Six questions,
answered.

Is PesterForge free?

The PowerShell module is free. So are the four read-only MCP tools (profile_function, audit_coverage, get_version, run_tests): no license, no entitlement code, free forever.

The two MCP tools that write to disk, create_test_file and scaffold_project, need a paid tier. Without an entitlement code, calling either one just gets you a payment-required error back, nothing written.

Plans & pricing →

Does this replace Pester?

No. Pester is the framework the tests are written in and the engine that runs them; it stays free, open source, and independent. PesterForge writes the test files. Every file it generates runs under Pester like one you typed yourself, and an acceptance test confirms round-trip output runs cleanly under Pester 5.7.1.

How PesterForge compares →

Does it call an external AI service?

Not unless you ask it to. The default generation mode is deterministic: static analysis only, no model in the loop, no network call. AiGating.Tests.ps1 proves that, including attack cases that try to trigger a provider call without the opt-in.

AI enrichment exists as a separate, explicit opt-in. Leave it off and no provider is contacted.

Security & trust →

Can I use this with Claude Code?

Yes, through PesterForge MCP. The server runs on your machine as a child process of your MCP client and exposes the same engine as the module, so an agent can profile a function, audit coverage, run your suite, and (on a paid tier) write test files. Claude Code is one MCP client; any MCP-compatible client registers it the same way.

Follow the setup guide →

What about DetentShell?

PesterForge will ship built into DetentShell, a modern IDE for PowerShell 7 that is still in development. No ship date is committed yet.

The built-in test generation (PesterForge Editor Edition) stays free inside the IDE. DetentShell will have its own paid tiers, and those are a separate decision: whatever the IDE ends up costing, the PesterForge piece inside it costs nothing.

PesterForge in DetentShell →

Is this affiliated with Microsoft?

No. PesterForge is an independent product of Detent Point LLC. It is not a Microsoft product and carries no Microsoft affiliation or endorsement. “PowerShell” appears in our copy only to describe what the tool works on.