Add support for execution sharding

Author: agologan

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) on how to contribute to Cucumber
 ## [Unreleased]
 ### Added
 - Export configuration types ([#2598](https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber-js/pull/2598))
+- Add support for execution sharding ([#2303](https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber-js/pull/2303))
 
 ## [12.1.0] - 2025-07-19
 ### Added

compatibility/cck_spec.ts

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ describe('Cucumber Compatibility Kit', () => {
           names: [],
           tagExpression: '',
           order: 'defined',
+          shard: '',
         },
         support: {
           requireModules: ['ts-node/register'],

features/sharding.feature

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+Feature: Running scenarios using sharding
+  As a developer running features
+  I want an easy way to run specific scenarios by tag
+  So that I don't waste time running my whole test suite when I don't need to
+
+  Background:
+    Given a file named "features/a.feature" with:
+      """
+      Feature: some feature
+        @a
+        Scenario: first scenario
+          Given a step
+
+        @b
+        Scenario Outline: second scenario - <ID>
+          Given a step
+
+          @c
+          Examples:
+            | ID |
+            | X  |
+            | Y  |
+
+          @d
+          Examples:
+            | ID |
+            | Z  |
+      """
+    And a file named "features/step_definitions/cucumber_steps.js" with:
+      """
+      const {Given} = require('@cucumber/cucumber')
+
+      Given('a step', function() {})
+      """
+
+  Scenario: run a single scenario
+    When I run cucumber-js with `--shard 1/5`
+    Then it passes
+    And it runs the scenario "first scenario"
+
+  Scenario: run every other scenario starting at 1
+    When I run cucumber-js with `--shard 1/2`
+    Then it passes
+    And it runs the scenarios:
+      | NAME |
+      | first scenario      |
+      | second scenario - Y |
+
+  Scenario: run every 3rd scenario starting at 1
+    When I run cucumber-js with `--shard 1/3`
+    Then it passes
+    And it runs the scenarios:
+      | NAME |
+      | first scenario      |
+      | second scenario - Z |
+
+  Scenario: run even scenarios
+    When I run cucumber-js with `--shard 2/2`
+    Then it passes
+    And it runs the scenarios:
+      | NAME |
+      | second scenario - X |
+      | second scenario - Z |
+
+  Scenario: no scenarios in shard
+    When I run cucumber-js with `--shard 5/5`
+    Then it passes
+    And it runs 0 scenarios

src/api/convert_configuration.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export async function convertConfiguration(
       names: flatConfiguration.name,
       tagExpression: flatConfiguration.tags,
       order: flatConfiguration.order,
+      shard: flatConfiguration.shard,
     },
     support: {
       requireModules: flatConfiguration.requireModule,

src/api/convert_configuration_spec.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ describe('convertConfiguration', () => {
         order: 'defined',
         paths: [],
         tagExpression: '',
+        shard: '',
       },
       support: {
         requireModules: [],

src/api/load_sources_spec.ts

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ describe('loadSources', () => {
         paths: [],
         names: [],
         tagExpression: '',
+        shard: '',
       },
       environment
     )
@@ -112,6 +113,7 @@ describe('loadSources', () => {
         paths: ['features/test.feature:8'],
         names: [],
         tagExpression: '',
+        shard: '',
       },
       environment
     )
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ describe('loadSources', () => {
         paths: [],
         names: ['two'],
         tagExpression: '',
+        shard: '',
       },
       environment
     )
@@ -142,6 +145,7 @@ describe('loadSources', () => {
         paths: [],
         names: [],
         tagExpression: '@tag2',
+        shard: '',
       },
       environment
     )
@@ -157,6 +161,7 @@ describe('loadSources', () => {
         paths: ['@rerun.txt'],
         names: [],
         tagExpression: '',
+        shard: '',
       },
       environment
     )

src/api/plugins.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { PluginManager } from '../plugin'
 import publishPlugin from '../publish'
 import filterPlugin from '../filter'
+import shardingPlugin from '../sharding'
 import { UsableEnvironment } from '../environment'
 import { IRunConfiguration, ISourcesCoordinates } from './types'
 
@@ -11,6 +12,11 @@ export async function initializeForLoadSources(
   // eventually we'll load plugin packages here
   const pluginManager = new PluginManager(environment)
   await pluginManager.initCoordinator('loadSources', filterPlugin, coordinates)
+  await pluginManager.initCoordinator(
+    'loadSources',
+    shardingPlugin,
+    coordinates
+  )
   return pluginManager
 }
 
@@ -37,5 +43,10 @@ export async function initializeForRunCucumber(
     filterPlugin,
     configuration.sources
   )
+  await pluginManager.initCoordinator(
+    'runCucumber',
+    shardingPlugin,
+    configuration.sources
+  )
   return pluginManager
 }

src/api/types.ts

@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ export interface ISourcesCoordinates {
    * Run in the order defined, or in a random order
    */
   order: IPickleOrder
+  /**
+   * Shard tests and execute only the selected shard, format `<index>/<total>`
+   * @example 1/4
+   * @remarks
+   * Shards use 1-based numbering
+   */
+  shard: string
 }
 
 /**

src/configuration/argv_parser.ts

@@ -123,6 +123,10 @@ const ArgvParser = {
         '--order <TYPE[:SEED]>',
         'run scenarios in the specified order. Type should be `defined` or `random`'
       )
+      .option(
+        '--shard <INDEX/TOTAL>',
+        'run shard INDEX of TOTAL shards. The index starts at 1'
+      )
       .option(
         '-p, --profile <NAME>',
         'specify the profile to use (repeatable)',

src/configuration/default_configuration.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION: IConfiguration = {
   requireModule: [],
   retry: 0,
   retryTagFilter: '',
+  shard: '',
   strict: true,
   tags: '',
   worldParameters: {},