Flybirds: An Open‑Source BDD UI Automation Framework for Mobile Testing

Background : Since mid‑2018 Ctrip has adopted Behavior‑Driven Development (BDD) for its ticketing system, and Flybirds has become the internal default BDD‑UI testing framework for mobile apps.

Why open source : To share the BDD solution with the community and encourage deeper collaboration with peers using BDD.

Core components : Flybirds combines Behave for natural‑language test case mapping, Airtest for UI automation on Android/iOS, and Multiple‑cucumber‑html‑reporter for visual test reports.

Key features : BDD‑style syntax, support for automated app actions, form submission, UI element verification, keyboard input, Deeplink navigation, bilingual (English/Chinese) language support, plug‑in design for custom extensions, CLI scaffolding, and HTML reporting.

Environment setup :

Install the framework: pip3 install flybirds

Grant adb execution permission on macOS/Linux: cd {your_python_path}/site-packages/airtest/core/android/static/adb/mac && chmod +x adb cd {your_python_path}/site-packages/airtest/core/android/static/adb/linux && chmod +x adb

Create a project with the CLI: flybirds create

Quick start :

Run the demo feature set (Android/iOS) generated by the scaffolding.

Check device connection with adb devices (Android) or tidevice list (iOS).

Execute tests: flybirds run -P features/test/android

Project structure :

features/
  test/
    everything.feature
  steps/
    steps.py

Feature files are written in Gherkin language and serve both documentation and automation purposes.

Step templates and hooks : Common step templates are provided; users can add custom steps in pscript/dsl/steps . Hook functions such as before_step , after_scenario , before_all , etc., can be defined in pscript/dsl/step/hook.py to run code before/after steps, scenarios, features, or the entire test run.

Tags : Scenarios can be filtered by tags using flybirds run -T tag1,tag2 or excluded with a leading dash.

Pre‑run checks : Ensure devices are connected and USB debugging is enabled; install necessary drivers and, for iOS, set up WebDriverAgent.

Run parameters :

flybirds run -P ./features/test/demo.feature – specify path.

flybirds run -T tag1,tag2,-tag3 – filter by tags.

flybirds run --format=json – output format (default JSON).

Configuration : Mandatory fields are deviceId and packageName ; iOS also requires webDriverAgent and platform . Detailed config docs are linked in the source.

Reporting : The generated HTML report includes summary, feature and scenario results, and for failed scenarios, screenshots and videos.

Custom extensions : The plug‑in architecture allows adding web or additional app extensions by placing packages under plugins.default and updating plugin_info.json . Custom step files can be imported in features/steps/steps.py .

Continuous Integration : Flybirds can be invoked from CI tools such as Jenkins: # Inside the jenkins shell command cd {PATH_TO_PROJECT_FOLDER} flybirds run -P ./features/test/everything.feature cp -R reports $WORKSPACE

Release plan : The project follows SemVer, with weekly minor releases and an open contribution process on GitHub.

Recruitment notice : The article concludes with a brief invitation to join Ctrip’s ticketing R&D team, listing contact email and application instructions.