Quickstart Guide

This guide gets you running tests from the command line with the Visual Studio Test Platform (vstest.console.exe). For the exhaustive option list see command line options.

Which command should I use?

Most people don't run vstest.console.exe directly. Pick the entry point that fits your setup:

You have…	Use	Notes
The .NET SDK	dotnet test	Recommended. Builds the project and wraps vstest.console for you.
A built test assembly / CI runner	vstest.console.exe <TestFile>	The standalone runner. Does not build; you point it at already-built assemblies.
Old habit of dotnet vstest	Prefer dotnet test	dotnet vstest is deprecated in favor of dotnet test.

Getting the standalone runner

vstest.console is not a separate download; it ships inside NuGet packages (and with Visual Studio). Which package depends on the runtime you need:

• .NET Framework runner (Windows) — the Microsoft.TestPlatform package. After restoring/extracting it the runner lives at tools/net462/Common7/IDE/Extensions/TestPlatform/vstest.console.exe and requires .NET Framework.
• Cross-platform .NET runner — the Microsoft.TestPlatform.Portable package. It ships vstest.console.dll under tools/net8.0/, launched with dotnet path/to/vstest.console.dll, and requires a compatible .NET runtime.

When you use dotnet test, the runner and a matching runtime are already provided by the .NET SDK (pinned by your global.json), so there is nothing extra to install.

Your first run

1. Build a test project (for example an MSTest, xUnit, or NUnit project) so you have a test assembly such as bin\Debug\net8.0\MyProject.Tests.dll.

2. Run the tests:

   vstest.console.exe bin\Debug\net8.0\MyProject.Tests.dll
   

   Or, to build and run in one step with the SDK:

   dotnet test
   

You can pass more than one assembly and use wildcards:

vstest.console.exe **/bin/Debug/**/*.Tests.dll

The runner prints a per-test summary and a final total. Test results and any collected artifacts are written under a TestResults directory.

Common tasks

Task	Command
Run a subset of tests	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /TestCaseFilter:"Priority=1"
Produce a TRX report	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /logger:trx
Use a settings file	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /Settings:test.runsettings
Collect code coverage	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /Collect:"Code Coverage"
Run in parallel	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /Parallel
Capture diagnostic logs	vstest.console.exe Tests.dll /Diag:log.txt

The equivalent dotnet test switches are --filter, --logger, --settings, --collect, and --diag.

Exit codes

vstest.console.exe returns 0 when the run succeeds and all executed tests pass, and 1 otherwise (test failure, run error, invalid command line, etc.). See Exit codes for details, including what happens when no tests match.

Learn more

New to running .NET tests? Start with the official .NET testing documentation:

• Testing in .NET — overview and getting started
• Unit testing with dotnet test
• dotnet test command reference
• vstest.console.exe command-line options

Next steps

• Command line options — full option reference
• TestCase filtering
• Configure a test run (.runsettings)
• Passing runsettings from the command line
• Code coverage
• Diagnostics / Troubleshooting
• Environment variables

For test platform internals and extensibility, see the Overview and the RFCs.