Another LINQ Tool for VS Code

Run C# LINQ scripts directly from VS Code. The extension sends the active script to a local .NET runner and displays its result in a result panel.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.85 or newer
• .NET SDK 9.0 or newer
• .NET 9 runtime (the extension ships with its own runner)

Running a script

1. Open a .linq or .csx file in VS Code.
2. Press Ctrl+Enter, select the play button in the editor title bar, or run Another LINQ Tool: Run Current File from the Command Palette.
3. Review the result panel. The final expression is displayed when it has no trailing semicolon; Dump() calls display intermediate values.

For example:

var names = new[] { "Ada", "Grace", "Linus" };

names
    .Where(name => name.Length <= 4)
    .OrderBy(name => name)

The script is executed as C# code with your user permissions. Treat scripts, referenced assemblies, and NuGet packages as trusted code only.

Running from source

This repository keeps the extension and runner side by side. From the repository root:

cd extension
npm install
npm run release:check

Open the extension folder in VS Code and press F5. This launches an Extension Development Host. In that window, open one of ../examples/*.linq and run it.

The release build publishes the runner into the extension at:

runner/LinqRunner.dll

If you need to use a different runner build, set linqRunner.runnerPath as described below.

npm run release:check creates a .vsix package. Install it in VS Code with Extensions: Install from VSIX... to test the same artifact that will be released.

Building from source requires the .NET 9 SDK and Node.js 20 or newer. Installed VSIX users need only a .NET 9 runtime.

Configuration

Execution profiles

Profiles group the assemblies, namespaces, NuGet packages, and optional database context needed by related scripts. They are global VS Code user settings, so the same profiles are available in every workspace.

1. Run Another LINQ Tool: Configure Profiles.
2. Select New, give the profile a name, and add its assemblies, imports, packages, and optional setup snippet.
3. For database scripts, enable database support and supply the context type, provider, connection string, and (when needed) context factory information.
4. Select Save. Use the status-bar profile name or Another LINQ Tool: Select Profile to make it active.

The profile editor can import and export JSON profile files. Exported files may include connection strings; store them securely and do not commit them.

Connection strings saved through the editor are held in VS Code Secret Storage. Profile names and other non-secret values are stored in the global linqRunner.* user settings.

Choosing the profile per script

Each run uses the active profile shown in the status bar (change it with Another LINQ Tool: Select Profile). If no profile has been selected, the linqRunner.defaultProfile is used.

To override the profile for a single script, add a @profile directive as the first line, naming the profile to use:

@profile testmodel

Db.Customers.Where(customer => customer.IsActive).ToList()

The directive may also be written as a comment, and profile names with spaces are supported:

// @profile My Staging DB

The @profile line is stripped before the script runs. If the named profile does not exist, the active profile (or the default) is used instead and a warning is shown.

The Run before every script field accepts C# code that is prepended to each script executed with that profile. Use it for helper methods, variables, or one-time setup statements; it runs in the same script context, so declarations are available to the active script.

Settings

Open Another LINQ Tool: Open Settings from the Command Palette, or edit VS Code user settings directly.

Example non-secret profile settings:

{
  "linqRunner.defaultProfile": "testmodel",
  "linqRunner.profiles": {
    "testmodel": {
      "assemblies": [
        "C:\\code\\projects\\TestModel\\bin\\Debug\\net9.0\\TestModel.dll"
      ],
      "imports": ["TestModel"],
      "packages": ["Humanizer"]
    }
  }
}

Use absolute assembly paths in global settings. Disabled assembly entries may be represented as { "path": "C:\\path\\to\\library.dll", "enabled": false }.

Database profiles

When a profile has database support enabled, the configured DbContext is supplied to the script as Db. A typical script starts with:

Db.Customers.Where(customer => customer.IsActive).ToList()

Build the assembly containing the context before running. The extension reports missing assembly paths in the Another LINQ Tool output channel.

Commands

Troubleshooting

• Runner not found: reinstall the extension, or set linqRunner.runnerPath to an absolute DLL path.
• dotnet cannot start: install .NET 9 SDK or set linqRunner.dotnetPath to the appropriate executable.
• Missing types or namespaces: select the correct profile and add the required assembly and import.
• Missing profile assembly: build the referenced project and update the assembly path if its output location changed.
• A script or package fails: open the Another LINQ Tool output channel for runner diagnostics.

License

The extension is covered by the CC BY-NC 4.0 license: free to use, modify, and fork non-commercially; not permitted for sale or other commercial use.