How to run Apex tests locally

What you need

• An SFDX project, with the same force-app/main/default layout you'd push to an org.
• macOS, Linux, or Windows. No JVM, Docker, or Postgres install is needed; the embedded database ships with the binary.
• 5 minutes.

Step 1: Install renmy runtime

One line, no admin required:

# macOS / Linux
curl -sSL https://renmy.net/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
iwr -useb https://renmy.net/install.ps1 | iex

Verify the install:

renmy --version

Step 2: Run the doctor once

renmy doctor looks at your project, validates the layout, and lists anything it needs you to set up. On a clean SFDX project, it usually reports green and you skip the rest of this section.

cd path/to/your/sfdx-project
renmy doctor

Step 3: Run your tests

Same command structure as the Salesforce CLI, but local:

# Run everything
renmy test "*"

# Run a specific test class
renmy test "OrderServiceTest"

# Run a single method
renmy test "OrderServiceTest.testDiscountApplies"

# Glob patterns
renmy test "Order*Test.*"

Output mirrors what you'd expect from sf apex run test: pass/fail counts, failure messages, stack traces, code coverage. Failures point at the file and line.

Step 4: Re-run on save with watch mode

renmy test:watch re-runs affected tests on save. It tracks which classes each test exercises, so editing a single trigger only re-runs the tests that touch it.

renmy test:watch

Watch mode is a Pro feature. The Free tier supports one-shot runs and the full Dev UI.

The same tests in CI

Same binary, same project, JUnit XML and Cobertura XML output for whatever CI you use:

# .github/workflows/test.yml
name: Apex Tests
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: curl -sSL https://renmy.net/install.sh | bash
      - run: renmy test "*" --results-xml results.xml --coverage-report cobertura.xml
        env:
          NIMBUS_LICENSE_KEY: ${{ secrets.NIMBUS_LICENSE_KEY }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with: { name: test-results, path: results.xml }

Test runs in CI need a licence key from the portal, stored as the NIMBUS_LICENSE_KEY secret. The free tier does not run tests in CI; pricing lists the plans that do.

For a deeper walkthrough see Apex CI without a connected org.

Common gotchas

• Multi-currency org behaviour. Set nimbus.org.features=MultiCurrency in nimbus.properties (or pass --feature MultiCurrency) so CurrencyIsoCode fields and UserInfo.isMultiCurrencyOrganization() behave the way they do in a multi-currency org. It is off by default, like a new org.
• Managed package types. If your code references a managed package, pull stubs for it with renmy stub pull --org <alias> --namespaces <namespace>. See Managed Packages.
• Org defaults. Custom settings need seeding. Add them in nimbus.properties with nimbus.seed.org-default.MySetting__c=... rather than relying on @testSetup boilerplate everywhere.