TestNG Runner VS Code Extension

Run TestNG suites directly from VS Code with a dedicated sidebar.

Project Source Code:

GitHub Link

Interactive AI Documentation

NotebookLM link

Features

Scan workspace for any XML that contains the TestNG DOCTYPE tag.
Run or stop suites from the sidebar.
Debug suites with breakpoints from the sidebar.
Stream Maven output to a dedicated Output channel.
Run all suites.
Persist last run status (time and exit code).
Per-suite log files.

How To Use In VS Code

1) Install the extension

Install TestNG Runner from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace:

In VS Code, open Extensions
Search for TestNG Runner
Select the extension published by Kumar Priyank
Click Install

Marketplace page:

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=KumarPriyank.testng-runner-vscode

2) Open your Java/TestNG project

Open the project that contains:

a pom.xml
one or more TestNG suite XML files

The extension only shows XML files that contain the TestNG DOCTYPE declaration, for example:

<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "https://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">

3) Open the TestNG Runner view

In the Activity Bar, click TestNG Runner.

The sidebar shows TestNG suite files grouped by workspace folder and directory. If a suite has been run before, its last run time and exit code appear next to it.

4) Configure Java and Maven if needed

If mvn and java are already available on your system PATH, you can skip this step.

Otherwise open VS Code settings and search for TestNG Runner, then set:

testngRunner.mavenHome
testngRunner.javaHome

Examples:

C:\Program Files\Apache\maven
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17

The status bar shows whether Maven and Java are currently resolved.

5) Run a suite

Use any of these entry points from the TestNG Runner view:

Click the inline Run TestNG Suite icon next to a suite
Right-click a suite and choose Run TestNG Suite
Click Run All TestNG Suites in the view title to run every discovered suite

The extension finds the nearest pom.xml above the selected suite and runs Maven from that directory.

5b) Run every suite inside a folder

Folders and subfolders that contain detected TestNG suite XML files also support inline actions.

You can hover a folder in the TestNG Runner view and:

click Run TestNG Suite to run every suite under that folder recursively
click Debug TestNG Suite to debug every suite under that folder sequentially
click Stop TestNG Suite to stop every running suite under that folder
click Open TestNG Suite Log to choose and open one suite log from that folder

This makes it easier to run a logical group of suites without triggering the entire workspace.

6) Watch logs and output

Runtime output is written to:

the shared TestNG Runner Output channel
a suite-specific output channel
a per-suite log file

To open the log file for a suite:

Right-click the suite
Select Open TestNG Suite Log

7) Stop a running suite

Click the inline Stop TestNG Suite icon for the running suite, or use the suite context menu.

If you stop from a folder, the extension stops all running suites inside that folder tree.

8) Debug a suite with breakpoints

To debug instead of run:

Click the inline Debug TestNG Suite icon
Or right-click a suite and choose Debug TestNG Suite

The extension starts Surefire with JDWP enabled and tries to auto-attach the VS Code Java debugger on testngRunner.debugPort (default 5005).

If you start debug from a folder, the extension debugs each suite in that folder one by one.

Debug prerequisite:

Install Extension Pack for Java by Microsoft

9) Use test category selection

The extension can detect TestNG groups from @Test(groups = ...) in Java files.

Relevant settings:

testngRunner.testCategoryMode = prompt Prompts you to choose a detected group each time you run a suite.
testngRunner.testCategoryMode = value Always uses the saved testngRunner.testCategory.
testngRunner.testCategoryMode = all Runs without passing -DtestCategory.

You can also run the command TestNG Runner: Select Test Category to choose and save a category from the current workspace.

For folder-level run or debug actions, category selection is resolved once for the whole batch instead of prompting once per suite.

10) Control headless mode and extra Maven arguments

Use these settings when your test framework needs them:

testngRunner.headless Passes -Dheadless=true or -Dheadless=false
testngRunner.mavenArgs Appends extra Maven arguments such as -Denv=qa

Troubleshooting

No suites found

Make sure your project has one or more TestNG XML files with the TestNG DOCTYPE tag.
Click the refresh icon in the TestNG Runner sidebar.

Maven not found

Either install Maven and add to PATH
Or set Maven Home in settings

Java not found

Either install JDK and set JAVA_HOME
Or set Java Home in settings

Development

If you are working on the extension itself, use the steps below.

Build and run the extension locally

npm install
npm run compile

Press F5 to launch an Extension Development Host window, then open a test workspace there and use the TestNG Runner view.

Common commands

npm run compile
npm run watch

Use npm run watch if you are actively changing the extension code.

Where Are The Logs?

Each suite writes to its own log file. The files are stored in VS Code's extension storage directory. You can open them by right-clicking a suite and choosing Open TestNG Suite Log.

Changelog

Release notes are maintained in CHANGELOG.md.

TestNG Runner

Kumar Priyank