CLI

The steplib command provides tools for inspecting and validating step libraries without running behave.

steplib --help

steplib list

List all registered steps, optionally filtered by category, backend or tag.

steplib list
steplib list --category api
steplib list --backend httpx
steplib list --tag smoke
steplib list --json

Output (table mode):

PATTERN                                  CATEGORY  BACKEND  DESCRIPTION
--------                                 --------  -------  -----------
I send a {method} request to {url}       api       -        Send an HTTP request and store the response.
the response status is {status:d}        api       -        Assert the last response status code.
...

Output (JSON mode, --json):

[
  {
    "pattern": "I send a {method} request to {url}",
    "category": "api",
    "backend": null,
    "description": "Send an HTTP request and store the response.",
    "module": "steplib.modules.api.steps",
    "tags": [],
    "version": null,
    "deprecated": false,
    "example": "When I send a GET request to \"/users\"",
    "i18n": {
      "es": "envío una petición {method} a {url}",
      "pt": "envio uma requisição {method} para {url}"
    }
  }
]

Options

--category, -c

Filter by category (e.g. api, web, db, kafka).

--backend, -b

Filter by backend (e.g. httpx, requests, stdlib, selenium, sqlalchemy).

--tag, -t

Filter by tag.

--json

Output as JSON instead of a table.

steplib show

Show detailed metadata for a single step pattern.

steplib show "I send a {method} request to {url}"
steplib show "I send a {method} request to {url}" --backend httpx
steplib show "I send a {method} request to {url}" --json

Output (text mode):

Pattern:    I send a {method} request to {url}
Category:   api
Backend:    -
Module:     steplib.modules.api.steps
Function:   steplib.modules.api.steps.step_send_request
Description: Send an HTTP request and store the response.
Example:    When I send a GET request to "/users"
Translations:
  [es] envío una petición {method} a {url}
  [pt] envio uma requisição {method} para {url}

Options

--backend, -b

Filter by backend when the same pattern is registered for multiple backends.

--json

Output as JSON.

steplib validate

Validate that all registered steps satisfy the step contract.

steplib validate

Checks performed:

1. Patterns are parseable by the parse library.

2. Parameter names match pattern placeholders — every declared Param must appear in the pattern, and vice versa.

3. No duplicate patterns within the same backend.

4. i18n translations have the same placeholders as the base pattern, in the same order.

5. Stacked patterns (multiple @step decorators on the same function) share the same placeholders and order.

6. Each step has a ``category`` — enforced by the dataclass, but double-checked.

Exit code is 0 if all checks pass, 1 if any errors are found.

steplib init

Generate a features/environment.py scaffold with autoload(context).

steplib init
steplib init --path my_features/environment.py

The generated file:

"""behave environment generated by steplib init."""

from steplib.behave import autoload

def before_all(context):
    context.steplib = autoload(context)

def before_scenario(context, scenario):
    context.steplib.reset()

def after_scenario(context, scenario):
    context.steplib.cleanup()

Options

--path, -p

Output path for environment.py. Defaults to features/environment.py. Parent directories are created automatically.

API reference

See Core API Reference for the full autodoc reference of steplib.cli.main and steplib.cli.formatters.