Markdown-native test framework that turns specifications into executable scenarios. Write human-readable steps, compose acceptance criteria, run with rehearse run. No DSL, no glue code — your specs are your tests.
Good tools exist in this space. Gauge brought markdown to specification testing. Cucumber proved that human-readable tests matter. Concordion pioneered living documentation. We respect this work — Rehearse builds on the ideas they validated.
But every one of them splits your test into two artifacts: a readable spec here, executable code over there. A product owner reads the spec. A developer maintains the fixtures. They drift apart. Nobody notices until something breaks.
Rehearse refuses that split. A scenario is one markdown file where the description is the test. Bash, Python, SQL, and Starlark blocks execute directly — no fixture classes, no step definitions, no glue layer. Acceptance criteria are reusable verification units composed across workflows, not reimplemented in each test.
The result: a format that a product owner reads on GitHub, a developer runs in CI, and an AI agent authors fluently — all the same file, all at once. Best experience for humans and AI agents in one package: easy to craft with AI help, easy to understand without it.
See the full competitive analysis for a detailed comparison.