Should any code be written within the TestRunner class in Cucumber?

Answer: No Code Inside the Class Body

The TestRunner class should be empty — no methods, no logic, no assertions inside its class body. It should only include:

1. ✓Package declaration
2. ✓Import statements
3. ✓@CucumberOptions annotation
4. ✓Class declaration (extending AbstractTestNGCucumberTests for TestNG)

Correct TestRunner (Empty Body)

package runners;

import io.cucumber.testng.AbstractTestNGCucumberTests;
import io.cucumber.testng.CucumberOptions;

// All configuration is in the annotation — no code in the body
@CucumberOptions(
    features = "src/test/resources/features",
    glue = {"stepDefinitions", "hooks"}
)
public class TestRunner extends AbstractTestNGCucumberTests {
    // NOTHING HERE — this is intentional and correct
}

Exception: Parallel Execution DataProvider

The only acceptable code is overriding scenarios() for parallel execution:

@CucumberOptions(...)
public class TestRunner extends AbstractTestNGCucumberTests {

    @Override
    @DataProvider(parallel = true)  // ← only allowed code
    public Object[][] scenarios() {
        return super.scenarios();
    }
}

Where Should Code Go?

Why Keep TestRunner Empty?

1. ✓Separation of Concerns — TestRunner configures, step definitions act
2. ✓Readability — Configuration in one place, logic in another
3. ✓Cucumber convention — Framework is designed for empty runner
4. ✓Maintainability — Changing test behavior = change step defs, not runner