Consistency Rules (BK001–BK005)

Rules that detect inconsistencies across scenarios within a feature.

---

BK001: inconsistent-step-text

Detects steps that use different text for the same action. Consistent step text improves readability and enables better step definition reuse.

Severity: WARNING

Tags: steps, consistency, naming

Since: 0.5.0

Example

??? example "Before → After"

**Before:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Login
    Given a registered user
    When I click the login button

  Scenario: Admin login
    Given an admin user
    When I press the login button
```

**After:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Login
    Given a registered user
    When I click the login button

  Scenario: Admin login
    Given a registered admin user
    When I click the login button
```

---

BK002: inconsistent-tag-usage

Detects scenarios that may be missing tags that similar scenarios have. This is a heuristic rule based on scenario name similarity.

Severity: INFO

Tags: tags, consistency

Since: 0.5.0

Example

??? example "Before → After"

**Before:**

```gherkin
  @smoke
  Scenario: User can log in
    Given a user

  Scenario: User can log out
    Given a user
```

**After:**

```gherkin
  @smoke
  Scenario: User can log in
    Given a user

  @smoke
  Scenario: User can log out
    Given a user
```

---

BK003: inconsistent-naming-convention

Detects features where scenario names follow different conventions (e.g., some start with "Given" and others don't). Consistent naming improves readability.

Severity: WARNING

Tags: naming, consistency, scenarios

Since: 0.5.0

Example

??? example "Before → After"

**Before:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Given a user is logged in
    ...

  Scenario: User views dashboard
    ...
```

**After:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: User is logged in
    ...

  Scenario: User views dashboard
    ...
```

---

BK004: inconsistent-scenario-length

Detects features where scenarios have very different numbers of steps. Large disparities indicate inconsistent test granularity.

Severity: INFO

Tags: scenarios, consistency, complexity

Since: 0.5.0

Example

??? example "Before → After"

**Before:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Quick check
    Given a user

  Scenario: Full flow
    Given a user
    When I navigate to settings
    And I click privacy
    And I select delete data
    And I confirm deletion
    Then my data is deleted
    And I see a confirmation
```

**After:**

Split the long scenario into smaller, focused scenarios with similar
step counts.

---

BK005: duplicate-step-text

Detects scenarios that contain the same step text multiple times. This is usually a mistake or indicates a missing "And" continuation.

Severity: WARNING

Tags: steps, duplicates, consistency

Since: 0.5.0

Example

??? example "Before → After"

**Before:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Add items
    Given a shopping cart
    When I add an item
    When I add an item
    Then the cart has two items
```

**After:**

```gherkin
  Scenario: Add items
    Given a shopping cart
    When I add an item
    And I add another item
    Then the cart has two items
```