User config reference¶

This page provides a comprehensive reference of all configuration parameters available in the user config file.

For more information about how user configuration works, see the user configuration overview.

Configuration file location¶

User configuration is loaded from platform-specific locations:

Platform	Primary path	Fallback path
Linux, macOS, and other Unix	`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/nextest/config.toml` or `~/.config/nextest/config.toml`	—
Windows	`%APPDATA%\nextest\config.toml`	`%XDG_CONFIG_HOME%\nextest\config.toml` or `%HOME%\.config\nextest\config.toml`

For more information about configuration hierarchy, see Configuration hierarchy.

UI settings are configured under [ui].

Type: String
Description: Controls how progress is displayed during test runs
Valid values:
- "auto": Auto-detect based on terminal capabilities
- "none": No progress display
- "bar": Show a progress bar with running tests
- "counter": Show a simple test counter (e.g., "(1/10)")
- "only": Show only the progress bar, hide successful test output
Default: "auto"
CLI equivalent: --show-progress
Environment variable: NEXTEST_SHOW_PROGRESS
Example:
```
[ui]
show-progress = "bar"
```

Type: Integer or string
Description: Maximum number of running tests to display in the progress bar. When more tests are running than this limit, the progress bar shows the first N tests and a summary (e.g., "... and 24 more tests running").
Valid values:
- Positive integer (e.g., 8): Display up to this many running tests
- 0: Hide running tests entirely
- "infinite": Display all running tests
Default: 8
CLI equivalent: --max-progress-running
Environment variable: NEXTEST_MAX_PROGRESS_RUNNING

Examples:

[ui]
# Show up to 16 running tests
max-progress-running = 16

[ui]
# Show all running tests
max-progress-running = "infinite"

The default user configuration is:

[ui]
show-progress = "auto"
max-progress-running = 8