dotnet-inspect

dotnet-inspect

Use dotnet-inspect to find evidence from direct local libraries, packages from configured sources, and Platform libraries, including APIs and dependencies.

Run dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- <command-or-target>. -y skips confirmation, and -- passes the remaining arguments to dotnet-inspect. Start by identifying the kind of result needed. If the intent or result space is unclear, use a bare target and let the router choose. Otherwise, enter the matching space directly. Platform queries use installed packs when the requested version is available; otherwise they use a package-backed source. For a non-conventional install, verify <root>/packs and set process-scoped DOTNET_ROOT, not PATH.

Common starts

Goal	Command
Discover an installed capability	When you know the task but not the command, key, or section, run explain <task-text> to similarity-search installed capabilities. For example, run explain literal, copy the result's Explain path into explain <path> .hal --json, then follow its production binding: package query Microsoft.Azure.SignalR --where "library-literal=https://" --tfm net8.0 --json. Use -D or -Q directly when you already know the route.
Discover or inspect a package	package query Foo discovers an exact package ID; use package query 'Foo.*' for a literal package-ID prefix. Then use package <exact-id> to inspect the known package.
Discover an API symbol	Without an explicit scope, find searches installed .NET Runtime, ASP.NET Core, and .NET Standard platform populations, including Microsoft.Extensions assemblies shipped in the framework populations. Try find JsonSerializer -n 5 --table, find ControllerBase -n 5 --table, or find OptionsBuilder -n 5 --table. Package APIs enter scope through explicit --package Foo@version, a restored --project path/to/project, or --package-prefix PREFIX with a type/member pattern: find IChatClient --package Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Abstractions -n 5 --table returns Microsoft.Extensions.AI.IChatClient. Use package query Pattern to discover package IDs; add --members for member names. Explicit Package or Platform searches with --tfm preserve Find's Markdown, tips, tables, root-array JSON, exact implementation asset, and compatible TFM.
Inspect a type	type Type --package Foo; add --all for non-public/hidden members. -k selects logical declaration kinds: explicit properties/events use property/event, while explicit-interface-implementation selects uncomposed explicit methods. Select -S Source for authored-first source with explicit fallback context; PDB Source and Decompiled Source remain provider-specific views.
Inspect overloads	member Type --platform Lib -m Name -S "Member Index"
Select an overload	member Type --platform Lib Name:1 or Name~digest
Correlate one member's Findings	member Type Method:1 --package Foo -S "Finding Census" --json returns one receipt-scoped Facts and annotated-source envelope. Load skill query for selection and format constraints.
Discover legal query values or demos	explain vocabularies --json lists installed vocabularies. Copy a returned path into explain <path> .hal --json; read its embedded values and related vocabularies. Use demo list for product-home scenarios.
Discover query facets and operators	library -Q lists query-capable sections; type -Q "Body Shapes" or library -Q "Performance: Arrays" --json describes accepted keys and operators without inspection.
Find rendered body syntax	library path/to.dll --where "Kind=ObjectCreationExpression", type Type --library path/to.dll --where "Kind=InvocationExpression", or member Type Method:1 --library path/to.dll --where "Kind=InvocationExpression"; load skill decompiler for stable kinds and coordinates.
Compare APIs or method bodies	diff --package [email protected] --breaking (--additive new APIs; --alloc-regressions for allocation regressions; --implementation for the exact Implementation Diff section). Single-Library API Diff supports complete Content with unprojected --json or the complete service value with --envelope; its Share is currently non-projectable. Use type or member ... --match --envelope when one API coordinate's complete correspondence outcome and diagnostics are the question; ordered match endpoints are also non-projectable. match Type.MethodA Type.MethodB --package Foo --body adds C#/IL body differences to the structural result; match Type.Method --similar --package Foo ranks structural candidates for discovery.
Trace API evolution	diff --history --package [email protected] --type Type --members --at all; omit --at for full-population evaluation, repeat it for explicit checkpoints, use --max-probes for adaptive bisection, add --sample-percent P for a deterministic population-relative survey with an optional --max-probes cap, or use --major-versions for one representative per major. Major-version API history uses the first stable version, with the latest prerelease fallback for preview-only majors; Analysis history uses the latest admitted version per major.
Inspect packages and ecosystems	package Foo inspects a known exact package ID; use package Foo --version 1.2.3 to verify an exact version, package Foo --versions -n 1 for the newest listed version row, or package Foo@latest --versions to force a fresh latest-version check. Use -D to discover sections, -S Licenses to list shipped license documents, and -S "Signals,Audit: Findings" to audit text-bearing files and SourceLink mappings. package activity --ecosystem aspire scans the named ecosystem's exact package set over the previous 42 days; add --security-only, paired exact --from/--through UTC timestamps, or complete Content --json; use --envelope for the full service value. Load skill private-feeds for custom/authenticated sources.
Query packages	package query Foo selects the latest eligible listed version; use 'Foo.*' for a literal package-ID prefix. The closed nuspec license values are any, MIT, and OSMF; use them with --where and --nuspec-only to avoid opening archives. Use explain <facet-path> to inspect a discovered facet's operators and relationships before composing it with --where. The Product planner authors library-target from --tfm; metadata-expensive queries admit at most five candidates. Final Results retain typed selected-library context, exact Root reopening, and complete occurrences. -n and --rows select package Results, not occurrences. --envelope retains complete package-query Content and diagnostics, but Package Query Share is currently non-projectable.
Author or inventory a Workspace	workspace --register-ecosystem runtime emits a portable packet without acquisition; add --share url for an activation URL or use --json for packet JSON. workspace --packet "$w" validates and re-emits a packet without realizing content. Add --inventory for exhaustive live inventory across all contexts; --kind, -n, --rows and --count narrow its typed entries. Use ordinary package, library, type and member commands with admitted --workspace "$w" context for subject inspection. package Foo --workspace "$w" can reuse or add-and-activate an admitted Package in a derived Workspace. Apply with dotnet-inspect -w "$w" or raw packet input: Workspace prints inventory; saved Package Libraries prints its ordinary hierarchy. Other saved facets/queries fail visibly.
Edit a portable Workspace	Use workspace component list --packet "$w" to obtain canonical paths. Then use workspace package add PACKAGE@VERSION --packet "$w", workspace package update packages/ID@VERSION/TFM/RID --packet "$w" --version NEW, or workspace package remove packages/ID@VERSION/TFM/RID --packet "$w". Edits emit a new packet by default; add and update can select a context or TFM as supported, and update can emit --json --envelope. Use workspace packet encode or workspace packet decode for packet conversion.
Discover or inspect a library	library Foo or library path/to.dll inspects a known source; use library query ./bin --where "references=System.Text.Json" or library query --platform runtime ... for Library-grain discovery. Use -D to discover sections, -D --details to add structural format capabilities, -S "Library Metrics" for a whole-library structural report, and -S "Unsafe Members" for standalone unsafe evidence. Exact Library --count counts public Type declarations; type Type --library path/to.dll --count counts Members. Load skill metadata for raw ECMA-335 tables/heaps.
Dependencies and relationships	depends --package Foo@version --tfm net10.0 for a package graph plus declaration evidence; add -S Dependencies for evidence only or explicitly select -S Pruning to compare direct package candidates with an installed platform inventory. Use graph calls TYPE MEMBER --root-package Foo@version --root-tfm net10.0 for an external-focused member graph that automatically follows the root package dependencies. Its default baseline highlights third-party Package boundaries; use --baseline self or --baseline nothing to change that focus. Use graph libraries --library ./Consumer.dll --library ./Provider.dll -S "Direct Use Clusters" for exact pairwise call-use clusters. Use depends Type, extensions Type, type Interface -S Implementers, or type Base -S "Derived Types" for type relationships. Positional depends Type supports complete Content with --json or the complete service value with --envelope; asset mode does not support envelopes. Load skill relationships for scopes and semantics.

Member lookup

Run find Name when scope is unknown, inspect the type, then -S "Member Index" to list overloads. Select with Name:N (1-based) or Name~digest (stable). A selected overload defaults to Signature. A fully-qualified Namespace.Type.Member needs no scope.

Tips

• package and library produce terse, token-efficient, high-value domain content by default. Output supports Markdown, tables, TSV, JSONL, and JSON; load dotnet-inspect skill query for selection, envelopes, Share URLs, projection, and limits. For discovered vocabulary, query-space, or query-facet paths, use explain <path> .hal --json. HAL uses _links for navigation and _embedded for included data; inspect embedded data before fetching links, follow emitted hrefs unchanged with explain "$href" --json, and retain data_scope when filtering with jq.
• Add --project <csproj|dir|project.assets.json> when project-referenced packages should be in scope; it reads existing restored assets, so restore/build first if dependencies changed.
• workspace --inventory reports committed Packages before inert Exact Library, Package Prefix and Ecosystem registrations; JSON/JSONL retain typed entry arms. This inventories existing Workspace content; Find searches its admitted populations for matches. Ordinary Workspace output is the portable definition, and nested workspace component, workspace package, workspace ecosystem and workspace prefix commands own component inspection and immutable edits.
• Common BCL types resolve without scope: type string, type 'List<T>'. Quote generics and patterns: member 'Dictionary<TKey,TValue>', -S "Async*". Unpinned packages use latest stable; add --preview for prerelease APIs.

Interpret fixed text

• [Text omitted: required containment]: a complete value or document was not shared because it carried a text concern; this does not imply malicious intent.
• REDACTED: a URL query or credential-bearing path segment was removed.
• <unparsable-url>: no original locator was shown because an authority-like value could not be parsed into URL components.
• <absent> or (absent): a requested package document was not present; this is not containment or redaction.
• \u202E, \U0001F600, \^[, and similar backslash forms preserve source text as reversible visual spellings. They are not replacements; do not decode them into live control or format characters before display or persistence.