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Microsoft.Testing.Platform (MTP) CLI options reference

This article gives a central entry point for MTP command-line options.

Platform options

  • @

    Specifies the name of the response file. The response file name must immediately follow the @ character with no white space between the @ character and the response file name.

    Options in a response file are interpreted as if they were present at that place in the command line. You can't use the backslash character \ to concatenate lines. Using a response file helps for very long commands that might exceed the terminal limits. You can combine a response file with inline command-line arguments. For example:

    ./TestExecutable.exe @"filter.rsp" --timeout 10s

    where filter.rsp can have the following contents:

    --filter "A very long filter"

    Or a single rsp file can be used to specify both timeout and filter as follows:

    ./TestExecutable.exe @"arguments.rsp"

    --filter "A very long filter" --timeout 10s

    Note

    When using dotnet test, the SDK command-line parser uses a token-per-line approach where each line in the response file is treated as a single token. In that case, each argument must be on a separate line:

    --filter
A very long filter
--timeout
10s

  • --config-file

    Specifies a testconfig.json file.

  • --debug

    Pauses test execution at startup so you can attach a debugger to the test process. Equivalent to setting the TESTINGPLATFORM_WAIT_ATTACH_DEBUGGER environment variable to 1. Not supported on browser platforms.

    Note

    This option is available in MTP starting with version 1.9.0. It replaces the previous --debug-wait-attach option (introduced in MTP 1.6.0); the old name was removed and must no longer be used.

  • --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-synchronous-write

    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 slows 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-file-prefix

    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.

  • --exit-on-process-exit

    Exit the test process if dependent process exits. PID must be provided.

  • --filter-uid

    Filters the tests to run by their test node UIDs. Accepts one or more UIDs.

    Note

    This option is available in MTP starting with version 1.8.0.

  • --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

    Lists the available tests without executing them. Optionally takes an argument that controls the output format: text (default, human-readable) or json.

    Note

    The json output format is available in MTP starting with version 2.3.0.

  • --maximum-failed-tests

    Specifies the maximum number of tests failures that, when reached, will stop the test run. Support for this switch requires framework authors to implement the IGracefulStopTestExecutionCapability capability. The exit code when reaching that amount of test failures is 13. For more information, see MTP exit codes.

    Note

    This feature is available in MTP starting with version 1.5.

  • --minimum-expected-tests

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

  • --no-banner

    Disables the startup banner, the copyright message, and the telemetry banner. The same effect can be achieved through the TESTINGPLATFORM_NOBANNER or DOTNET_NOLOGO environment variables.

  • --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.

  • --timeout

    A global test execution timeout. Takes one argument as string in the format <value>[h|m|s] where <value> is float.

  • --treenode-filter

    Filters the tests to run by using a tree filter expression. Tree filters offer richer matching than --filter for advanced scenarios.

Extension options by scenario

Use the following table to find extension options quickly.

Scenario Feature documentation
Collect code coverage Code coverage
Collect crash or hang dumps Crash and hang dumps
Generate test reports (for example TRX) Test reports
Customize terminal output Terminal output
Apply hosting-level controls Hot Reload
Retry failed tests Retry
Run tests that use Microsoft Fakes Microsoft Fakes
Emit OpenTelemetry traces and metrics OpenTelemetry

Discover options in your test app

Run your test executable with --help to list the options available for your current extension set.

For advanced diagnostics of registered providers and options, run with --info.

See also

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