te-dump: Test Explorer as text

te-dump shows what the Visual Studio Test Explorer shows, as plain text. Use it to check how the NUnit VS adapter presents tests (the tree, the names, the outcomes) without screenshots, and to let an AI do the checking for you.

It can also drive Visual Studio for you: open a solution, rebuild, run all or some tests, and close it again.

Windows only. Needs Visual Studio 2022 or later. Nothing is installed into Visual Studio.

Install

dotnet tool install -g NUnit.Tools.TestExplorerDump

Update later with dotnet tool update -g NUnit.Tools.TestExplorerDump. Check the installed version with te-dump --version.

Quick start

Open a terminal in a repro folder (one with a .slnx, .sln or .csproj) and run:

te-dump session

This starts a new Visual Studio, rebuilds, prints the tree Test Explorer shows after discovery, runs all tests, prints the tree again, and closes Visual Studio. It takes a minute or two.

# discovered
Project: Issue1408 [Not Run] (3)
  Namespace: NUnitTestExplorerFailure [Not Run] (3)
    Class: Tests [Not Run] (3)
      Test Group: Demonstration [Not Run] (2)
        Demonstration([(0, 0)]) [Not Run]
        Demonstration([(1, 2), (3, 4)]) [Not Run]
      Demonstration [Not Run]

# after run
Project: Issue1408 [Passed] (3)
  ...

Each line is Kind: Name [Outcome] (test count). Leaf tests have no kind and no count.

Both trees are also saved as files in a te-dump folder next to the solution, see Dump files.

Dump files

Every tree te-dump prints is also saved to a file, so you can keep it, diff it, or hand it to an AI.

Where they go

By default in a te-dump folder next to the solution (the .slnx, .sln or .csproj):

C:\repos\nunit3-vs-adapter.issues\Issue1408\Issue1408.slnx
C:\repos\nunit3-vs-adapter.issues\Issue1408\te-dump\          <- dump files

The folder is created when needed. Each file path is printed on stderr as Wrote <path>.

What they are called

<Solution>-<yyyyMMdd-HHmmss>-<snapshot>.txt

Command	Files written
dump	Issue1408-20261026-193445-dump.txt
session	Issue1408-20261026-193445-discovered.txt and Issue1408-20261026-193445-after-run.txt

• <Solution> is the solution file name without extension.
• The timestamp is when the files were written. Both files of one session share it.
• With --format json the files end in .json instead of .txt.
• Older files are never overwritten, so a run before and after an adapter change can be diffed: diff te-dump\Issue1408-20261026-193445-after-run.txt te-dump\Issue1408-20261026-201530-after-run.txt
• start, build, run, close and list write no files.

Putting them somewhere else

Use --out <folder> with dump or session:

te-dump session --out C:\temp\dumps
te-dump --pid 73760 --expand-all --out ..\results

A relative folder is relative to the current directory. The same file names are used.

Add te-dump/ to the repo's .gitignore if you keep the default folder.

What you can do

Look at a Visual Studio you already have open

te-dump                    Print the tree of the only Visual Studio with Test Explorer open
te-dump list               List all of them, numbered
te-dump 2                  Print the tree of number 2 from that list
te-dump --title Issue489   Pick by window title instead
te-dump 2 --expand-all     Expand collapsed nodes first, so nothing is hidden

Run one full check

te-dump session                        In the current folder
te-dump session C:\repos\Issue1408     Or give a folder, .slnx, .sln or .csproj
te-dump session --filter SimpleTest    Run only some tests

Work step by step, keeping Visual Studio open

Use this when you want to run several tests one at a time, or look at the tree between runs.

te-dump start                              Prints: Started Visual Studio, pid 73760. ...
te-dump --pid 73760 --expand-all           Print the tree
te-dump run --pid 73760 --filter SimpleTest
te-dump --pid 73760 --expand-all           Print it again
te-dump build --pid 73760                  Rebuild after changing the repro or the adapter
te-dump run --pid 73760                    Run all tests
te-dump close --pid 73760                  Close Visual Studio

Keep the pid that start prints. All later commands take it with --pid.

Commands

Command	What it does
dump	Print the Test Explorer tree. This is the default, so te-dump alone means te-dump dump.
list	List Visual Studio instances with Test Explorer open, numbered.
start	Start a new Visual Studio on a solution, open Test Explorer, rebuild, wait for discovery, print the pid.
build	Rebuild the solution and wait for test discovery.
run	Run all tests, or the tests matching --filter, and wait until done.
close	Close Visual Studio.
session	start, dump, run, dump again, close. Visual Studio is closed even if a step fails.

start and session always rebuild. Discovery only happens after a build that changes the test assemblies, so a rebuild is the only way to be sure Test Explorer shows the current code.

Choosing a Visual Studio

dump, build, run and close work on the only Visual Studio with Test Explorer open. When there are several, pick one:

Option	Meaning
<number>	Number from the last te-dump list.
--pid <id>	Process id, as printed by start.
--title <text>	Part of the window title, usually the solution name.

Options

Option	Meaning
--expand-all	Expand collapsed nodes before reading. This changes the view in Visual Studio.
--filter <text>	Test Explorer search text, as typed in its search box. Example: SimpleTest.
--format json	JSON instead of text.
--out <folder>	Where to write dump files. Default: a te-dump folder next to the solution.
-s, --short	Leave the help text out when several instances match.
--help, -h, -?	Show the help.
--version	Show the version.
--readme	Open this page in Microsoft Edge.

Good to know

• Trees go to stdout, progress and errors to stderr. Exit code 0 is success, 1 is failure, 2 is a wrong argument.
• start and session use the newest stable Visual Studio installed.
• Before a run, outcomes can come from an earlier run. Visual Studio remembers them in its .vs folder.
• Without --expand-all, dump leaves out the children of collapsed nodes. session always expands.
• Kinds and outcomes are Visual Studio's own texts, so they follow its display language.
• Durations are left out on purpose, so dumps can be diffed.

For developers

Building, testing and releasing the tool: see BUILDING.md.

License

MIT. Copyright (c) 2026 Terje Sandstrom.