.NET nanoFramework VS Code Extension

This extension allows you to use VS Code to flash, build and deploy your C# code for .NET nanoFramework on your device regardless of the platform you're using. This has been tested on Mac, Linux (64 bits) and Windows (64 bits).

Features

This .NET nanoFramework VS Code extension allow you to flash, build and deploy your C# .NET nanoFramework application on an ESP32 or STM32 MCU.

Flashing the device

Select nanoFramework: Flash device and follow the steps.

Based on the target you will select, the menus will automatically adjust to help you finding the correct version, DFU or Serial Port.

Once all options has been selected, you'll see the flashing happening:

Building your code

Select nanoFramework: Build Project and follow the steps.

If you have multiple solutions in the open folder, you'll be able to select the one to build:

Build result will be display in the Terminal:

Deploy to your device

Select nanoFramework: Deploy Project and follow the steps.

Similar as building the project, you'll have to select the project to deploy. The code will be built and the deployment will start:

You'll get as well the status of the deployment happening in the Terminal.

Create solutions and projects

To create a solution, you can select any folder on your workspace, right click and select the create solution option.

You then need to place a valid name and your solution is created.

On the solution, right click and select Add project to existing Solution

Place a valid name like in this example MyApplication.

Then select the type of project you want to add.

Debugging

The extension provides full debugging support for .NET nanoFramework applications running on connected devices.

Quick Start

1. Connect your device - Ensure your nanoFramework device is connected via USB/Serial
2. Build your project - Use nanoFramework: Build Project command
3. Start debugging - Press F5 or use Run > Start Debugging

Debug Features

launch.json Configuration

Create a .vscode/launch.json file in your workspace with the following configurations:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "nanoFramework: Launch and Debug",
            "type": "nanoframework",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${workspaceFolderBasename}/bin/Debug",
            "device": "",
            "stopOnEntry": true,
            "deployAssemblies": true,
            "verbosity": "none"
        },
        {
            "name": "nanoFramework: Attach to Device",
            "type": "nanoframework",
            "request": "attach",
            "device": "",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${workspaceFolderBasename}/bin/Debug"
        }
    ]
}

Configuration Options

Device Selection

• If device is empty, the extension will:

  • Use the last selected device if available
  • Auto-select if only one device is connected
  • Show a device picker if multiple devices are found

• Use the nanoFramework: Select Debug Device command to manually choose a device

Troubleshooting

Device not detected:

• Ensure the device is properly connected and running nanoFramework firmware
• Check that the correct drivers are installed for your device
• Try unplugging and reconnecting the device

Breakpoints not hitting:

• Ensure you have build the project first!
• Ensure the deployed code matches your source files
• Adjust the path for "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${workspaceFolderBasename}/bin/Debug" if needed
• Rebuild the project before debugging
• Check that symbol files (.pdbx, .pdb) are present in the output directory

Debug session won't start:

• Verify .NET 10.0 runtime is installed
• Check the Debug Console for error messages
• Ensure no other application is using the COM port
• Change the log level to see more errors

Requirements

You will need to make sure you'll have the following elements installed:

• .NET 10.0 or later
• nanoff - Install via: dotnet tool install -g nanoff
• Windows only: Visual Studio Build Tools with ".NET desktop build tools" workload
• Linux/macOS only: mono-complete with msbuild, and nuget CLI

Linux-specific Requirements

On Linux, you may need to add your user to the dialout group to access serial ports:

sudo usermod -aG dialout $USER

Log out and back in for this to take effect.

Note: Do not use the mono-complete package provided by your Linux distribution
as it may not include msbuild which is required for this extension to work.

Instead install the mono-complete package provided by the Mono Project.
The preview version is recommended.

Debugging is now supported! See the Debugging section below.

This extension works on:

• Windows: x64 and ARM64
• macOS: x64 (Intel) and ARM64 (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3)
• Linux: x64 and ARM64

32-bit operating systems are not supported.

Known Issues

Step over in debug mode is like continue so far. We're activey working on improving this. You can setup as many break points as you want, so, if you need an equivalent of setp over, you can do this!

Developing for the VS Code extension

Documentation about development for the extension can be found here.

Feedback and documentation

For documentation, providing feedback, issues and finding out how to contribute please refer to the Home repo.

Join our Discord community here.

Credits

The list of contributors to this project can be found at CONTRIBUTORS.

License

The nanoFramework Class Libraries are licensed under the MIT license.

Code of Conduct

This project has adopted the code of conduct defined by the Contributor Covenant to clarify expected behaviour in our community. For more information see the .NET Foundation Code of Conduct.

.NET Foundation

This project is supported by the .NET Foundation.