vscode-csharp-autobuild

Automatically build and publish upstream builds of the dotnet/vscode-csharp Extension.

Overview

This project is an automatic build mirroring system for the dotnet/vscode-csharp extension. It automatically builds new versions of the upstream repository and publishes them as releases, making them available for various environments and use cases.

Background & Philosophy

This project focuses on providing the most up-to-date Language Server Protocol (LSP) experience for C# developers across all environments. While Microsoft's official C# extension is moving toward a proprietary model (C# Dev Kit), the core logic of the dotnet/vscode-csharp repository remains under the MIT License.

This project automatically mirrors the upstream source to ensure:

• Recency: Always get the latest Roslyn-based language features.
• Freedom: Avoid commercial licensing restrictions for non-official VS Code builds (e.g., VSCodium, Cursor).
• Stability: An automated build pipeline ensures the extension is available even without manual intervention.

Known Limitations

Debugger Restriction: Microsoft's vsdbg debugger is licensed to work only with officially signed versions of Visual Studio Code distributed by Microsoft. The debugger functionality will not work with unofficial VS Code distributions or community builds (e.g., Kiro, Cursor, Windsurf, Google Antigravity, VSCodium, Trae, Void, Eclipse Theia, etc.).

If you require debugging capabilities in non-Microsoft VS Code environments, we recommend using the C# extension by muhammad-sammy, which integrates Samsung's netcoredbg as an alternative debugger that is not subject to these licensing restrictions.

Note on Debugger: A proposal to replace Microsoft's vsdbg with Samsung's netcoredbg for better VS Code fork compatibility was considered but not implemented due to the lack of official macOS ARM64 support in netcoredbg. See PR #3 for details. This decision may be revisited if Samsung releases official macOS ARM64 builds.

Quick Run Alternative: Since the debugger is not available, if you need a quick way to run your code for productivity purposes, we recommend using the Code Runner extension instead of manually opening a terminal and running dotnet run commands.

Key Features

• 🔄 Automatic builds from upstream dotnet/vscode-csharp repository
• 📦 Platform-specific VSIX packages
• 🆓 Free from Microsoft commercial licensing restrictions
• 🚀 Regular releases available through GitHub
• ⏰ Automated monitoring every 6 hours for new upstream releases

How It Works

This project automatically monitors the upstream dotnet/vscode-csharp repository for new tags every 6 hours. When a new tag is detected, the automated build process is triggered, which:

1. 🔍 Scans for new tags - Checks the upstream repository tag list every 6 hours
2. 🏗️ Triggers automatic build - Initiates build process when new tags are found
3. 📦 Generates VSIX packages - Creates both main and platform-specific packages
4. 🚀 Publishes releases - Makes the built packages available through GitHub releases

This ensures that new versions of the C# extension are available shortly after they are released upstream, typically within 6 hours of the original release.

Installation

To install the extension, follow these steps in order:

1. Download the VSIX files from the Releases page

   • Download the main VSIX file (usually named csharp-*.vsix)
   • Download the platform-specific VSIX file for your system

2. Install the main extension

   code --install-extension csharp-*.vsix

3. Install the platform-specific extension

   code --install-extension csharp-*-platform-specific.vsix

4. Reload VS Code window

   • Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS)
   • Type "Developer: Reload Window" and press Enter
   • Or simply restart VS Code

License

This project adopts the same license as the original dotnet/vscode-csharp project. Please refer to the LICENSE file for details.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial build of the dotnet/vscode-csharp extension. All rights to the original source code belong to Microsoft and the .NET Foundation. This project only provides automated builds for convenience and accessibility.

Contributing

This project is primarily automated. If you encounter issues with the builds, please:

1. Check if the issue exists in the upstream dotnet/vscode-csharp repository
2. Report upstream issues to the original repository
3. For build-specific issues, feel free to open an issue in this repository

Related Projects

• dotnet/vscode-csharp - Original upstream repository
• Microsoft C# Dev Kit - Official Microsoft C# extension (commercial license)