If you haven't tried running automated tests, especially with pytest,  in VS Code recently, you should take another look.
The Python for VS Code interface for testing, especially for pytest, has changed recently. 
On this episode we discuss the change with the software engineer working on the pytest changes, Eleanor Boyd, and the product manager, Courtney Webster. 

Links from the episode:

• Blog post announcing the rewrite  
• Code repo for questions, comments, issues etc

 Learn pytest

• pytest is the number one test framework for Python.
• Learn the basics super fast with Hello, pytest!
• Then later you can become a pytest expert with The Complete pytest Course
• Both courses are at courses.pythontest.com