrate with CI/CD -- use XML or JSON reports for CI integration and HTML reports for human review.
• Validate specs regularly -- run gauge validate in CI to catch unimplemented steps early.