diff --git a/TESTING_GUIDE.md b/TESTING_GUIDE.md
index 61f6c2828..1328cc863 100644
--- a/TESTING_GUIDE.md
+++ b/TESTING_GUIDE.md
@@ -195,11 +195,11 @@ You can also reuse output in payload expectations. See [tests/plugins/index_stat
 
 ### Managing Versions
 
-It's common to add a feature to the next version of OpenSearch. When adding a new API in the spec, make sure to specify `x-version-added`, `x-version-deprecated` or `x-version-removed`. Finally, specify a semver range in your test stories or chapters as follows.
+It's common to add a feature to the next version of OpenSearch. When adding a new API in the spec, make sure to specify `x-version-added`, `x-version-deprecated` or `x-version-removed`. Finally, specify a semver or a semver range in your test stories or chapters as follows.
 
 ```yaml
-- synopsis: Search with `phase_took` added in OpenSearch 2.12.
-  version: '>= 2.12'
+- synopsis: Search with `phase_took` added in OpenSearch 2.12 and removed in version 3.
+  version: '>=2.12 <3'
   path: /{index}/_search
   parameters:
     index: movies
diff --git a/tests/default/ingest/pipeline/text_embedding.yaml b/tests/default/ingest/pipeline/text_embedding.yaml
index 6ba46e8e9..fe70aee21 100644
--- a/tests/default/ingest/pipeline/text_embedding.yaml
+++ b/tests/default/ingest/pipeline/text_embedding.yaml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ epilogues:
   - path: /_ingest/pipeline/books_pipeline
     method: DELETE
     status: [200, 404]
-version: '>= 2.11, < 3.0' # TODO: re-enable using a 3.0 build with the neural-search plugin
+version: '>= 2.11'
 chapters:
   - synopsis: Create ingest pipeline for text embedding.
     path: /_ingest/pipeline/{id}
diff --git a/tests/default/security/api/securityconfig/config.yaml b/tests/default/security/api/securityconfig/config.yaml
index 5bae694be..3f51b38c3 100644
--- a/tests/default/security/api/securityconfig/config.yaml
+++ b/tests/default/security/api/securityconfig/config.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 $schema: ../../../../../json_schemas/test_story.schema.yaml
 
 description: Test securityconfig/config endpoint.
-version: '>2.9'
+version: '> 2.9'
 
 # ADMIN-CERT only (except GET). These tests require explicit rest api admin privileges.
 chapters:
diff --git a/tools/src/_utils/semver.ts b/tools/src/_utils/semver.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52de7e899
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/src/_utils/semver.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+* Copyright OpenSearch Contributors
+* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+*
+* The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+* this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+* compatible open source license.
+*/
+
+import * as semver from 'semver'
+
+export function coerce(version: string) : string {
+  return semver.coerce(version)?.toString() ?? version
+}
+
+export function satisfies(version: string | semver.SemVer | undefined, range: string): boolean {
+  if (version === undefined || version === '') return true
+  if (semver.validRange(range) == null) throw `Invalid semver ${range}.`
+  return semver.satisfies(version, range)
+}
diff --git a/tools/src/merger/OpenApiVersionExtractor.ts b/tools/src/merger/OpenApiVersionExtractor.ts
index 5d4164b1c..3f2fb396b 100644
--- a/tools/src/merger/OpenApiVersionExtractor.ts
+++ b/tools/src/merger/OpenApiVersionExtractor.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import _, { extend, isEmpty } from 'lodash'
 import { delete_matching_keys, find_refs, write_yaml } from '../helpers'
 import { Logger } from '../Logger'
 import { type OpenAPIV3 } from 'openapi-types'
-import semver from 'semver'
+import * as semver from '../_utils/semver'
 
 // Extract a versioned API
 export default class OpenApiVersionExtractor {
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export default class OpenApiVersionExtractor {
 
   constructor(source_spec: OpenAPIV3.Document, target_version: string, logger: Logger = new Logger()) {
     this._source_spec = source_spec
-    this._target_version = semver.coerce(target_version)?.toString() ?? target_version
+    this._target_version = semver.coerce(target_version)
     this._logger = logger
     this._spec = undefined
   }
diff --git a/tools/src/tester/StoryEvaluator.ts b/tools/src/tester/StoryEvaluator.ts
index fede2e397..9020968fa 100644
--- a/tools/src/tester/StoryEvaluator.ts
+++ b/tools/src/tester/StoryEvaluator.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { overall_result } from './helpers'
 import { StoryOutputs } from './StoryOutputs'
 import SupplementalChapterEvaluator from './SupplementalChapterEvaluator'
 import { ChapterOutput } from './ChapterOutput'
-import * as semver from 'semver'
+import * as semver from '../_utils/semver'
 import _ from 'lodash'
 
 export default class StoryEvaluator {
diff --git a/tools/tests/_utils/semver.test.ts b/tools/tests/_utils/semver.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2454549b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/tests/_utils/semver.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+* Copyright OpenSearch Contributors
+* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+*
+* The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+* this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+* compatible open source license.
+*/
+
+import * as semver from "../../src/_utils/semver";
+
+describe('coerce', () => {
+  it ('null', () => {
+    expect(semver.coerce('')).toEqual('')
+    expect(semver.coerce('1.2.3')).toEqual('1.2.3')
+    expect(semver.coerce('1.2')).toEqual('1.2.0')
+    expect(semver.coerce('1')).toEqual('1.0.0')
+  })
+});
+
+describe('satisfies', () => {
+  it ('defaults', () => {
+    expect(semver.satisfies('', '>= 1.3 < 99.0')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it ('semver', () => {
+    expect(semver.satisfies(semver.coerce('2.17.0'), '>= 1.3 < 99.0')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it ('~', () => {
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '~> 2.x')).toBe(true)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '~> 2.17.0')).toBe(true)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '~> 1.x')).toBe(false)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '~> 2.17.0')).toBe(true)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '~> 2.18')).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it ('> <', () => {
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '> 2.999.0')).toBe(false)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '< 3.0')).toBe(true)
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '>= 1.3 < 99.0')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it ('ranges', () => {
+    expect(semver.satisfies('2.17.0', '>= 1.3 < 99.0')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it ('invalid', () => {
+    expect(() => { semver.satisfies('1.2.3', '>= 1, < 2') }).toThrow('Invalid semver >= 1, < 2.')
+  })
+});
diff --git a/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/evals/passed.yaml b/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/evals/passed.yaml
index 12c1b2c32..abe502379 100644
--- a/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/evals/passed.yaml
+++ b/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/evals/passed.yaml
@@ -176,6 +176,25 @@ chapters:
     overall:
       result: SKIPPED
       message: Skipped because version 2.16.0 does not satisfy >= 2.999.0.
+  - title: This GET /_cat/health should run (>= 1.3, < 99.0).
+    overall:
+      result: PASSED
+    path: GET /_cat/health
+    request:
+      parameters:
+        format:
+          result: PASSED
+      request:
+        result: PASSED
+    response:
+      status:
+        result: PASSED
+      payload_body:
+        result: PASSED
+      payload_schema:
+        result: PASSED
+      output_values:
+        result: SKIPPED
 epilogues:
   - title: DELETE /books
     overall:
diff --git a/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/stories/passed.yaml b/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/stories/passed.yaml
index b4b08b963..a882666b3 100644
--- a/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/stories/passed.yaml
+++ b/tools/tests/tester/fixtures/stories/passed.yaml
@@ -89,3 +89,9 @@ chapters:
     path: /_cat/health
     parameters:
       format: json
+  - synopsis: This GET /_cat/health should run (>= 1.3, < 99.0).
+    version: '>= 1.3 < 99.0'
+    method: GET
+    path: /_cat/health
+    parameters:
+      format: json