vstest-docs VS vstest

Environment variables is probably easiest, but vstest and dotnet test support your use case via runsettings arguments - more info here: https://github.com/microsoft/vstest-docs/blob/main/docs/RunSettingsArguments.md

I've had success creating my own logger by following this guide on the vsdocs github. Nowadays you don't have to deploy the assemblies for the custom logger to the vs install folders. vstest will scan the build output directory for assemblies that match the specified pattern, *.testlogger.dll. You can also specify the path for custom test adapters either from the command line or a runsettings file using the TestAdapterPath option (this is only available since v15.1 but you mentioned you've tried the html logger and I think that's much newer than v15.1). If you get stuck with the implementation you can try referring to vstest's own loggers: htmllogger, trxlogger.

Also something that may be relevant is that newer versions of the vstest platform allow you to override runsettings options when running tests from the command line, as described here.

vstest (c#) (I like this one a lot, architecture is very well documented here: https://github.com/Microsoft/vstest-docs)

Another commenter in your first post linked you to a bug report. The original bug was a sporadic one with dotnet test. But commenters added more reliable cases, and cases for other dotnet commands.

However, I am hesitant to do so. Whenever it seems I have to fight the tools that are provided for me this is a likely sign that I’m Doing Things Wrong because of some fundamental misunderstandings and misassumptions on my part. I did some digging and found that VSTest by design forces the placement of data collectors’ output into GUIDed subdirectories, see Coverlet documentation, Coverlet issue #500 and VSTest issue #2378. That this is forced by design reinforces my worries that I’m doing something counterproductive.

I've had success creating my own logger by following this guide on the vsdocs github. Nowadays you don't have to deploy the assemblies for the custom logger to the vs install folders. vstest will scan the build output directory for assemblies that match the specified pattern, *.testlogger.dll. You can also specify the path for custom test adapters either from the command line or a runsettings file using the TestAdapterPath option (this is only available since v15.1 but you mentioned you've tried the html logger and I think that's much newer than v15.1). If you get stuck with the implementation you can try referring to vstest's own loggers: htmllogger, trxlogger.

IMO it's just held back by its ecosystem. NuGet doesn't integrate nearly as well with library source as Maven/Gradle/etc, and stuff like this makes it feel like a second-class citizen for CI.

But going to have to dig in deep tonight, it seems that answer to what I seek is probably hidden somewhere in this repo: https://github.com/microsoft/vstest/ and the ITestDiscovery discovery process.