I am having the same issue. My paths are often non-standard in my projects. I thought that might be why I'm having this issue. So I did the following to be as simple as possible, and to let PyCharm choose what it wants for me.

I created an empty folder, then created a virtual environment (I use pyenv).

Then I ran pip install pytest-bdd

I opened this folder in PyCharm, set the project interpreter to the one in the virtual environment I created, and confirmed that pytest-bdd and its dependencies are installed. I have previously installed the JetBrains Gherkin plugin.

I then created a folder named features in which I added the following:

# some_feature.feature

Feature: Can run executable specifications
  As a developer
  I want to run a feature and/or scenario from this page
  So that I can demonstrate with confidence the system behaves as expected

  Scenario: A simple scenario
    Given I have a scenario
    When I click the play button in this file
    Then the step definitions are executed

I then moved my cursor to the Given clause, hit Alt+Enter, and selected "Create all step definitions". I accepted the defaults when prompted to "Create new step definition file". This created a file named some_feature.py as a peer to the .feature file itself (i.e. in the features folder.

I edited this file to look like this:

# some_feature.py

from pytest_bdd import scenario, given, when, then

@scenario('some_feature.feature', 'A simple scenario')
def test_some_feature():
    pass

@given("I have a scenario")
def step_impl():
    raise NotImplementedError(u'STEP: Given I have a scenario')


@when("I click the play button in this file")
def step_impl():
    raise NotImplementedError(u'STEP: When I click the play button in this file')


@then("the step definitions are executed")
def step_impl():
    raise NotImplementedError(u'STEP: Then the step definitions are executed')

Here is what I expected:

1. I can run the test by clicking the gutter "Play" icon beside the test_some_function() function in the .py file
2. I can run the test by clicking either the gutter "Play" icon that appears beside Feature: or beside Scenario: in the .feature file. (there is only one scenario so both should do the same in this case)

What I see is:

1. The test DOES run when I click "Play" in the .py file
2. The test DOES NOT run when I click either "Play" in the .feature file. Instead of the usual context menu in which I can select Run or Debug among other options, I get a context menu with one option only: "Nothing here"

What configuration detail am I missing to replace "Nothing here" with the ability to run the tests directly from the features file - as I can from WebStorm, even with exotic/complex paths?