Microsoft.Testing.Platform overview

  • Article

Microsoft.Testing.Platform is a lightweight and portable alternative to VSTest for running tests in all contexts, including continuous integration (CI) pipelines, CLI, Visual Studio Test Explorer, and VS Code Text Explorer. The Microsoft.Testing.Platform is embedded directly in your test projects, and there's no other app dependencies, such as vstest.console or dotnet test needed to run your tests.

Microsoft.Testing.Platform is open source. You can find Microsoft.Testing.Platform code in microsoft/testfx GitHub repository.

Microsoft.Testing.Platform pillars

This new testing platform is built on the .NET Developer Experience Testing team's experience and aims to address the challenges encountered since the release of .NET Core in 2016. While there's a high level of compatibility between the .NET Framework and the .NET Core/.NET, some key features like the plugin-system and the new possible form factors of .NET compilations have made it complex to evolve or fully support the new runtime feature with the current VSTest platform architecture.

The main driving factors for the evolution of the new testing platform are detailed in the following:

  • Determinism: Ensuring that running the same tests in different contexts (local, CI) will produce the same result. The new runtime does not rely on reflection or any other dynamic .NET runtime feature to coordinate a test run.

  • Runtime transparency: The test runtime does not interfere with the test framework code, it does not create isolated contexts like AppDomain or AssemblyLoadContext, and it does not use reflection or custom assembly resolvers.

  • Compile-time registration of extensions: Extensions, such as test frameworks and in/out-of-process extensions, are registered during compile-time to ensure determinism and to facilitate detection of inconsistencies.

  • Zero dependencies: The core of the platform is a single .NET assembly, Microsoft.Testing.Platform.dll, which has no dependencies other than the supported runtimes.

  • Hostable: The test runtime can be hosted in any .NET application. While a console application is commonly used to run tests, you can create a test application in any type of .NET application. This allows you to run tests within special contexts, such as devices or browsers, where there may be limitations.

  • Support all .NET form factors: Support current and future .NET form factors, including Native AOT.

  • Performant: Finding the right balance between features and extension points to avoid bloating the runtime with non-fundamental code. The new test platform is designed to "orchestrate" a test run, rather than providing implementation details on how to do it.

  • Extensible enough: The new platform is built on extensibility points to allow for maximum customization of runtime execution. It allows you to configure the test process host, observe the test process, and consume information from the test framework within the test host process.

  • Single module deploy: The hostability feature enables a single module deploy model, where a single compilation result can be used to support all extensibility points, both out-of-process and in-process, without the need to ship different executable modules.

Supported test frameworks

  • MSTest. In MSTest, the support of Microsoft.Testing.Platform is done via MSTest runner.
  • NUnit. In NUnit, the support of Microsoft.Testing.Platform is done via NUnit runner.
  • xUnit.net: In xUnit.net, the support of Microsoft.Testing.Platform is done via xUnit.net runner.
  • TUnit: entirely constructed on top of the Microsoft.Testing.Platform, for more information, see TUnit documentation

Run and debug tests

Microsoft.Testing.Platform test projects are built as executables that can be run (or debugged) directly. There's no extra test running console or command. The app exits with a nonzero exit code if there's an error, as typical with most executables. For more information on the known exit codes, see Microsoft.Testing.Platform exit codes.

Important

By default, Microsoft.Testing.Platform collects telemetry. For more information and options on opting out, see Microsoft.Testing.Platform telemetry.

Publishing the test project using dotnet publish and running the app directly is another way to run your tests. For example, executing the ./Contoso.MyTests.exe. In some scenarios it's also viable to use dotnet build to produce the executable, but there can be edge cases to consider, such Native AOT.

Use dotnet run

The dotnet run command can be used to build and run your test project. This is the easiest, although sometimes slowest, way to run your tests. Using dotnet run is practical when you're editing and running tests locally, because it ensures that the test project is rebuilt when needed. dotnet run will also automatically find the project in the current folder.

dotnet run --project Contoso.MyTests

For more information on dotnet run, see dotnet run.

Use dotnet exec

The dotnet exec or dotnet command is used to execute (or run) an already built test project, this is an alternative to running the application directly. dotnet exec requires path to the built test project dll.

dotnet exec Contoso.MyTests.dll

or

dotnet Contoso.MyTests.dll

Note

Providing the path to the test project executable (*.exe) results in an error:

Error:
  An assembly specified in the application dependencies manifest
  (Contoso.MyTests.deps.json) has already been found but with a different
  file extension:
    package: 'Contoso.MyTests', version: '1.0.0'
    path: 'Contoso.MyTests.dll'
    previously found assembly: 'S:\t\Contoso.MyTests\bin\Debug\net8.0\Contoso.MyTests.exe'

For more information on dotnet exec, see dotnet exec.

Use dotnet test

Microsoft.Testing.Platform offers a compatibility layer with vstest.console.exe and dotnet test ensuring you can run your tests as before while enabling new execution scenario.

dotnet test Contoso.MyTests.dll

Options

The list below described only the platform options. To see the specific options brought by each extension, either refer to the extension documentation page or use the --help option.

  • --diagnostic

Enables the diagnostic logging. The default log level is Trace. The file is written in the output directory with the following name format, log_[MMddHHssfff].diag.

  • --diagnostic-filelogger-synchronouswrite

Forces the built-in file logger to synchronously write logs. Useful for scenarios where you don't want to lose any log entries (if the process crashes). This does slow down the test execution.

  • --diagnostic-output-directory

The output directory of the diagnostic logging, if not specified the file is generated in the default TestResults directory.

  • --diagnostic-output-fileprefix

The prefix for the log file name. Defaults to "log_".

  • --diagnostic-verbosity

Defines the verbosity level when the --diagnostic switch is used. The available values are Trace, Debug, Information, Warning, Error, or Critical.

  • --help

Prints out a description of how to use the command.

  • -ignore-exit-code

Allows some non-zero exit codes to be ignored, and instead returned as 0. For more information, see Ignore specific exit codes.

  • --info

Displays advanced information about the .NET Test Application such as:

  • The platform.
  • The environment.
  • Each registered command line provider, such as its, name, version, description and options.
  • Each registered tool, such as its, command, name, version, description, and all command line providers.

This feature is used to understand extensions that would be registering the same command line option or the changes in available options between multiple versions of an extension (or the platform).

  • --list-tests

List available tests. Tests will not be executed.

  • --minimum-expected-tests

Specifies the minimum number of tests that are expected to run. By default, at least one test is expected to run.

  • --results-directory

The directory where the test results are going to be placed. If the specified directory doesn't exist, it's created. The default is TestResults in the directory that contains the test application.

MSBuild integration

The NuGet package Microsoft.Testing.Platform.MSBuild provides various integrations for Microsoft.Testing.Platform with MSBuild:

  • Support for dotnet test. For more information, see dotnet test integration.
  • Support for ProjectCapability required by Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code Test Explorers.
  • Automatic generation of the entry point (Main method).
  • Automatic generation of the configuration file.

Note

This integration works in a transitive way (a project that references another project referencing this package will behave as if it references the package) and can be disabled through the IsTestingPlatformApplication MSBuild property.

See also