# Code Coverage .NET

> Source: <https://dev.to/davinceleecode/code-coverage-net-2ai0>
> Published: 2026-05-23 13:17:45+00:00

For .NET projects, the most common manual way is using:
coverlet
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
Simplest first:
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
After running, you’ll see something like:
Attachments:
.../coverage.cobertura.xml
That XML file contains the coverage result.
Then install the report generator globally:
dotnet tool install -g dotnet-reportgenerator-globaltool
Generate an HTML report:
reportgenerator -reports:**/coverage.cobertura.xml -targetdir:coveragereport
Then open:
coveragereport/index.html
You’ll see:
Typical enterprise flow:
dotnet test
-> code coverage
-> stryker mutation test
-> CI/CD quality gate
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
or
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true
Then open:
coveragereport/index.html
Coverlet is the more common approach in real .NET projects now because it integrates nicely with CI/CD and gives flexible reporting.
Here’s the normal flow.
Inside your test project folder:
dotnet add package coverlet.msbuild
This adds the MSBuild integration of Coverlet.
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true
After running, you’ll see something like:
+--------+------+--------+--------+
| Module | Line | Branch | Method |
+--------+------+--------+--------+
and a generated file:
coverage.json
Usually we use Cobertura format:
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true /p:CoverletOutputFormat=cobertura
Then generate HTML:
reportgenerator -reports:coverage.cobertura.xml -targetdir:coveragereport
Open:
coveragereport/index.html
Whenever code changes:
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true /p:CoverletOutputFormat=cobertura
then:
reportgenerator -reports:coverage.cobertura.xml -targetdir:coveragereport
Built-in collector:
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"
Coverlet MSBuild:
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true
Both are valid.
But Coverlet gives:
Example threshold:
dotnet test /p:CollectCoverage=true /p:Threshold=80
This FAILS the build if coverage goes below 80%.