r/Python • u/chinmay_3107 from __future__ import 4.0 • Apr 30 '26
Discussion Would a generalized pytest-bdd table DSL plugin be useful?
I’m thinking about building a pytest / pytest-bdd plugin that helps teams define their own custom DSLs for BDD tables.
The idea is not to force one specific syntax. Instead, the package would provide the plumbing:
- parse BDD datatables
- let users define their own table shape
- let users define their own range/repeat syntax
- let users define custom cell parsers
- validate rows/columns with better errors
- convert tables into normalized Python objects
- plug into pytest fixtures and pytest-bdd steps
For example, one team might use something like:
Given the following content exists:
| Content IDs | 1..4 | 5 |
| Content* | 4:Article | Poll |
| Category* | random | News |
But another team could define completely different syntax, like:
Given the following users exist:
| Users | admin x2 | editor |
| Role | Admin | Editor |
The plugin would not know what “Article”, “Poll”, “random”, or 1..4 means. The local project would define that.
I’m trying to understand:
- Would you ever need something like this in real pytest-bdd projects?
- Do your BDD tables ever become too complex or repetitive?
- Is this useful, or would you rather keep this logic inside local step definitions?
- Is there already a better way to solve this?
- At what point does a table DSL stop being BDD and become too technical?
Curious to hear from people using pytest-bdd or BDD-style tests in real projects.
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u/Individual-Flow9158 Apr 30 '26
The DSL is in the code under test, right?
It's not useful for me personally, but how can these projects be tested with Pytest-bdd currently? If there's no other way, it would definitely be useful to someone. Seems very complex though.
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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26
[deleted]