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Run/Debug configuration: JUnit

Last modified: 03 April 2025

JUnit run/debug configurations define how unit tests that are based on the JUnit testing framework should be run.

Create a new JUnit run configuration

  1. In the main menu, go to Run | Edit Configurations.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configuration dialog, click on the toolbar or press AltInsert.

    The list shows the run/debug configuration templates. Select JUnit.

    On the right, you will see configuration options.

Run/Debug Configuration: JUnit

tip

You can use CtrlSpace to let IntelliJ IDEA help you fill in the fields in this dialog.

Name

Specify a name for the run configuration to quickly identify it among others when editing or running.

Run on

Select the target environment where you want to run the configuration. Besides running it locally, you can select to run your application on a remote machine via SSH or in a Docker container. For more information, refer to Run targets.

Store as project file

Save the run configuration settings to a file that you can share with other team members. The default location is .idea/runConfigurations. However, if you do not want to share the .idea directory, you can save the configuration to any other directory within the project.

By default, this option is disabled, and IntelliJ IDEA stores run configuration settings in .idea/workspace.xml.

Required options

Item

Description

JRE

Specify the runtime environment that IntelliJ IDEA should use to run the application. By default, IntelliJ IDEA uses the latest available JDK from the module dependencies.

Use classpath of module

Select the module whose classpath should be used to run the application.

Test kind

From this list, select the scope for your tests and fill in the fields depending on your selection:

  • All in package: run all unit tests in a package. Specify the package in the field to the right.

  • All in directory: run all unit tests in a directory. Specify the directory in the field to the right.

  • Pattern: run a set of test classes or specific methods within test classes. This set may include classes located in the same or different directories, packages, or modules. Declarations must be separated with ||.

    Each class in this field must be represented by its fully qualified name:

    • Include the package name and class name

    • Use , as a separator for methods

    • Use $ as a separator for inner classes

    You can type class names manually, or click the Add button on the right (or press ShiftEnter) and search for classes you want to add in the dialog that opens.

    Example: packageName.ClassName$InnerClassName,methodName

    You may also specify the required classes using regular expressions.

    For example, if you want to exclude all integration tests that have IT in their names, type ^(?!.*IT.*).*$.

    You can create a suite test, that is, a bundle of several test classes that will be run together. To create a suite test class, click the Expand button on the right and type the test classes you want to be run as a suite. As a result, a new class will be created with the @Suite annotation.

  • Class: run all unit tests in a class. Specify the fully qualified name of the class in the field to the right.

  • Method: run an individual test method. Specify the fully qualified name of the class with this method and the method name in the field to the right.

  • Category: run all tests in a category. Specify the category in the field to the right.

  • UniqueId: include tests and containers with a specific ID in the testing scope. Specify the ID in the field to the right.

  • Tags: (JUnit 5) run classes and methods tagged with the @Tag annotation in the testing scope.

    Tag expressions are boolean expressions with the following allowed operators: ! (not), & (and), and | (or). Parentheses can be used to adjust for operator precedence. For more information and examples, refer the JUnit 5 documentation.

Working directory

Specify the working directory to be used for running the application. This directory is the starting point for all relative input and output paths. By default, the working directory is the project root.

More options

To view more options for how to run unit tests that are based on the JUnit testing framework, select Modify options in the Run/Debug Configurations dialog. This will open the Add Run Options dialog.

Run/Debug Configuration: JUnit

Operating System

Item

Description

Allow multiple instances

Allow multiple instances of this run configuration to execute at the same time. By default, this option is disabled, which means that when you run the configuration, other active sessions of the configuration will terminate.

Environment variables

Click the Browse button to open the Environment Variables dialog where you can create variables and specify their values.

Java

The following options are specific to the Java compiler and runtime:

Item

Description

Do not build before run

Run tests straight away without launching the build process.

Modify classpath

If necessary, specify another classpath or select dependencies that you want to exclude from the classpath. This option is necessary in cases when the runtime classpath is different from the compile classpath (debug libraries, different locations, and so on).

Use the Up and Down buttons to sort dependencies on the list. The order of dependencies is important as IntelliJ IDEA will process them in the same order as they are specified in the list.

Add dependencies with “provided” scope to classpath

Add the dependencies with the provided scope to the runtime classpath.

Shorten command line

Select a method that will be used to shorten the command line if the classpath gets too long, or you have many VM arguments that exceed your OS command line length limitation. The choice of option depends on the class loader implementation. Note that some frameworks do not support JAR manifest, while other frameworks with custom class loaders will not work well with the classpath.file option.

  • none: IntelliJ IDEA will not shorten a long classpath. If the command line exceeds the OS limitation, IntelliJ IDEA will be unable to run your application and will display a message suggesting that you specify the shortening method.

  • JAR manifest: IntelliJ IDEA will pass a long classpath via a temporary classpath.jar. The original classpath is defined in the manifest file as a class-path attribute in classpath.jar. Note that you will be able to preview the full command line if it was shortened using this method, not just the classpath of the temporary classpath.jar.

  • classpath.file: IntelliJ IDEA will write a long classpath into a text file.

  • @argFiles (Java 9+): the command-line length limitations will be overcome using the @argument files option.

note

This setting is shared if you select to share your run/debug configuration, so the same method will be applied for your team members irrespective of their operating system.

Tests

Item

Description

Repeat

If you want to repeatedly run a test, select the threshold from this list. You can select to run your test once, n times (in this case specify the number of times in the field on the right), until the test succeeds, until the test fails, or until it is stopped.

Fork mode

This option controls how many Java VMs will be created if you want to fork some tests. Select Method or Class to create a separate virtual machine for each method or class respectively.

The available options in this list depend on the Test kind setting.

Search for tests

Select where in your project IntelliJ IDEA will look for test classes related to the current package. This option is available for the All in package, Tags, Pattern, and Category test kinds.

  • In whole project: IntelliJ IDEA will look for test classes in all project modules. This is the default option.

  • In single module: IntelliJ IDEA will look for test classes only in the module selected in the Use classpath of module field.

  • Across module dependencies: IntelliJ IDEA will look for test classes only in the module selected in the Use classpath of module field, and in the modules that depend on it.

Logs

The following options are related to logging the execution of this configuration. For more information, refer to Logs.

Item

Description

Specify logs to be shown in the console

Specify which log files to display while running the application.

Click the Add button to add a new log. In the Edit Log Files Aliases dialog, configure the following:

  • Alias: The name of the tab where the log will be displayed.

  • Log File Location: Specify the path to the log file or an Ant pattern. If several files of a rolling log match the pattern, IntelliJ IDEA will display the most recent one.

  • Show all files coverable by pattern: Show all logs that match the pattern.

For logs in the table, you can configure the following options:

  • Is Active: Display the specified log file.

  • Skip Content: Do not display old log messages from previous runs.

Save console output to file

Save the console output to the specified location. Type the path manually or click the browse button and point to the desired location in the dialog that opens.

Show console when a message is printed to stdout

Activate the console when the application writes to the standard output stream.

Show console when a message is printed to stderr

Activate the console when the application writes to the standard error stream.

Code Coverage

The following options are related to code coverage. For more information, refer to Code coverage.

Item

Description

Specify classes and packages

In this table, specify classes and packages to be measured. Click the Add button and select the Add Class button Add Class or the Add Package button Add Package to specify. You can also remove classes and packages from the list by selecting them in the list and clicking the remove the package button.

Exclude classes and packages

Specify classes and packages that you want to exclude from coverage.

Click the Add button and select the Add Class button Add Class or the Add Package button Add Package to specify classes and packages.

Before Launch

In this area, you can specify tasks to be performed before starting the selected run/debug configuration. The tasks are performed in the order they appear in the list.

Item

Description

Add before launch task

Enable this option to add one of the following available tasks:

  • Launch Web Browser: select this option to have a browser started. In the dialog that opens, select the type of the browser and provide the start URL. Also, specify if you want the browser be launched with JavaScript debugger.

  • Run External tool: run an external application. In the dialog that opens, select one or multiple applications you want to run. If it is not defined in IntelliJ IDEA yet, add its definition. For more information, refer to External tools.

  • Run Another Configuration: select to execute another run/debug configuration and wait until it finishes before starting the current configuration. If you want to run several configurations in parallel, use a compound run/debug configuration.

  • Run Remote External Tool: add a remote SSH external tool.

  • Run Gradle task: run a Gradle task. In the dialog that opens, specify the task and provide additional configuration if necessary.

  • Build: select to compile the specified module. The Build Module action will be executed.

    If an error occurs during compilation, IntelliJ IDEA won't attempt to start the run/debug configuration.

  • Build Project: select to compile the entire project. The Build Project action will be executed.

    If an error occurs during compilation, IntelliJ IDEA won't attempt to start the run/debug configuration.

  • Build, no error check: the same as the Build option, but IntelliJ IDEA will try to start the run/debug configuration irrespective of the compilation results.

  • Build Artifacts: select this option to build an artifact or artifacts. In the dialog that opens, select the artifact or artifacts that should be built.

  • Run Maven Goal: select this option to run a Maven goal. In the dialog that opens, select the goal to be run.

  • Run Grunt task: select this option to run a Grunt task.

    In the Grunt task dialog that opens, specify the Gruntfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Grunt tool.

    Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the grunt-cli package.

  • Run gulp task: select this option to run a Gulp task.

    In the Gulp task dialog that opens, specify the Gulpfile.js where the required task is defined, select the task to execute, and specify the arguments to pass to the Gulp tool.

    Specify the location of the Node.js interpreter, the parameters to pass to it, and the path to the gulp package.

  • Run npm script: select this option to execute an npm script.

    In the NPM Script dialog that opens, specify the npm run/debug configuration settings.

  • Compile TypeScript: select to run the built-in TypeScript compiler and thus make sure that all the changes you made to your TypeScript code are reflected in the generated JavaScript files. In the TypeScript Compile Settings dialog that opens, select or clear the Check errors checkbox to configure the behaviour of the compiler in case any errors are detected:

    • If the Check errors checkbox is selected, the compiler will show all the errors and the run configuration will not start.

    • If the Check errors checkbox is cleared, the compiler will show all the detected errors but the run configuration still will be launched.

  • Disconnect Data Source: select this option if you want to disrupt the connection to a data source before the run/debug configuration is run.

Open run/debug tool window when started

Depending on the type of configuration, open the Run, Debug, or Services tool window when you start this run configuration. If this option is disabled, you can open the tool window manually:

  • View | Tool Windows | Run or Alt04

  • View | Tool Windows | Debug or Alt05

  • View | Tool Windows | Services or Alt08

Focus run/debug tool window when started

Focus on the run configuration tool window when the tests are running.

Show the run/debug configuration settings before start

Show the run configuration settings before actually starting it.

See also

Procedures

Reference

Language and Framework-Specific Guidelines