features/docs/wire_protocol/readme

Cucumber’s wire protocol allows step definitions to be
implemented and invoked on any platform.

Communication is over a TCP socket, which Cucumber connects to when it finds
a definition file with the .wire extension in the step_definitions folder
(or other load path). Note that these files are rendered with ERB when loaded.

A WirePacket flowing in either direction is formatted as a JSON-encoded
string, with a newline character signaling the end of a packet. See the
specs for Cucumber::WireSupport::WirePacket for more details.

Cucumber sends the following request messages out over the wire:

  • step_matches - Find out whether the wire server has a definition for a step
  • invoke - Ask for a step definition to be invoked
  • begin_scenario - signals that cucumber is about to execute a scenario
  • end_scenario - signals that cucumber has finished executing a scenario
  • snippet_text - requests a snippet for an undefined step

Every message supports two standard responses:

  • success - expects different arguments (sometimes none at all) depending on the request that was sent.
  • fail - causes a Cucumber::WireSupport::WireException to be raised.

Some messages support more responses - see individual scenarios for details.