Easy Dotnet Server

Description

Easy Dotnet Server is the lightweight C# JSON-RPC server powering the easy-dotnet.nvim Neovim plugin.

The server communicates via named pipes using JSON-RPC and provides a unified response format for the plugin.

Features

• JSON-RPC 2.0 communication over named pipes
• Asynchronous, multi-client server support
• MsBuild integration
• Nuget integration
• MTP integration
• VsTest integration

Use Case

This server is an internal component of the easy-dotnet.nvim plugin and is not intended for standalone use.

📚 RPC API Documentation

All RPC methods exposed by the server are documented in the auto-generated rpcDoc.md file.

This file includes:

• JSON-RPC method names
• Parameter names, types, and optionality
• Return types
• The associated controller for each method

You can regenerate this file at any time by running the server with the generate-rpc-docs command:

dotnet run generate-rpc-docs -- --format markdown

The server also exposes a machine-readable health command:

dotnet-easydotnet healthcheck

It returns a deterministic JSON array of health items with type, name, value, and advice fields. Use --format markdown for readable terminal output. Pass --debugger-bin-path <PATH> to make the debugger health rows reflect a client-provided debugger path. Pass --debugger-engine netcoredbg|dncdbg to check a specific bundled debugger engine.

Configuration

Custom Roslyn LSP Server

easy-dotnet uses the official roslyn-language-server .NET global tool for Roslyn LSP. If it is missing, the server can install it with:

dotnet tool install --global roslyn-language-server --prerelease

For testing purposes or workarounds, you can override the Roslyn language server using environment variables:

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
EASY_DOTNET_ROSLYN_DLL_PATH	Full path to Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.LanguageServer.dll

Examples

# Use a custom Roslyn LSP DLL (most common for testing)
export EASY_DOTNET_ROSLYN_DLL_PATH="/path/to/custom/Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.LanguageServer.dll"

Debugger

easy-dotnet bundles netcoredbg as the default debugger. It can also bundle dncdbg, an experimental and faster-moving fork intended for users who want to try debugger fixes earlier.

You can select or override the debugger using environment variables:

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
EASY_DOTNET_DEBUGGER_ENGINE	Bundled debugger engine to use: netcoredbg or dncdbg. Defaults to netcoredbg.
EASY_DOTNET_DEBUGGER_BIN_PATH	Full path to a custom debugger executable. This overrides the bundled engine path.

Examples

# Try the bundled experimental dncdbg debugger
export EASY_DOTNET_DEBUGGER_ENGINE="dncdbg"

# Use a custom debugger executable (most common for testing local builds)
export EASY_DOTNET_DEBUGGER_BIN_PATH="/path/to/custom/netcoredbg"

Note: dncdbg support is experimental. Report bugs that are clearly specific to dncdbg in the dncdbg repository; report issues that affect netcoredbg or both projects upstream to netcoredbg.