Dotnet Enable Testing Platform

Enable the Microsoft Testing Platform runner for a .NET solution by configuring global.json.

The Microsoft Testing Platform is a test runner with an in-process host and native parallel test execution.

Steps

1. Find the solution file (*.sln) in the current directory

   • If no .sln found, warn and stop

2. Check for existing global.json in the solution root directory

   • Read contents if file exists

3. Create or update global.json:

   • If file does not exist, create it:

     {
       "test": {
         "runner": "Microsoft.Testing.Platform"
       }
     }
     

   • If file exists, merge the test section while preserving all other content:
     • Parse existing JSON
     • Add or update the test.runner property
     • Preserve sdk, msbuild-sdks, and any other existing sections

4. Verify JSON validity:

   dotnet build
   dotnet test
   

5. If build fails, report the error and ask user how to proceed

6. Report results:

   • Confirm global.json was created or updated
   • Show the final global.json content
   • Confirm build status
   • Confirm tests run successfully

Example global.json Configurations

Minimal (new file):

{
  "test": {
    "runner": "Microsoft.Testing.Platform"
  }
}

Merged (existing file with SDK pinning):

{
  "sdk": {
    "version": "8.0.100",
    "rollForward": "latestMinor"
  },
  "test": {
    "runner": "Microsoft.Testing.Platform"
  }
}

Error Handling

• If no .sln found: warn and stop
• If global.json exists but is invalid JSON: report error and ask user
• If build fails after update: show errors and ask user how to proceed