NUnit

Overview

NUnit is the most popular unit testing framework for .NET applications. It provides a rich set of assertions, parameterized tests, setup/teardown lifecycle hooks, and category-based test filtering. NUnit 3 is the current major version and produces a well-defined XML output format.

To integrate NUnit results with TestKase, generate NUnit 3 XML output and report with --format nunit.

Prerequisites

.NET SDK 6.0+ (or .NET 8.0+ recommended)

Installation

New Project

Create a new NUnit test project using the built-in template:

dotnet new nunit -n MyProject.Tests

This scaffolds a project with all required NUnit packages pre-configured.

Existing Project

Add NUnit packages to an existing test project:

dotnet add package NUnit
dotnet add package NUnit3TestAdapter
dotnet add package Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk

For NUnit XML output, also install the logger:

dotnet add package NunitXml.TestLogger

Project Setup

Your .csproj file should include these package references:

<!-- MyProject.Tests.csproj -->
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <IsPackable>false</IsPackable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="17.9.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="NUnit" Version="4.1.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="NUnit3TestAdapter" Version="4.5.0" />
    <PackageReference Include="NunitXml.TestLogger" Version="3.1.20" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Directory Structure

MyProject.Tests/
  MyProject.Tests.csproj
  LoginTests.cs
  DashboardTests.cs
  Helpers/
    TestData.cs

Writing Tests

Create a test file (e.g., LoginTests.cs):

// LoginTests.cs
using NUnit.Framework;

namespace MyProject.Tests
{
    [TestFixture]
    public class LoginTests
    {
        private LoginService _loginService;

        [SetUp]
        public void SetUp()
        {
            _loginService = new LoginService();
        }

        [TearDown]
        public void TearDown()
        {
            _loginService = null;
        }

        [Test]
        public void Test_48271_ValidLogin()
        {
            var result = _loginService.Login("user@example.com", "password123");
            Assert.That(result.Success, Is.True);
            Assert.That(result.Token, Is.Not.Null);
        }

        [Test]
        public void Test_48272_InvalidPassword()
        {
            var result = _loginService.Login("user@example.com", "wrong");
            Assert.That(result.Success, Is.False);
            Assert.That(result.Error, Is.EqualTo("Invalid credentials"));
        }

        [Test]
        public void Test_48273_EmptyEmailThrowsException()
        {
            Assert.That(
                () => _loginService.Login("", "password123"),
                Throws.ArgumentException.With.Message.Contains("Email is required")
            );
        }

        [TestCase("user@example.com", "password123", true)]
        [TestCase("admin@example.com", "admin456", true)]
        [TestCase("unknown@example.com", "wrong", false)]
        public void Test_48274_LoginWithMultipleUsers(string email, string password, bool expected)
        {
            var result = _loginService.Login(email, password);
            Assert.That(result.Success, Is.EqualTo(expected));
        }
    }
}

Each test embeds a 5-digit Automation ID in its method name using underscores (e.g. Test_48271_ValidLogin). The NUnit parser reads only each test case's name/fullname attribute — the [Description] attribute is emitted as a <property> child element that the reporter never reads — so the ID must live in the method name. Configure the reporter with --automation-id-format "_(\\d{5})_" to extract the ID from between the underscores. For the example above:

48271 → linked to the "valid login" test case in TestKase
48272 → linked to the "invalid password" test case in TestKase
48273 → linked to the "empty email" test case in TestKase
48274 → linked to the "multiple users" test case in TestKase

The NUnit 3 results file exposes each test as <test-case name="..." fullname="...">, and the reporter matches against those attributes only. IDs placed in [Description("[48271] ...")] become a <property> child and are not read — they will never match. Put the ID in the method name and pass --automation-id-format "_(\\d{5})_".

Generate Automation IDs in TestKase first, then embed them in your test method names.

Running Tests

Run all tests:

dotnet test

Run with verbose output:

dotnet test --verbosity normal

Generating NUnit XML Output

Use the NUnit XML logger to produce NUnit 3 format output:

dotnet test --logger "nunit;LogFileName=nunit-results.xml" --results-directory test-results

This writes the results to test-results/nunit-results.xml.

You can add the logger configuration to a .runsettings file or pass it as a command-line argument. The --results-directory flag controls where the output file is written.

TestKase Integration

After generating the NUnit XML file, report results to TestKase:

npx @testkase/reporter report \
  --token $TESTKASE_PAT \
  --project-id PRJ-1 \
  --org-id 1173 \
  --cycle-id TCYCLE-5 \
  --format nunit \
  --automation-id-format "_(\\d{5})_" \
  --results-file test-results/nunit-results.xml

--cycle-id is optional. If not provided, results are reported to TCYCLE-1 — the master test cycle for the project.

Automation ID Mapping

The reporter extracts 5-digit Automation IDs from the NUnit method name using the --automation-id-format "_(\\d{5})_" pattern (the ID wrapped in underscores):

Test Pattern	Where to Embed the ID	Extracted ID
Standard test	`public void Test_48271_ValidLogin()`	`48271`
Parameterized with `[TestCase]`	`public void Test_48274_LoginWithMultipleUsers(...)`	`48274`
Nested namespace	`public void Test_48275_ValidateToken()`	`48275`

The parser reads the <test-case> name/fullname attribute only — the [Description] attribute is ignored. For parameterized tests, all parameter variations share the same Automation ID.

Complete Example

1. Test File

// LoginTests.cs
using NUnit.Framework;

namespace MyProject.Tests
{
    [TestFixture]
    public class LoginTests
    {
        private LoginService _loginService;

        [SetUp]
        public void SetUp()
        {
            _loginService = new LoginService();
        }

        [Test]
        public void Test_48271_ValidLogin()
        {
            var result = _loginService.Login("user@example.com", "password123");
            Assert.That(result.Success, Is.True);
        }

        [Test]
        public void Test_48272_InvalidPassword()
        {
            var result = _loginService.Login("user@example.com", "wrong");
            Assert.That(result.Success, Is.False);
        }
    }
}

2. Run Tests and Generate NUnit XML

dotnet test --logger "nunit;LogFileName=nunit-results.xml" --results-directory test-results

3. Report Results to TestKase

npx @testkase/reporter report \
  --token $TESTKASE_PAT \
  --project-id PRJ-1 \
  --org-id 1173 \
  --cycle-id TCYCLE-5 \
  --format nunit \
  --automation-id-format "_(\\d{5})_" \
  --results-file test-results/nunit-results.xml

Troubleshooting

NUnit logger not found

If you get an error like The test logger 'nunit' was not found, the NunitXml.TestLogger package is not installed. Add it to your project:

dotnet add package NunitXml.TestLogger

After installing, rebuild and run again:

dotnet build
dotnet test --logger "nunit;LogFileName=nunit-results.xml" --results-directory test-results

Test adapter not loaded

If tests are not discovered or you see No test is available, ensure the NUnit3TestAdapter package is referenced in your .csproj:

dotnet add package NUnit3TestAdapter

Also verify that Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk is installed — this is required for the dotnet test command to discover and run NUnit tests:

dotnet add package Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk

Wrong XML format (NUnit 2 vs NUnit 3)

The TestKase reporter expects NUnit 3 XML format. If you are using an older NUnit 2 runner or a third-party logger that produces NUnit 2 format, the reporter will fail to parse the results.

To verify you are using NUnit 3 format, check the root element of the generated XML:

NUnit 3: <test-run> root element
NUnit 2: <test-results> root element

If you see <test-results>, switch to the NunitXml.TestLogger package which produces the correct NUnit 3 format. Do not use the older NUnit.ConsoleRunner unless you confirm it outputs NUnit 3 XML.

NUnit

On this page