Add Step info to @BeforeStep and @AfterStep hooks by glaciousm · Pull Request #3139 · cucumber/cucumber-jvm

glaciousm · 2026-01-14T13:15:08Z

Summary

This PR implements the feature requested in #1805 - allowing @BeforeStep and @AfterStep hooks to receive step information (keyword, text, line number) alongside the existing Scenario parameter.

New API:

@BeforeStep
public void beforeStep(Scenario scenario, Step step) {
    System.out.println("Running: " + step.getKeyword() + step.getText());
    System.out.println("At line: " + step.getLine());
}

@AfterStep  
public void afterStep(Scenario scenario, Step step) {
    if (scenario.isFailed()) {
        System.out.println("Failed step: " + step.getText());
    }
}

Changes

Add new io.cucumber.java.Step interface exposing step details
Add internal StepInfo wrapper class implementing the Step interface
Extend HookDefinition with execute(state, step) default method
Update JavaHookDefinition to support 2-parameter step hooks
Pass step info through HookTestStep execution chain

Backward Compatibility

Existing hooks with 0 or 1 parameter continue to work unchanged
No breaking changes to the public API

Test plan

All existing cucumber-core tests pass (665 tests)
All existing cucumber-java tests pass (115 tests)
Tested with a real Selenium/Cucumber project

Closes #1805

Allow @BeforeStep and @afterstep hooks to receive step information (keyword, text, line number) alongside the existing Scenario parameter. New API: ```java @BeforeStep public void beforeStep(Scenario scenario, Step step) { System.out.println("Running: " + step.getKeyword() + step.getText()); System.out.println("At line: " + step.getLine()); } ``` Changes: - Add new io.cucumber.java.Step interface exposing step details - Add StepInfo wrapper class implementing Step interface - Extend HookDefinition with execute(state, step) default method - Update JavaHookDefinition to support 2-parameter step hooks - Pass step info through HookTestStep execution chain - Maintain full backward compatibility with existing hooks Closes cucumber#1805

mpkorstanje

Overall this looks like a decent approach.

The HookTestStep::run method is duplicated. I don't think that this is necessary. In TestStep::executeStep it should be possible to pass the step argument and propagate it down to HookDefinition::execute by adding an extra argument to StepDefinitionMatch::runStep. If it goes unused in other places, that is okay.
io.cucumber.plugin.event.StepArgument shouldn't be visible to users but I don't know what to request that yet.

mpkorstanje · 2026-01-14T14:16:26Z

Don't worry about the Semver check btw.

- Remove duplicated run method from HookTestStep, use parent's implementation - Pass step argument through TestStep::executeStep and ExecutionMode - Add runStep(state, step) default method to StepDefinitionMatch interface - Make HookDefinition.execute(state) a default no-op and deprecate it - Remove getArgument() from Step interface (StepArgument visibility concern) - Refactor JavaHookDefinition validation to explicitly check hook types - Update tests to match new error message format

glaciousm · 2026-01-14T14:45:27Z

pushed changes based on the comments, if you could re-review

mpkorstanje

Please review your own code before asking me for a review.

These changes came in incredibly fast.
The changes are as requested in letter, but not in spirit. I find that I'm writing the same comments as I did in my previous review, but for exactly one level higher in the call chain.
There is a rather obvious blunder in the code that regular refactoring tools wouldn't produce.

Normally I'd give you the benefit of the doubt but I do see several LLM based projects on your profile so I am skeptical that you've done the necessary work to create a correct pull request.

glaciousm · 2026-01-15T07:15:45Z

I will go through all my changes, one by one, apologies

- StepDefinitionMatch.runStep() now takes Step parameter directly - ExecutionMode.execute() takes Step parameter - TestStep.run() takes Step parameter - Step flows through: TestStep → ExecutionMode → StepDefinitionMatch → HookDefinition

glaciousm · 2026-01-15T10:24:02Z

@mpkorstanje i did made some changes but i need your opinion here.. i really dont like the ,null in the step.run, i would prefer overloading but i was concerned you would see it as duplication. What is your preference? Overload the run or the ,null is fine?

mpkorstanje · 2026-01-15T13:22:37Z

I think null values for method arguments and constructors are fine. Especially in internal APIs. Just don't return them.

I'm currently working on adding nullability information with Jspecify. So then the compiler will be able to check once that lands.

glaciousm · 2026-01-15T13:58:56Z

In this case if you can review once more it would be great. As for the nulluability thats would be super helpful because null pointers in cucumber debuging is a pain..

mpkorstanje

Looks better. I'm going too need to take a closer look at the inheritance around TestStep.

mpkorstanje

Using the TestCaseState to keep track of the current active gherkin step analogous to the currently active test step (hooks or steps) the solution simplifies a lot. I've pushed that as a change.

Please do update the cucumber-java/README.md with some documentation. And some tests to verify everything works as expected. The refactoring of the hook definition validation introduced several branches that are not covered. And the feature itself is untested.

glaciousm · 2026-01-22T12:10:18Z

Added the requested documentation and tests:

Updated cucumber-java/README.md with documentation for the Step parameter in @BeforeStep/@AfterStep hooks
Added unit tests in JavaHookDefinitionTest covering the validation branches for step hooks
Added integration tests (step-hooks.feature + StepHooksSteps.java) to verify the feature works end-to-end

Ready for review when you have time.

…step-hooks

mpkorstanje reviewed Jan 14, 2026

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mpkorstanje requested changes Jan 14, 2026

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mpkorstanje reviewed Jan 16, 2026

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Comment thread cucumber-java/src/main/java/io/cucumber/java/JavaHookDefinition.java Outdated

mpkorstanje reviewed Jan 16, 2026

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Fix incorrect hook type in validation error messages

6d37cfb

mpkorstanje self-assigned this Jan 20, 2026

mpkorstanje added 3 commits January 21, 2026 16:20

Store current pickle step in test case state

6143a35

Rename pickle step to step

d0f3b41

Make step optional

0848161

mpkorstanje requested changes Jan 21, 2026

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Added documentation and tests for step hooks with Step parameter

952b6b1

mpkorstanje self-requested a review January 26, 2026 22:32

mpkorstanje added 5 commits January 27, 2026 13:39

Flatten StepInfo into Step

3ed7b71

Spotless

eccf0e6

Remove redundant info

8566406

Update CHANGELOG

37b0580

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feature/step-info-in-…

4110ee1

…step-hooks

mpkorstanje merged commit b235d46 into cucumber:main Jan 27, 2026

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glaciousm commented Jan 14, 2026

Summary

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Backward Compatibility

Test plan

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