.NET Pulse

A Visual Studio Code extension that enhances your .NET development workflow with powerful productivity features including external terminal access, smart project building, and quick navigation to code-behind files.

This extension contains the C# Dev Kit, the Visual Studio keyboard shortcut mapping, the Error Lens and beautiful file explorer icons.

It is no longer necessary to install other extensions or create a tasks.json file: everything is automatically detected and adapted for .NET projects.

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▫️Keyboard Shortcuts

Note: For consistent Run (Ctrl+F5) and Debug (F5) behavior, we recommend specifying the project to launch in .vscode/settings.json. Without this setting, the extension uses the project associated with the selected or currently open file.

{
    "dotnetPulse.projectUri": "MySample/MySample.csproj"
}

▫️Default configurations

This extension automatically configures several VS Code settings optimized for .NET development:

• Editor Settings:

  • Mouse wheel zoom enabled
  • Cascadia Mono font family
  • Tab size set to 2 spaces

• File Nesting:

  • Automatic nesting of related files (code-behind, designer, generated files)
  • Organized Explorer view for .razor, .cs, .xaml, .aspx, and more
  • Collapsed nesting by default for cleaner workspace

• Icons:

  • VS Code Icons theme for better file type visualization

▫️Build Project

Intelligently build .NET project directly from any file in your workspace. The extension automatically finds the nearest project file (.csproj) and builds it.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Build
• Use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+B (Windows) or Cmd+B (Mac)
• Works from any file within your project - automatically locates the nearest project file

▫️Start without Debugging

Quickly run your .NET project without attaching a debugger. The extension automatically finds the nearest project file (.csproj), builds it by default, and launches its output DLL.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Start without Debugging
• Use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or Cmd+F5 (Mac)
• Works from any file within your project - automatically locates the nearest project file

▫️Start New Instance (Debug)

Launch and debug your .NET project with VS Code's debugger attached. The extension dynamically determines the correct DLL path by querying MSBuild properties, supporting all target frameworks and custom output paths.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Start New Instance
• Use keyboard shortcut: F5

Note: Requires the C# Dev Kit extension for debugging support.

▫️Build Solution

Build the entire .NET solution instead of a single project. The solution file is determined from the Solution Explorer panel provided by the C# Dev Kit extension.

• Use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+B (Mac)
• If no solution is currently defined, a prompt will be displayed to select one

▫️.NET Host

Manage running dotnet.exe processes on Windows from the Explorer context menu:

• .NET Pulse → .NET Host → List displays each process PID, CPU time, memory usage, and executable path in the .NET Host Output channel.
• .NET Pulse → .NET Host → Kill all displays the current process list and asks for confirmation before stopping each listed dotnet.exe process.

The commands may include .NET applications, builds, language services, and other development tools running under dotnet.exe.

▫️Navigate to Code-Behind File

Seamlessly navigate from markup files to their associated code-behind files with a single keystroke.

• Open any supported markup file (.cshtml, .razor, .aspx, or .ascx)
• Press F7 to jump to the corresponding code-behind file
• Automatically opens files like MyComponent.razor.cs from MyComponent.razor

▫️Git Tools

1. Compare with Unmodified

Quickly view git changes for any modified file by comparing it with its unmodified version (HEAD) in a side-by-side diff view.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Git: Compare with unmodified

2. View History

View the complete git history for any file using VS Code's built-in Timeline view.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Git: View history
• Opens the Timeline view showing all commits that affected the selected file

3. Repository User

Quickly configure the Git user name and email for the current repository (local scope), without leaving VS Code.

• Right-click in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Git: Repository User
• The current local value is used as the default. If no local value is set, the global value is used instead.
• Press Enter to confirm on the local repository.
• Press Esc to cancel without making changes.

This is useful when you work with multiple Git identities (e.g., personal vs. work accounts) and need a per-repository configuration.

▫️Open in External Terminal

Quickly open any file's directory in your external terminal (Windows Terminal by default) without leaving VS Code.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Open in External Terminal
• Use keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+Space (while focused on editor or explorer)

You can customize the terminal path in your VS Code settings by adding:

"externalTerminal.path": "path/to/your/terminal.exe"

▫️Open Documentation

Quickly access your project's documentation links from the context menu. Configure a list of labeled URLs in your settings, and open them directly in your default browser.

• Right-click on any file in the Explorer and select .NET Pulse → Open Documentation
• A quick pick menu displays all configured documentation links
• Select a link to open it in your default browser

Configure documentation URLs in your .vscode/settings.json:

{
    "dotnetPulse.documentationUrls": [
        { "label": "API Reference", "url": "https://docs.example.com/api" },
        { "label": "User Guide", "url": "https://docs.example.com/guide" }
    ]
}

Note: The menu item is only visible when at least one documentation URL is configured.

▫️Configuration

You can configure .NET Pulse behavior by adding settings to your workspace's .vscode/settings.json file:

{
    "externalTerminal.path": "wt.exe",
    "dotnetPulse.projectUri": "MySample/MySample.csproj",
    "dotnetPulse.buildArgs": [
        "--configuration",
        "Debug",
        "--no-restore"
    ],
    "dotnetPulse.runBuildArgs": [
        "--configuration",
        "Debug",
        "--no-restore",
        "-m",
        "-p:RunAnalyzersDuringBuild=false",
        "-p:EnforceCodeStyleInBuild=false",
        "-p:CompressionEnabled=false"
    ],
    "dotnetPulse.runArgs": [
        "--urls",
        "https://localhost:7001"
    ],
    "dotnetPulse.projectPreLaunchTask": "",
    "dotnetPulse.buildBeforeRun": true,
    "dotnetPulse.projectBuildToConsole": "internalConsole",
    "dotnetPulse.startConfiguration": {},
    "dotnetPulse.documentationUrls": [
        { "label": "API Reference", "url": "https://docs.example.com/api" },
        { "label": "User Guide", "url": "https://docs.example.com/guide" }
    ],
    "dotnetPulse.buildSuccessSound": "C:/Windows/Media/Windows Exclamation.wav",
    "dotnetPulse.buildFailureSound": "C:/Windows/Media/Windows Critical Stop.wav"
}

Important: Run and Debug Behavior

• dotnetPulse.projectUri: Specifies the project file to use for Run (Ctrl+F5) and Debug (F5) commands. When configured, these commands will always target the specified project, regardless of which file is currently open. This is particularly useful in multi-project solutions where you want to consistently run the same startup project.

• Build command (Ctrl+B) always compiles the project associated with the currently selected file, searching for the nearest .csproj file in the directory hierarchy.

• Build Solution command (Ctrl+Shift+B) always compiles the currently opened solution.

Build and Run Arguments

Other Configuration Options

Note: On Windows, only .wav files are supported (playback uses System.Media.SoundPlayer). MP3 and other formats will not play.

▫️Customizing Run/Debug Launch Configuration

You can override individual fields of the launch configuration used by Start without Debugging (Ctrl+F5) and Start New Instance (F5) by setting dotnetPulse.startConfiguration in .vscode/settings.json.

Only the following keys are honored — any other key is ignored:

Example — launch a Blazor WebAssembly project with the blazorwasm debug adapter:

{
    "dotnetPulse.startConfiguration": {
        "type": "blazorwasm",
        "args": ["--urls", "https://localhost:7001"]
    }
}

Note: Values set in dotnetPulse.startConfiguration take precedence over dotnetPulse.runArgs. For example, if both runArgs and startConfiguration.args are set, only startConfiguration.args is used (no merging).

Recommended Extensions

The extension pack recommends the following optional extensions:

• C# Dev Kit (ms-dotnettools.csdevkit)
• Visual Studio Keybindings (ms-vscode.vs-keybindings)
• VSCode Icons (vscode-icons-team.vscode-icons)
• Error Lens (usernamehw.errorlens)

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.85.0 or higher
• Windows Terminal (for external terminal feature) or a configured custom terminal

Issues and Contributions

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please visit the GitHub repository to report issues or contribute.

License

This extension is provided as-is for productivity enhancement in .NET development workflows.

Releases

1.0.6

• Initial version

1.0.7

• Added Open Documentation command to quickly access project documentation. Update your .vscode/settings.json with the list of URLs (see above).

1.0.8

• Added the recommended Error Lens extension.
• Fix security issues.
• Added build sound notifications via dotnetPulse.buildSuccessSound and dotnetPulse.buildFailureSound settings.
• Added the .NET Pulse → Git: Repository User feature.

1.0.9

• Remove the detection of 'blazorwasm' project.

1.0.10

• Added dotnetPulse.startConfiguration setting to override individual fields of the Run/Debug launch configuration (type, request, program, args, cwd, stopAtEntry, requireExactSource, noDebug).

1.0.11

• Changed bundled extension dependencies to optional recommendations via extensionPack.

1.0.12

• Added dotnetPulse.buildBeforeRun. It defaults to true; set it to false to launch the previously compiled DLL with Ctrl+F5 or F5 without rebuilding. Manual project and solution builds remain available through Ctrl+B and Ctrl+Shift+B.
• Added the Windows-only .NET Pulse → .NET Host submenu:
  • List displays all running dotnet.exe processes in the .NET Host Output channel.
  • Kill all asks for confirmation, then stops the listed dotnet.exe processes by PID and reports the result.

1.0.13

• Breaking change: Renamed dotnetPulse.projectArgs to dotnetPulse.runArgs. Existing workspace and user settings must be updated to use the new name.
• Added dotnetPulse.buildArgs for arguments passed to dotnet build by Build Project (Ctrl+B) and Build Solution (Ctrl+Shift+B).
• Added dotnetPulse.runBuildArgs for arguments passed to dotnet build before Run (Ctrl+F5) or Debug (F5) when dotnetPulse.buildBeforeRun is enabled.
• Added dotnetPulse.runArgs for arguments passed to the application launched by Run (Ctrl+F5) or Debug (F5).