Nifty .NET Explorer
A solution explorer and test explorer for .NET in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium: projects, references and files from .sln/.slnx, and xUnit, NUnit and MSTest tests in the Testing view.
Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.
Features
- A Solution Explorer everywhere. The .NET view shows your
.sln or .slnx: solution folders, projects with their target frameworks, a Dependencies node (frameworks, project references, NuGet packages with versions) and each project's files. bin and obj are hidden. Projects that aren't in any solution are listed too.
- Build, run, test, clean a project or the whole solution from the view (inline buttons and right-click). Output goes to the terminal, and compiler errors land in the Problems panel.
- Tests in the Testing view. xUnit, NUnit and MSTest tests are found by reading your code (
[Fact], [Theory], [Test], [TestMethod]…), so they appear right away without a build, grouped by project and class, with ▶ buttons in the gutter. Running them uses dotnet test. Pass/fail, duration, output and failure messages show on each test, and a failure's stack trace jumps to the failing line. Theories with several cases pass only if all do. If the tests don't compile, the errors land in the Problems panel.
- Built for Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium. Microsoft's C# Dev Kit only works in VS Code. This works in all of them, and uses nothing but the .NET SDK.
Commands
| Command |
What it does |
Nifty .NET Explorer: Build |
Build a project or solution |
Nifty .NET Explorer: Run |
Run an app project |
Nifty .NET Explorer: Test |
Run a test project's tests in the terminal |
Nifty .NET Explorer: Clean |
Clean a project or solution |
Nifty .NET Explorer: Refresh |
Re-read solutions and projects |
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
What it does |
nifty.dotnet.dotnetPath |
|
Path to dotnet, if it isn't found automatically |
nifty.dotnet.testArguments |
[] |
Extra arguments for dotnet test, e.g. ["--no-restore"] |
Needs the .NET SDK (6 or later). Test runs use the VSTest runner (dotnet test --logger trx), which is the default for xUnit, NUnit and MSTest projects.
Install
- VS Code: search for "Nifty .NET Explorer" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
- Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.
Privacy
This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.
- Nifty C# Templates: New Class, Record & Namespace: New C# class, interface, record, enum, test and controller files with the right namespace, plus namespace syncing. (Open VSX)
- Nifty NuGet: NuGet Package Manager: Search, add, update and remove NuGet packages, see outdated and vulnerable ones, in VS Code, Cursor and every editor. (Open VSX)
- Nifty C# Scratchpad: Run C# Snippets & NuGet: Run C# snippets instantly with NuGet packages and rich Dump() output, a LINQPad-style scratchpad and Polyglot Notebooks replacement. (Open VSX)
- Nifty JS Tests: Mocha, node:test & Bun in Test Explorer: Run and debug Mocha, node:test and Bun tests from the Test Explorer: real diffs, stack locations, watch mode, TypeScript loaders and monorepos. No Jest or Vitest. (Open VSX)
- Nifty pytest: pytest Test Explorer: A pytest test explorer with saved run configurations, marker filters, real assertion diffs, rerun-failed and slowest-test reports. (Open VSX)
- Nifty REST Client: .http Files & HTTP Requests: Send HTTP requests from .http files: variables, environments, request chaining, response viewer, cURL import and export, and history. No account, no cloud. (Open VSX)
See all 100+ Nifty extensions and web tools at https://getnifty.dev
| |
