# CTest [CTest](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/ctest.1.html) is a test automation tool distributed as part of CMake. > **Note:** > The minimal supported version of CTest is 3.15. > > > > CLion uses the `ctest` executable located in the same folder as the toolchain's `cmake` executable. Selecting an arbitrary `ctest` executable is not supported. ## CTest run/debug configuration When you open a project that uses CTest, CLion detects the tests and automatically creates a run/debug configuration for them. This configuration is called All Tests and is based on the CTest Application template. You can edit the automatically created configuration and add more configurations of the same type in the `Edit Configurations` dialog. ![The automatically created configuration for CTests](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_alltests_config.png) Procedure: Create CTest configurations 1. In the main menu, go to `Run | Edit Configurations`, click ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.add.svg) and select CTest Application from the list of templates: ![Adding a CTest Application configuration](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_addconfig.png) 2. Provide the configuration name and specify the settings. * In the Test list to run field, select the tests to be included. You can use smart search within the List of Available Tests for easier navigation: ![List of the available tests in CTest Application](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_config_testlist.png) CLion will notify you if the version of `ctest` you are using is less than 3.15, or if there were no tests detected in the project. ![Test detection fails warning](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_nodetect_warning.png) In this case, check the version of CMake in `Settings | Build, Execution, Deployment | Toolchain` and make sure CTest tests are enabled in your `CMakeLists.txt` files. > **Note:** > To filter the list of tests using [CTest options with regular expressions](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.7/manual/ctest.1.html#options), use the CTest arguments field. * In the CTest arguments field, you can provide additional flags. For example, specify `--parallel` to run the tests in parallel if your tests support that. Other fields of the configuration settings are described on the [reference page](ctest-application.html). Procedure: Launch CTest tests To run or debug tests, use one of the following options: * Select the configuration in the switcher and click one of the toolbar icons, or use the corresponding shortcuts. ![Configuration switcher and toolbar](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_configswitcher.png) * Open the `CMakeLists.txt` file and find the `add_test` command that corresponds to the desired test. Click the left-hand gutter icon next to it and select from the list of options: ![Gutter menu for tests](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_gutter.png) When you run a test using gutter icons, CLion creates a [temporary](run-debug-configuration.html) CTest Application configuration, which is greyed out in the list of configurations. To save it, select it in the `Edit Configurations` dialog and press ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.save.svg): ![Saving a temporary configuration](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_savetempconfig.png) Procedure: Debug CTest tests * If you start a debug session for a CTest test, CLion will run the test itself under debug instead of launching the `ctest` child process. In case of a multi-test configuration, you will be prompted to select a single test from the list: ![Lists of tests for debugging](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_debug_testlist.png) Procedure: Dynamic analysis * You can use the tools of dynamic analysis for your tests to eliminate issues at runtime. CLion integrates with [Valgrind Memcheck](memory-profiling-with-valgrind.html), [Google Sanitizers](google-sanitizers.html), [CPU Profiler](cpu-profiler.html), and [Code Coverage](code-coverage-clion.html), providing them with visualized output and handy features to help you work with the results. For more information, refer to the corresponding articles. ![Profiling in the gutter menu for tests](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_gutter_profile.png) > **Note:** > Unlike the case of debugging, dynamic analysis is applied to execution under `ctest`. Procedure: Explore the results * When you run tests, CLion shows the results and the process in the built-in [test runner window](viewing-and-exploring-test-results.html). This window includes: * progress bar with the percentage of tests executed so far, * tree view of all the running tests with their status and duration, * console output stream, * toolbar with the options to rerun failed ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.runConfigurations.testState.red2.svg) tests, export ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.export.svg) or open previous results saved automatically ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.vcs.history.svg), sort the tests alphabetically ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.objectBrowser.sorted.svg) to easily find a particular test, or sort them by duration ![](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.runConfigurations.sortbyDuration.svg) to understand which test ran longer than others, * context menu with actions like Jump to Source, which navigates you to the `CMakeLists.txt` file where the test is declared. ![Test runner window](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_testrunner.png) Procedure: Skip tests * Test failure can be ignored by CTest in particular cases. To configure this, set the [SKIP_RETURN_CODE](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/prop_test/SKIP_RETURN_CODE.html#prop_test:SKIP_RETURN_CODE) or [SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/prop_test/SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION.html) property. CLion will detect these properties and mark the tests as Skipped in the output tree: ![Skipping tests](https://resources.jetbrains.com/help/img/idea/2026.2/cl_ctest_skip.png) ## See also ### Getting Started [Unit testing tutorial](unit-testing-tutorial.html) [Quick CMake tutorial](quick-cmake-tutorial.html) ### Procedures [Run/Debug/Terminate Tests](performing-tests.html) [Explore Test Results](viewing-and-exploring-test-results.html) ### Reference [CTest Application configuration](ctest-application.html)