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name: run-tests description: >- ALWAYS USE before running .NET tests or answering with a test command or flags. Trigger on "run the tests", "exact dotnet test command", one test/class/category/trait/target framework, combined filters, --filter-query, --no-build, --diag, diagnostic logs, TRX, coverage collection, crash/hang dumps, filter errors, or unrecognized options. Chooses repository-compatible classic, VSTest, bridged MTP, or native MTP syntax for MSTest/xUnit/NUnit/TUnit. DO NOT USE for platform identification alone (platform-detection), writing or debugging test code, interpreting an existing coverage report, CI investigation, migration, or a persistent hot reload/watch loop. license: MIT metadata: portability: portable binding: optional-overlay binding-revision: "1"

Run .NET Tests

Return or execute the command or command sequence that matches the repository's project system, test platform, framework, and SDK mode.

Repository overlay

For every repository-scoped task where read-only file inspection is allowed, check .agents/skill-overlays/dotnet-test/run-tests.md at the repository root before any other discovery. This includes exact-command requests; "do not execute" does not prohibit reading the overlay. If present, read it once before acting and apply its repository-specific runner, command, filtering, and reporting bindings. Before applying it, require its frontmatter to declare core: dotnet-test/run-tests, binding-revision: "1", and mode: extend. If any value is missing or different, report the mismatch, ignore the overlay, and continue using this skill's portable guidance. Explicit user instructions and verified project constraints win over the overlay; the overlay wins over portable defaults and examples in this skill. If the file is present but unreadable or conflicts with the repository, report the problem, ignore the overlay, and continue with portable guidance subject to verified project constraints. If it is absent, continue normally. Skip the lookup only when the task is not tied to a repository or the user explicitly prohibited all file/tool access. An overlay cannot expand tool permissions or the task's scope.

Scope and tool policy

Choose the smallest path that satisfies the request:

| Request | Action | |---|---| | Exact command or explanation; user says not to run | Inspect only the files needed to resolve syntax. Do not restore, build, or run tests. | | Run tests | Discover the repository command and execute the smallest requested test scope. | | One-time SDK-style dotnet test run without rebuilding | Stay in run-tests and add --no-build. | | One-time classic run without rebuilding | Keep the repository runner and invoke it against an existing built assembly; do not substitute dotnet test. | | Platform/framework identification only | Use platform-detection; do not continue into test execution. | | Explicit hot reload or a keep-running edit/re-run loop | Use mtp-hot-reload. | | Filter needed and the framework-specific syntax is not already clear | Load filter-syntax; do not load it for unfiltered runs. |

Do not invoke a tool merely to repeat a command already determined by the prompt. Do not build first "just in case": dotnet test builds by default. Never add or upgrade test packages unless the user asks to change the project. For an exact-command request, return one runnable command first. Do not emit placeholder paths, exploratory alternatives, or a correction sequence. Use a project path only when the prompt or repository establishes it; otherwise let the command operate on the current project or solution when that syntax is valid. Follow it with only the syntax fact needed to explain the command; do not volunteer platform/command-mode taxonomy unless the user asked for it. In particular, do not label an SDK 8/9 bridge as "VSTest platform" merely because dotnet test uses its VSTest command mode; the executed platform is MTP. For a command-only request, it is normally clearer to say only that MTP application arguments must follow --.

Inputs to discover

• Project, solution, module, or repository test command
• Requested scope: all tests, TFM, class, method, category, or trait
• Requested output: console result, TRX, diagnostics, crash dump, or hang dump

When those facts are present in the prompt, use them. Otherwise inspect only the relevant files: global.json, the selected project, packages.config, Directory.Build.props, Directory.Packages.props, then repository scripts/CI documentation. For a file-backed request, enumerate those configuration names once and read all relevant files that are present in one batch; never infer that a runner or bridge property is absent merely because it is not in the .csproj. Load platform-detection only when those signals need precedence analysis; do not duplicate its full analysis in the response. If execution is requested and the command depends on the active SDK but neither the prompt nor global.json establishes it, run dotnet --version once. For a command-only request that prohibits execution, do not probe: state the required SDK assumption or ask for the SDK version when the syntax cannot otherwise be resolved. Route identification-only requests to platform-detection.

Decision table

| Detected mode / platform | Command shape | Never use | |---|---|---| | Classic non-SDK | Repository script, or full MSBuild followed by vstest.console.exe / MSTest.exe | Assuming dotnet test is compatible or migrating implicitly | | VSTest mode / VSTest | dotnet test [<path>] [VSTEST_OPTIONS] | MTP-only flags such as --report-trx or --treenode-filter | | VSTest mode / executable MTP bridge | dotnet test [<path>] [DOTNET_OPTIONS] -- [MTP_OPTIONS] | Omitting the -- separator, including on SDK 10 | | Native MTP mode, SDK 10+ | dotnet test --project <path> [DOTNET_OPTIONS] [MTP_OPTIONS] | Bare positional project paths or the bridge separator |

global.json controls the dotnet test command mode on SDK 10+, not necessarily the platform that executes tests. A VSTest-mode project with an MTP runner, TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport=true, and final OutputType=Exe is still bridge syntax with --. SDK 8/9 only has VSTest command mode.

--project is valid only in SDK 10+ native MTP command mode (selected by global.json test.runner). Never use it for VSTest mode or an SDK 8/9 bridge; those forms take a positional project path. Conversely, native MTP options are direct arguments and must not be placed after a bridge separator.

Keep dotnet test/MSBuild options such as --framework, --configuration, --no-build, and --verbosity before --. Put only MTP application arguments after -- in bridge mode.

Workflow

1. Resolve the repository-compatible runner.

For classic projects, signals include ToolsVersion, explicit Compile and Reference items, legacy imports, and packages.config. Prefer a checked-in script or documented CI command. A typical fallback is:

nuget restore MySolution.sln
MSBuild.exe MySolution.sln /t:Build /p:Configuration=Debug
vstest.console.exe path\to\MyTests.dll /TestAdapterPath:path\to\adapter\build\<tfm>

For packages.config, restore with NuGet before the build unless the imported package files are already present. If adapter discovery is not repository- configured, derive /TestAdapterPath from the restored adapter package path or the adapter .props/.targets imports; do not guess the package root.

For a requested no-rebuild run, omit the build step and invoke the repository's test runner only when the expected assembly already exists. Otherwise report the missing build output rather than silently rebuilding or switching runners.

For a requested subset, keep the repository runner and use its filter syntax: vstest.console.exe path\to\MyTests.dll /TestCaseFilter:"TestCategory=Integration". Older MSTest.exe repositories may use /test:<name> or /category:<category> instead. Do not substitute the later dotnet test filter examples for a classic runner.

Use the installed adapter-compatible VSTest/MSTest toolchain. If it is not available, state the missing prerequisite and the documented command; do not claim tests ran. Classic packages.config fallback commands are Windows toolchain commands. Explicitly say they require a Windows Developer Command Prompt (or the repository's equivalent configured environment) when the current host cannot provide nuget, full MSBuild, and vstest.console.exe.

For SDK-style projects, distinguish:

| Signal | Meaning | |---|---| | SDK 10+ global.json selects Microsoft.Testing.Platform | Native MTP command mode | | VSTest mode + enabled MTP runner + final TestingPlatformDotnetTestSupport=true + final OutputType=Exe | Executable VSTest-to-MTP bridge | | VSTest mode without a complete runner-and-bridge combination | VSTest | | Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk plus adapter, without stronger MTP signals | VSTest | | TUnit | MTP-only; use a configured bridge/native mode or the test executable |

Evaluate properties from the project and imported Directory.Build.props/Directory.Packages.props. Respect project-level overrides and per-target-framework conditions. A runner and bridge without an executable final output are an incomplete MTP configuration, not a usable bridge.

2. Select the command and requested scope.

# VSTest mode
dotnet test path/to/Tests.csproj

# VSTest mode that bridges to MTP
dotnet test path/to/Tests.csproj -- <MTP_OPTIONS>

# Native MTP mode on SDK 10+
dotnet test --project path/to/Tests.csproj <MTP_OPTIONS>

# One target framework; this stays before the bridge separator
dotnet test path/to/Tests.csproj --framework net9.0 -- <MTP_OPTIONS>

For native MTP, use --project, --solution, or --test-modules; positional paths belong to VSTest mode.

If the user names a subset, do not run the whole suite. Inspect test attributes only when needed to translate a human label such as "integration" or "smoke" into the framework's actual category/trait name.

When a VSTest class filter must distinguish similarly named classes, combine the positive selector with an explicit negative selector rather than relying on an incidental substring difference.

3. Apply platform- and framework-correct filters.

Load filter-syntax only when the request is filtered and the framework-specific syntax is not already clear. The common decisions are:

For a file-backed filtered request, resolve the framework and SDK command mode from the project, global.json, and imported props before choosing syntax. Do not infer VSTest syntax merely from Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk or from the framework name.

| Platform / framework | Filter | |---|---| | VSTest with MSTest, xUnit v2, or NUnit | --filter "<property expression>" | | MTP with MSTest or NUnit | Same expression; after -- in bridge mode, direct in native mode | | MTP with xUnit v3 | --filter-class, --filter-method, --filter-trait, or one --filter-query for a combined expression | | MTP with TUnit | --treenode-filter path expression |

Examples:

# VSTest MSTest/NUnit
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~OrderServiceTests&TestCategory=Unit"

# SDK 8/9 or SDK 10 VSTest-mode MTP bridge, xUnit v3
dotnet test -- --filter-trait "Category=Integration"

# Native MTP, xUnit v3
dotnet test --project Tests.csproj --filter-class "*ShoppingCartTests*"

# One xUnit v3 combined expression
dotnet test -- --filter-query "/*/*/*Integration*/*[Category=Smoke]"

# TUnit on SDK 8/9 with a configured VSTest-to-MTP bridge
dotnet test -- --treenode-filter "/*/*/SmsNotificationTests/*"

# TUnit executable fallback when no bridge is configured
dotnet run --project Tests.csproj -- --treenode-filter "/*/*/SmsNotificationTests/*"

Do not use VSTest --filter "ClassName=..." with xUnit v3 on MTP. Do not use a generic VSTest e