Command line

Workspace doctor

Inspect the SDK and Roslyn workspace that csls will use without starting an editor:

csls doctor
csls doctor src/MyApp --json
csls doctor src/MyApp --binlog artifacts/doctor.binlog

The command selects the SDK from the target directory, starts a transient csls server, loads the real MSBuild workspace, and reports projects, documents, diagnostics, build hosts, and startup logs. Source errors are reported as warnings because the language server can still serve a project that does not compile. Startup, SDK, project-load, and requested-build failures return a nonzero exit code. --binlog also runs dotnet build and writes an MSBuild binary log for detailed evaluation and build analysis.

Live sessions

Start csls in an editor, then list the sessions visible to the current user:

csls sessions list
csls sessions show --session 12345
csls sessions watch
csls sessions watch --json

sessions watch writes an initial snapshot and then reports each added, updated, or removed session until canceled. JSON mode writes one complete response envelope per line, so agents can process the stream without waiting for it to close. Each event includes its sequence, the changed session, and the current bounded session snapshot.

When exactly one session is live, query commands infer it. Pass its process identifier with --session to select an exact editor session. Pass --workspace to reuse the session that owns a path or start a transient server when no editor owns it.

csls query hover Program.cs --line 8 --character 20
csls query diagnostics Program.cs --json
csls query references Program.cs --line 8 --character 20 --workspace .
csls query symbols CustomerService --workspace . --limit 50 --json

Other query commands cover completion, definition, declaration, type definition, implementation, selection range, highlights, document symbols, and signature help. Position arguments use zero-based UTF-16 line and character offsets, which match LSP positions.

Collection commands return at most 100 items by default. Set --limit from 1 through 200. When a JSON response contains nextCursor, repeat the same command with --cursor <cursor> to read the next page. Cursors are opaque and valid only for the operation that created them.

Workspace maintenance

Workspace commands use the same live control service as the editor and dashboard:

csls workspace restore --workspace src/MyApp
csls workspace reload --session 12345
csls workspace restart-build-host --workspace src/MyApp/MyApp.csproj
csls workspace clear-cache --session 12345 --json

restore runs the real .NET CLI before reloading Roslyn. Reload and build-host restart preserve unsaved document text. --workspace may name a loaded root or a path inside it.

Requests and traces

List live requests before canceling one by its stable correlation identifier:

csls requests list --session 12345
csls requests cancel 4ef66b8d-6e71-48df-96df-7b0e53d3801b --session 12345

Request cancellation reaches the token owned by the active Roslyn operation. The result reports whether the request was still live when cancellation was delivered.

Tracing records bounded request lifecycle data in memory:

csls trace start --session 12345
csls trace stop --session 12345 --json

Each retained entry includes its correlation identifier, protocol operation, workspace generation, duration, completion state, and cancellation state. A new trace replaces the previous trace. Trace data is not written to disk.

Safe edits

Rename, formatting, and code actions return a preview by default. Add --apply only after reviewing that result:

csls edit rename Program.cs Customer --line 8 --character 20
csls edit rename Program.cs Customer --line 8 --character 20 --apply
csls edit format Program.cs --apply
csls edit code-action Program.cs --kind quickfix --line 8 --character 20
csls edit code-action Program.cs --kind quickfix --line 8 --character 20 --apply
csls edit code-action Program.cs --kind refactor --line 20 --character 15 --apply

Missing-using quick fixes search the loaded project and its references, then keep only imports that make the unresolved type bind to the intended Roslyn symbol. The same command implements the interface selected by the supplied position. Source actions such as source.organizeImports do not require a target position.

Every machine-readable command supports --json. Its response uses a versioned envelope so scripts and agents can reject shapes they do not understand. System.CommandLine response files and completion directives are available for shell integrations and larger agent invocations.

The CLI reference contains generated help for the complete System.CommandLine command tree.

Agent commands

Create a reusable SKILL.md with the supported CLI and MCP workflows:

csls agent init
csls agent init --path .agents/skills/csls/SKILL.md
csls agent init --stdout

Existing files are left unchanged unless --force is passed. --json reports the absolute output path in the standard versioned response envelope.

After installing the separate csls-mcp tool, start it through the main command:

csls agent mcp --workspace ./MySolution.slnx
csls agent mcp --session 12345

The command also accepts an absolute control socket with --socket. Exactly one connection option is required.