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Saptarshi Deb
Saptarshi Deb

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Stop Using Map<String, Object> in Cucumber: A Type-Safe Scenario Context for Cucumber JVM

#java #testing #cucumber #automation

As automation frameworks grow, one problem appears in almost every Cucumber project:

How do we share data between step definitions?

Most teams end up building a custom ScenarioContext using a

Map<String, Object>:
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context.put("response", response);

Response response =
    (Response) context.get("response");
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While this works, it introduces several issues:

Magic string keys
Manual casting
Runtime ClassCastExceptions
Duplicate implementations across projects
Boilerplate code that every framework seems to rewrite

After implementing the same solution multiple times across different projects, I decided to build an open-source library that provides a reusable and type-safe alternative.

Introducing cucumber-scenario-context

GitHub Repository:

https://github.com/sap7deb/cucumber-scenario-context

The library provides:

✅ Type-safe context storage

✅ Cucumber integration

✅ PicoContainer support

✅ Scenario lifecycle management

✅ Cleanup handlers

✅ Framework-independent core module

Traditional Approach

context.put("user", user);

User user =
    (User) context.get("user");
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Problems:

String-based keys
Casting everywhere
Runtime failures
Type-Safe Approach

Define a key once:

public static final Key<Response> RESPONSE =
    Key.key("response", Response.class);
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Store:

context.add(RESPONSE, response);
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Retrieve:

Response response =
    context.get(RESPONSE);
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No casting.

No string lookups.

Compile-time type safety.

Real-World Example

Imagine an API test that creates a user and validates the response in a later step.

Create User

@When("a user is created")
public void createUser() {

    Response response =
        userApi.createUser();

    context.add(
        ContextKeys.CREATE_USER_RESPONSE,
        response
    );
}
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Validate Response

@Then("user creation should succeed")
public void validateResponse() {

    Response response =
        context.get(
            ContextKeys.CREATE_USER_RESPONSE
        );

    assertEquals(
        201,
        response.statusCode()
    );
}
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The response object is shared safely across step definitions without casting or string-based retrieval.

Core Operations
Define a Key

public static final Key<String> USERNAME =
    Key.key("username", String.class);
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Add

context.add(USERNAME, "john.doe");
Retrieve
String username =
    context.get(USERNAME);
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Remove

context.remove(USERNAME);
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Clear

context.clear();
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Why Use It?
| Traditional Context | cucumber-scenario-context |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| String keys | Type-safe keys |
| Manual casting | No casting |
| Runtime type errors | Compile-time safety |
| Custom implementation per project | Reusable library |
| Boilerplate code | Minimal setup |
| Harder to maintain | Consistent design |

Add the dependency to your project and inject ScenarioContext into your step definitions.

The library works particularly well with:

Cucumber JVM
PicoContainer
REST Assured
Selenium
Playwright
Any Java-based automation framework
Learn More

📖 Medium Article:

https://medium.com/@sap7deb/stop-using-map-string-object-in-cucumber-type-safe-scenario-context-for-cucumber-jvm-3d8a64b54fd1

⭐ GitHub Repository:

https://github.com/sap7deb/cucumber-scenario-context

I'd love to hear feedback from the automation community and learn how others are handling scenario state management in their Cucumber frameworks. Happy testing! 🚀

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