YAKS

Spec sheet

Purpose

YAKS is a framework for cloud-native behavior-driven development testing on Kubernetes.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Support

The Citrus team offers consulting, training, implementation help, patches, and custom features, with user and developer mailing lists.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

License

Citrus is published free of charge under the Apache License, Version 2.0, including use for commercial applications.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Additional testing

YAKS documentation includes OpenAPI, Selenium and Testcontainers testing steps.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

BDD syntax

YAKS tests use feature specifications written in Gherkin syntax.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Camel integration

The yaks-camel module creates, starts, and stops Apache Camel routes and exposes more than 300 Camel components for testing.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Camel K

YAKS provides bindings for creating and verifying Apache Camel K integrations running on Kubernetes or OpenShift.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Citrus integration

YAKS builds on Citrus for connecting to endpoints as a client or server.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

CLI

The yaks command-line tool installs the operator, runs tests, manages test resources and generates reports.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Cloud integrations

The documentation includes steps for Apache Camel, Apache Camel K, Kamelets, Pipes and Kubernetes resources.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Cluster requirement

Using YAKS requires access to a Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Execution model

YAKS runs tests as Kubernetes pods through a Kubernetes operator and Test custom resources.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

HTTP integration

The yaks-http module calls HTTP REST endpoints, verifies responses, and can provide an HTTP service that receives requests and simulates responses.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

License warranty

The Apache license states that the software is provided on an AS IS basis without warranties unless required by law or agreed in writing.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Messaging integrations

Predefined steps support HTTP REST, JMS, Kafka and Knative eventing transports.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

OpenAPI

The yaks-openapi module imports OpenAPI specifications and uses defined operations and test data to call HTTP REST endpoints.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Permissions

Installing YAKS custom resource definitions and roles may require cluster-admin permissions.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Requirements

YAKS requires access to a Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster, and administrative rights may be needed to set up roles and custom resources.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Secrets

Tests can load credentials and connection URLs from Kubernetes secrets selected with YAKS labels.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Security controls

Managing custom resources requires Kubernetes roles and role bindings for the yaks-viewer and yaks-operator service accounts.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Support channels

The project provides documentation, GitHub issues and a Zulip chat for questions and contributions.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Test language

YAKS tests use BDD feature specifications written in Gherkin syntax.Read 1 Oct 2026 · github.com

Windows requirement

Full YAKS support on Windows requires Windows Subsystem for Linux and a reboot after enabling it.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Windows support

Full Windows support requires enabling Windows Subsystem for Linux and rebooting the system.Read 1 Oct 2026 · citrusframework.org

Where Specifiction places it

• BDD Testing Tools#25 of 307.1