How can we improve BDD Automation Support in TestRail API & CLI?

[ecollins666]

Hi everyone!

We’re looking for your ideas on how we can make BDD automation workflows easier and more effective in TestRail, especially through the API and CLI.

Teams using Cucumber, Behave, SpecFlow, and similar frameworks often need to map feature files, scenarios, and steps into TestRail. While our API and CLI already support automation integration, we know there’s room to improve.

Some areas we’re exploring:

• Importing/exporting feature files and scenarios more seamlessly
• Linking scenarios to test cases for stronger traceability
• Handling tags/labels across different BDD frameworks
• Reporting results with full scenario context (pass/fail, steps)
• Capturing richer metadata like requirements, defects, and environments

👉 We’d love to hear from you:

• What challenges do you face today when integrating BDD workflows with TestRail?
• Which improvements would have the biggest impact for you in the CLI or API?
• Are there particular BDD frameworks or tools we should support better?

Your feedback will guide our priorities for upcoming improvements.
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts!
— The TestRail Team

[Testinator-X]

It would be a start if TestRail finally supported languages other than English for .feature files. Why is this important?

According to the Cucumber reference:
“The language you choose for Gherkin should be the same language your users and domain experts use when they talk about the domain. Translating between two languages should be avoided.

This is why Gherkin has been translated to over 70 languages .”

In our case, that language is German. Accordingly, our .feature files are also written in German.

While I can easily import a feature file with the following content into TestRail:

Feature: Guess the word

	# The first example has two steps
	Scenario: Maker starts a game
		When the Maker starts a game
		Then the Maker waits for a Breaker to join

	# The second example has three steps
		Scenario: Breaker joins a game
		Given the Maker has started a game with the word "silky"
		When the Breaker joins the Maker's game
		Then the Breaker must guess a word with 5 characters

I get an error when importing the file in German with the following content:

# language: de
Funktion: Errate das Wort

	# Das erste Beispiel hat zwei Schritte
	Szenario: Ersteller startet das Spiel
		Wenn der Ersteller das Spiel startet
		Dann wartet der Ersteller dass der Mitspieler beitritt

	# Das Zweite Beispiel hat drei Schritte
		Szenario: Mitspieler tritt dem Spiel bei
		Angenommen startet das Spiel mit dem Wort "seidig"
		Wenn der Mitspieler dem Spiel des Erstellers beitritt 
		Dann muss der Mitspieler ein Wort mit 5 Buchstaben erraten.

TestRail complains that it expects the keyword “Feature,” but received “Funktion: Errate das Wort”

Well, what can I say? According to the Gherkin localisation reference, “function” simply IS the German word to be used for “feature.”

This means we cannot use TestRail for BDD without rewriting/translating all our .feature files. This means that all of TestRail's BDD functions are essentially useless to us.

However, even if the English .feature file has been imported, the keywords are not specially formatted. For better readability within TestRail, it would be really helpful, regardless of the BDD function, if TestRail would finally introduce syntax highlighting for source code or a WYSIWYG Texteditor editor instead of markdown formatting. Other modern test management tools have supported this for a long time. I believe TestRail is the only paid professional tool that does not yet offer this standard feature. And if we have to continue using this unspeakable markdown formatting, it would be helpful if we could at least format the text with keyboard shortcuts.

For example, [CTRL] + [B] should insert two **asterisks** at the text cursor position or adds them before and after a selected text.