Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator

Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator

Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator generates compilable C# files that represent the public API of a .NET assembly.

It can read metadata directly from a .dll or .exe (via PEReader and MetadataReader) or from a loaded Assembly. Both paths produce the same model and deterministic output.

Usage

using Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator;

var files = PublicApi.Generate(
    assemblyPath: "/path/to/MyLibrary.dll",
    options: new PublicApiOptions
    {
        FileLayout = PublicApiFileLayout.OneFilePerNamespace,
        IncludeAutoGeneratedComment = false,
    });

foreach (var file in files)
{
    Console.WriteLine(file.RelativePath);
    Console.WriteLine(file.Content);
}

Multi-target usage

You can merge multiple target frameworks into one output and emit conditional compilation blocks for target-specific differences:

using Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator;

var files = PublicApi.Generate(
    assemblySources:
    [
        "/path/to/MyLibrary.netstandard2.0.dll",
        "/path/to/MyLibrary.net10.0.dll",
    ]);

If needed, you can provide explicit framework monikers for specific entries:

using Meziantou.Framework.PublicApiGenerator;

var files = PublicApi.Generate(
    assemblySources:
    [
        new AssemblySource("/path/to/MyLibrary.netstandard2.0.dll", ".NETStandard,Version=v2.0"),
        new AssemblySource("/path/to/MyLibrary.net10.0.dll", ".NETCoreApp,Version=v10.0"),
    ]);

If TargetFrameworkMoniker is omitted (or empty), the generator infers it from assembly metadata.

Memory safety rules

For assemblies compiled with the updated memory safety rules (<Features>$(Features);updated-memory-safety-rules</Features>), the unsafe modifier reflects the members the compiler marked as requiring an unsafe context, whatever their signature. Pointers in a signature no longer imply unsafe, and delegate declarations are never unsafe. Generated files may therefore need the same feature to be compiled.

For other assemblies, a member is unsafe when a pointer type appears in its signature, which matches the compatibility mode of the compiler.

Example output

Input API:

namespace Demo;

public sealed class Sample
{
    public string? Echo(string? value) => value;
}

Generated API:

// Target Frameworks: net10.0
#nullable enable

namespace Demo
{
    public sealed class Sample
    {
        public string? Echo(string? value) => throw null;
    }
}