dotnet-cs

A tool that makes it easy to run C# from a file, URI, or stdin.

Currently requires .NET 10 SDK daily build, version 10.0.100-preview.4.25179.3 or later

Installation

dotnet tool install -g dotnet-cs

Usage

cs <TARGETAPPFILE> [<APPARGS>...] [options]

<COMMAND> | cs [<APPARGS>...] [options]

cs -

cs [<APPARGS>...] < <CSFILE> [options]

Arguments

Name	Description
<TARGETAPPFILE>	The file path or URI for the C# file to run. Pass '-' to enter interactive terminal mode.
<APPARGS>	Any arguments that should be passed to the C# app

Options

Name	Description
-?, -h, --help	Show help information
--version	Show version information
--edit	Edit content in an interactive terminal C# editor

Examples

Run a C# file named hello.cs in the current directory:

~/apps
$ cs hello.cs
Hello, world!

Run a C# file named hello.cs in a sub-directory and pass an argument to it:

~/apps
$ cs ./utils/hello.cs David
Hello, David!

Run a C# file from https://github.com/DamianEdwards/csrun/tree/main/samples/hello.cs and pass an argument to it:

~/apps
$ cs https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DamianEdwards/csrun/refs/heads/stdin/samples/hello.cs Stephen
Hello, Stephen!

Pipe C# code from a shell string literal to cs:

$ 'Console.WriteLine("Hello, world!");' | cs
Hello, world!

Pipe C# code from shell command output to cs via stdin:

$ cat hello.cs | cs
Hello, world!

Enter interactive stdin mode to just type C# straight into the terminal:

$ cs -
Reading from standard input. Press Ctrl+R to execute..
Console.WriteLine("Hello, world!");
Running...
Hello, world!

Edit a C# file named hello.cs in the current directory:

~/apps
$ cs hello.cs --edit
Interactive C# editor! Press CTRL+R to run, CTRL+ALT+S to save, CTRL+Q to quit.
01 var name = args.Length > 0 ? args[0] : "World";
02 Console.WriteLine($"Hello, {name}!");
Hello, world!