diff --git a/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Program.cs b/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Program.cs
index 9343cfc9bf..84c7308305 100644
--- a/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Program.cs
+++ b/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Program.cs
@@ -101,6 +101,17 @@ private static int Pipelines(string pipelineNameFilter)
             .NextStep(() => new MoveFiles("*.zip", Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Results")))
             .NextStep(() => new CleanupDisposable()));
 
+        // Server-mode variant: runs via `dotnet test --no-build` to exercise the MTP JSON-RPC
+        // (named-pipe) path rather than the plain-process standalone path.  The "PlainProcess"
+        // suffix keeps this scenario captured by the existing nightly workflow filter (*PlainProcess*).
+        pipelineRunner.AddPipeline("Default", "Scenario1_DotnetTest_PlainProcess", [OSPlatform.Windows, OSPlatform.Linux, OSPlatform.OSX], parametersBag =>
+        Pipeline
+            .FirstStep(() => new Scenario1(numberOfClass: 100, methodsPerClass: 100, tfm: "net9.0", executionScope: ExecutionScope.MethodLevel), parametersBag)
+            .NextStep(() => new DotnetMuxer(BuildConfiguration.Debug))
+            .NextStep(() => new DotnetTestProcess("Scenario1_DotnetTest_PlainProcess.zip", BuildConfiguration.Debug))
+            .NextStep(() => new MoveFiles("*.zip", Path.Combine(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), "Results")))
+            .NextStep(() => new CleanupDisposable()));
+
         return pipelineRunner.Run(pipelineNameFilter);
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Steps/DotnetTestProcess.cs b/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Steps/DotnetTestProcess.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..de717570a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Performance/MSTest.Performance.Runner/Steps/DotnetTestProcess.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+
+using System.IO.Compression;
+using System.Text.Json;
+
+using Microsoft.Testing.TestInfrastructure;
+
+namespace MSTest.Performance.Runner.Steps;
+
+/// <summary>
+/// Runs the test project via <c>dotnet test --no-build</c> to exercise the MTP
+/// server-mode (JSON-RPC / named-pipe) path, and records wall-clock timing using
+/// the same plain <see cref="Process"/> metrics as <see cref="PlainProcess"/>.
+/// </summary>
+/// <remarks>
+/// <para>
+/// When <c>EnableMSTestRunner=true</c> (MTP native mode), <c>dotnet test</c> invokes the
+/// compiled test host in server mode, passing <c>--server --protocol dotnet-test-protocol</c>.
+/// The host then communicates results back via a named pipe / TCP socket rather than running
+/// standalone. This exercises the serialisation, JSON-RPC framing, and pipe I/O paths that
+/// the plain-process scenario does not cover.
+/// </para>
+/// <para>
+/// <b>Measurement note:</b> <see cref="Process.TotalProcessorTime"/> reflects only the
+/// <c>dotnet test</c> parent process; the spawned test-host child's CPU time is not included.
+/// <see cref="Process.ExitTime"/> minus <see cref="Process.StartTime"/> (wall-clock) is the
+/// primary metric and represents the end-to-end time a user observes when running
+/// <c>dotnet test</c>.
+/// </para>
+/// </remarks>
+internal class DotnetTestProcess : IStep<BuildArtifact, Files>
+{
+    private static readonly string s_root = RootFinder.Find();
+    private readonly string _reportFileName;
+    private readonly BuildConfiguration _buildConfiguration;
+    private readonly int _numberOfRun;
+    private readonly CompressionLevel _compressionLevel;
+
+    public string Description => "run dotnet test (MTP server mode)";
+
+    public DotnetTestProcess(string reportFileName, BuildConfiguration buildConfiguration = BuildConfiguration.Debug, int numberOfRun = 3, CompressionLevel compressionLevel = CompressionLevel.Fastest)
+    {
+        _reportFileName = reportFileName;
+        _buildConfiguration = buildConfiguration;
+        _numberOfRun = numberOfRun;
+        _compressionLevel = compressionLevel;
+    }
+
+    public async Task<Files> ExecuteAsync(BuildArtifact payload, IContext context)
+    {
+        string dotnet = Path.Combine(s_root, ".dotnet", $"dotnet{Constants.ExecutableExtension}");
+        string projectDir = payload.TestAsset.TargetAssetPath;
+
+        // Use the repo-local SDK consistently with the build step (DotnetMuxer). The
+        // configuration must match the one used by DotnetMuxer so that --no-build finds the
+        // binaries that were actually produced. WorkingDirectory is pinned to the test asset so
+        // relative outputs (TestResults, logs, temp files) stay inside the generated asset rather
+        // than polluting the runner's current directory between scenarios.
+        ProcessStartInfo psi = new(dotnet, $"test \"{projectDir}\" --no-build --configuration {_buildConfiguration}")
+        {
+            UseShellExecute = false,
+            RedirectStandardOutput = true,
+            RedirectStandardError = true,
+            WorkingDirectory = projectDir,
+        };
+
+        psi.EnvironmentVariables["DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT"] = "1";
+        psi.EnvironmentVariables["DOTNET_ROOT"] = Path.Combine(s_root, ".dotnet");
+        psi.EnvironmentVariables["DOTNET_INSTALL_DIR"] = Path.Combine(s_root, ".dotnet");
+        psi.EnvironmentVariables["DOTNET_SKIP_FIRST_TIME_EXPERIENCE"] = "1";
+        psi.EnvironmentVariables["DOTNET_MULTILEVEL_LOOKUP"] = "0";
+
+        Console.WriteLine($"Process command: '{psi.FileName} {psi.Arguments.Trim()}' for {_numberOfRun} times");
+
+        List<object> results = [];
+        for (int i = 0; i < _numberOfRun; i++)
+        {
+            using Process process = Process.Start(psi)!;
+            // Drain stdout/stderr asynchronously to prevent buffer deadlocks.
+            Task<string> stdoutTask = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEndAsync();
+            Task<string> stderrTask = process.StandardError.ReadToEndAsync();
+            await process.WaitForExitAsync();
+            await Task.WhenAll(stdoutTask, stderrTask);
+
+            // Fail fast on a non-zero exit code: `dotnet test` has many infrastructure failure
+            // modes (restore issues, SDK mismatch, missing build artefacts) that would otherwise
+            // record timings for an invalid run and silently corrupt the perf baseline.
+            if (process.ExitCode != 0)
+            {
+                throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                    $"'dotnet test' exited with code {process.ExitCode}.{Environment.NewLine}" +
+                    $"stdout:{Environment.NewLine}{await stdoutTask}{Environment.NewLine}" +
+                    $"stderr:{Environment.NewLine}{await stderrTask}");
+            }
+
+            var result = new
+            {
+                ElapsedTime = process.ExitTime - process.StartTime,
+                process.TotalProcessorTime,
+                Environment.ProcessorCount,
+                GC.GetGCMemoryInfo().TotalAvailableMemoryBytes,
+            };
+
+            results.Add(result);
+        }
+
+#pragma warning disable CA1869 // Cache and reuse 'JsonSerializerOptions' instances
+        await File.AppendAllTextAsync(
+            Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(payload.TestHost.FullName)!, "Result.json"),
+            JsonSerializer.Serialize(results, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));
+#pragma warning restore CA1869
+
+        string sample = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), _reportFileName);
+        File.Delete(sample);
+        Console.WriteLine($"Compressing to '{sample}'");
+        ZipFile.CreateFromDirectory(payload.TestAsset.TargetAssetPath, sample, _compressionLevel, includeBaseDirectory: true);
+
+        return new Files([sample]);
+    }
+}