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Getting Started

Jest Runner needs no configuration in most projects: install it, open a test file, click Run.

Install

Open the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X on Windows and Linux, Cmd+Shift+X on macOS), search for Jest Runner and click Install.

code --install-extension firsttris.vscode-jest-runner

Editors without access to the Visual Studio Marketplace install from Open VSX, where every release is published too.

Jest Runner requires VS Code 1.100 or newer. It activates after the editor has finished starting (onStartupFinished), so it never slows down the start of VS Code.

Your first test run

  1. Open a folder (or a multi-root workspace) that contains tests written for one of the supported frameworks. The framework must be installed in the project: Jest Runner runs the project's own jest, vitest, playwright, rstest, bun, deno or node binary.
  2. Open a test file. Above every describe, it and test you see two CodeLens actions: Run and Debug.
  3. Click Run. A terminal named jest (or vitest) opens and runs exactly that test, filtered by name.
  4. Click Debug. VS Code starts a debug session with the same filter; breakpoints in the test and in the code under test work as usual.

How Jest Runner finds the right framework

Each file is classified on its own. Imports such as bun:test, node:test, @playwright/test or @rstest/core win; otherwise the nearest jest.config.*, vitest.config.* or vite.config.* above the file decides, then the dependencies in package.json, then the installed binaries. The details are in Test Detection.

Enable the Test Explorer

The CodeLens actions run tests in a terminal. The native Test Explorer of VS Code additionally shows the tree of all test files and tests of the workspace, with pass/fail state, inline error messages at the failing line and code coverage. It is off by default; switch it on in your settings:

settings.json
"jestrunner.enableTestExplorer": true

Then open the Testing view in the activity bar. The first time you open it, Jest Runner scans the workspace for test files (it skips node_modules) and parses each file to build the tree.

The Test Explorer offers four profiles: Run, Debug, Coverage and Update Snapshots. How it works under the hood is described in Test Explorer.

Choose your entry points

Entry point Default Setting
CodeLens Run and Debug above tests on jestrunner.enableCodeLens, jestrunner.codeLens
Test Explorer off jestrunner.enableTestExplorer
Editor context menu Run Jest / Debug Jest on, for test files —
Explorer context menu Run Jest on Path / Debug Jest on Path on —
Command Palette (Run Jest, Debug Jest, Run Jest --watch, ...) on —
Keyboard shortcuts none your keybindings.json, see Running & Debugging Tests

Everything else, such as commands for Create React App, extra CLI flags or several Jest configs in one workspace, is covered in the Settings Reference and the Recipes.

Next steps