diff --git a/tests/e2e/features/steps/common_http.py b/tests/e2e/features/steps/common_http.py
index b462f7df..2bb59dcc 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/features/steps/common_http.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/features/steps/common_http.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import json
 
 import requests
-from behave import given, then, when
+from behave import given, then, when  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
 from behave.runner import Context
 from tests.e2e.utils.utils import normalize_endpoint, validate_json
 
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ def request_endpoint_with_json(
     # initial value
     context.response = None
 
+    assert context.text is not None, "Payload needs to be specified"
+
     # perform REST API call
     context.response = requests.get(
         f"http://{hostname}:{port}/{endpoint}",
@@ -54,6 +56,8 @@ def request_endpoint_with_url_params(
     """Perform a request to the server defined by URL to a given endpoint."""
     params = {}
 
+    assert context.table is not None, "Request parameters needs to be specified"
+
     for row in context.table:
         name = row["param"]
         value = row["value"]
@@ -120,6 +124,7 @@ def check_content_type(context: Context, content_type: str) -> None:
 def check_response_body_schema(context: Context) -> None:
     """Check that response body is compliant with a given schema."""
     assert context.response is not None, "Request needs to be performed first"
+    assert context.text is not None, "Response does not contain any payload"
     schema = json.loads(context.text)
     body = context.response.json()
 
@@ -139,6 +144,7 @@ def check_response_body_contains(context: Context, substring: str) -> None:
 def check_prediction_result(context: Context) -> None:
     """Check the content of the response to be exactly the same."""
     assert context.response is not None, "Request needs to be performed first"
+    assert context.text is not None, "Response does not contain any payload"
     expected_body = json.loads(context.text)
     result = context.response.json()
 
@@ -150,6 +156,7 @@ def check_prediction_result(context: Context) -> None:
 def check_prediction_result_ignoring_field(context: Context, field: str) -> None:
     """Check the content of the response to be exactly the same."""
     assert context.response is not None, "Request needs to be performed first"
+    assert context.text is not None, "Response does not contain any payload"
     expected_body = json.loads(context.text).copy()
     result = context.response.json().copy()
 
@@ -217,6 +224,7 @@ def access_rest_api_endpoint_post(context: Context, endpoint: str) -> None:
     path = f"{context.api_prefix}/{endpoint}".replace("//", "/")
     url = base + path
 
+    assert context.text is not None, "Payload needs to be specified"
     data = json.loads(context.text)
     # initial value
     context.response = None
diff --git a/tests/e2e/features/steps/llm_query_response.py b/tests/e2e/features/steps/llm_query_response.py
index 10f0cf84..cc0e3a09 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/features/steps/llm_query_response.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/features/steps/llm_query_response.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """LLM query and response steps."""
 
 import requests
-from behave import then, when
+from behave import then, when  # pyright: ignore[reportAttributeAccessIssue]
 from behave.runner import Context
 
 DEFAULT_LLM_TIMEOUT = 60
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ def check_fragments_in_response(context: Context) -> None:
     response_json = context.response.json()
     response = response_json["response"]
 
+    assert context.table is not None, "Fragments are not specified in table"
+
     for fragment in context.table:
         expected = fragment["Fragments in LLM response"]
         assert (
diff --git a/tests/e2e/gen_scenario_list.py b/tests/e2e/gen_scenario_list.py
index 81c9cd89..94cf1744 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/gen_scenario_list.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/gen_scenario_list.py
@@ -21,8 +21,11 @@
 
 import os
 
+# repository URL
+REPO_URL = "https://github.com/lightspeed-core/lightspeed-stack/"
+
 # URL prefix to create links to feature files
-FEATURES_URL_PREFIX = "https://github.com/lightspeed-core/lightspeed-stack/blob/main/tests/e2e/features"  # noqa E501
+FEATURES_URL_PREFIX = f"{REPO_URL}blob/main/tests/e2e/features"
 
 # list of prefixes for scenarios or scenario outlines
 PREFIXES = ("Scenario: ", "Scenario Outline: ")
@@ -40,16 +43,18 @@
 print()
 
 # generage list of scenarios
-directory = FEATURE_DIRECTORY
+
 # files within one subdirectory needs to be sorted so the
 # resulting scenario list will have stable structure across versions
-files = sorted(os.listdir(directory))
+files = sorted(os.listdir(FEATURE_DIRECTORY))
 for filename in files:
     # grep all .feature files
     if filename.endswith(".feature"):
         # feature file header
-        print("## [`{}`]({}/{})\n".format(filename, FEATURES_URL_PREFIX, filename))
-        with open(os.path.join(directory, filename), "r") as fin:
+        print(f"## [`{filename}`]({FEATURES_URL_PREFIX}/{filename})\n")
+        with open(
+            os.path.join(FEATURE_DIRECTORY, filename), "r", encoding="utf-8"
+        ) as fin:
             for line in fin.readlines():
                 line = line.strip()
                 # process all scenarios and scenario outlines