Rstest is a VS Code extension that discovers, displays, and runs tests in your workspace. It builds a rich Test Explorer tree from your test files and keeps it up to date as files change.
Features
Discovers test files via configurable glob patterns
Parses test structure to build a nested tree (describe/suite/test)
Runs individual tests, suites, or entire files
Watches the filesystem and updates the tree on create/change/delete
Activation
The extension activates automatically when your workspace contains Rstest configuration files (e.g., rstest.config.*, rstest.workspace.*, rstest.projects.*). On activation, it eagerly scans the workspace and populates the Test Explorer.
Configuration
Setting
Type
Default
Description
rstest.testFileGlobPattern
string[]
["**/*.test.*", "**/*.spec.*"]
Glob pattern(s) used to discover test files in the workspace.
rstest.logLevel
string
default
Controls Output channel verbosity; set to debug for extra diagnostic logging.
How it works
On activation, the extension scans for test files using rstest.testFileGlobPattern and creates a Test Explorer tree.
File system watchers keep the tree synchronized as files are created, modified, or deleted.
Test content is parsed to identify nested suites and tests so you can run them granularly.
Development
Common commands (run from this package):
npm run build — Build with rslib
npm run watch — Rebuild on change
npm run typecheck — TypeScript noEmit check
npm run test:unit — Unit tests via Rstest
npm run test:e2e — VS Code Extension Host E2E tests
Packaging & publishing
Local package (current platform): npm run package:vsix
Publish (current platform): npm run publish:vsce (requires VSCE_PAT)
CI
On tag push or manual dispatch, GitHub Actions runs on Linux and publishes for all platforms using vsce publish --target (win32/darwin/linux; x64 and arm64).
Configure the VSCE_PAT repository secret for Marketplace publishing.
