cstemplate for VS Code

This is a pre-release of cstemplate (version 0.1.0), to check compatibility with VSCode Marketplace.

Run C# template files (.template.cs) directly from VS Code.

For full documentation, see hoofmark.github.io/cstemplate.

Requirements

• .NET 10 runtime or later — required to run the cstemplate CLI tool
• Template projects may target .NET 8 or later; the tool resolves NuGet packages and local assemblies for net8.0, net9.0, and net10.0 projects automatically

Install the cstemplate CLI as a global dotnet tool:

dotnet tool install --global HoofMark.CSharpTemplating.Cli

Or point the extension at a local build via the cstemplate.cliPath setting.

Usage

• Right-click any .template.cs file in the Explorer → Run Template
• Command Palette → cstemplate: Run Template
• Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+T / Cmd+Shift+T when a template is open
• Templates are checked on save automatically — compile errors appear as squiggles

Template Structure

A template is a .template.cs file containing a class that implements ITemplate. Each template must have a unique class name and its own namespace so that multiple templates can coexist in the same project without conflicts:

using HoofMark.CSharpTemplating.Abstractions;

namespace MyProject.Templates;

public class OrderServiceTemplate : ITemplate
{
    public static void Run(ITemplateContext context)
    {
        var ns = context.Config.Get("Namespace");

        context.WriteFile("Output.cs", w => w
            .WriteLine($"namespace {ns}")
            .Block("public class GeneratedClass", body => body
                .WriteLine("// Generated by cstemplate")
            ));
    }
}

Place a sibling .json file with the same base name to provide config values:

{
  "Namespace": "MyApp.Generated"
}

Project Setup

Add a reference to HoofMark.CSharpTemplating.Abstractions in your template project's .csproj. Template files are included in the project as normal C# files, giving you full IntelliSense, go-to-definition, and error squiggles via C# Dev Kit:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="HoofMark.CSharpTemplating.Abstractions" Version="0.1.0" />
    <!-- Add any NuGet packages your templates reference here -->
    <PackageReference Include="Humanizer.Core" Version="2.14.1" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

The template classes will be included in the project's compiled output, but this is harmless — cstemplate compiles each template independently at runtime in its own isolated context and never invokes the copies in the project assembly.

Note on local assembly references: Any local .dll files referenced in cstemplate.config.json must target .NET 10 or earlier. Assemblies built for a newer runtime than the tool itself cannot be loaded.

Workspace Configuration

Place a cstemplate.config.json file in your project folder (or any parent folder) to configure output locations, local assembly references, and NuGet packages:

{
  "outputRoot": "../generated",
  "project": "./Samples.csproj",
  "nugetPackages": [
    "Humanizer.Core"
  ],
  "references": [
    "path/to/LocalAssembly.dll"
  ]
}

NuGet Package Resolution

cstemplate resolves NuGet packages from the project's obj/project.assets.json file, which is generated by dotnet restore. This means:

• No separate package download — packages are resolved from the standard NuGet global packages cache, the same one used by dotnet build
• Transitive dependencies handled automatically — if Humanizer.Core depends on other packages, those are included too
• Versions come from the project — no need to specify versions in cstemplate.config.json, they are taken from whatever the project has restored
• Framework compatibility — the tool targets net10.0 and resolves packages for net10.0, net9.0, and net8.0 projects automatically

Important: Run dotnet restore on the project before running cstemplate if you have added or changed NuGet package references. cstemplate will report a clear error if the assets file is missing or out of date.

Settings

Further Reading

• Full documentation
• CLI reference
• API reference
• Source on GitHub