In Cucumber, the Background is used to define common preconditions that should run before every Scenario in a feature file.
Instead of repeating the same "Given" or "And" steps in multiple Scenarios, you write those steps once in a Background section.
Key Points
1. Background runs before each Scenario in a Feature file
2. There can be only one Background per feature file
3. The Background must appear before any Scenario or Scenario Outline
4. It can contain one or more steps
5. It applies to both Scenario and Scenario Outline
Syntax
Background: Delete the existing customers in the application
Given user connects to the database
And deletes all existing customer records
Background with Scenario
Feature: Customer operations
Background: Delete the existing customers in the application
Given user connects to the database
And deletes all existing customer records
Scenario: Add a new customer
Given user navigates to the application
When user selects manager login
And adds the customer with mandatory fields
Then success message should be shown
What Happens?
Before Scenario: Add a new customer runs, Cucumber will:
Connect to the database
Delete all customer records
Background with Scenario Outline
Feature: Customer addition with multiple data
Background: Reset the system before each login
Given user connects to the database
And deletes all existing customer records
Scenario Outline: Add multiple customers
Given user navigates to the application
When user selects manager login
And adds the customer with "
", "", ""
Then verify success message is displayed
And the customer should appear in the list
Examples:
| username | lastname | postcode |
| Tester | One | 12345 |
| Manager | Two | 23456 |
| Employee | Three | 34567 |
What Happens?
Cucumber runs the Background once before each iteration of the Scenario Outline, so the connect and delete steps will be executed 3 times (once per row).
Output will be
Running Scenario: Add multiple customers
Background steps executed...
User connects to database
Customer records deleted
User navigates to the application
Manager login selected
User created: Tester
Background steps executed...
User connects to database
Customer records deleted
User navigates to the application
Manager login selected
User created: Manager
...
When to Use Background
Use Background when:
1. The same steps are repeated in every scenario
2. You want to initialize a clean state (e.g., login, DB reset, navigation)
