ardalis

ardalis-card-dnx

A .NET global tool that displays a personal business card in your terminal. 💠

Overview

A CLI tool built for the .NET ecosystem using the new dnx command introduced in .NET 10! Run it instantly to access Steve "Ardalis" Smith's resources and information—no installation required!

Quick Start with dnx

The easiest way to run this tool is with the new dnx command (similar to npx in Node.js):

dnx ardalis

That's it! The first time you run it, you'll be prompted to confirm the download. After that, it runs instantly without confirmation.

Available Commands

View help and available commands:

dnx ardalis

Display the business card:

dnx ardalis card

Open Ardalis's blog:

dnx ardalis blog

Open Ardalis's Dometrain Author profile:

dnx ardalis dometrain

Open Ardalis's YouTube channel:

dnx ardalis youtube

Open Ardalis's Bluesky profile:

dnx ardalis bluesky

Open Ardalis's LinkedIn profile:

dnx ardalis linkedin

Open Ardalis's Pluralsight profile:

dnx ardalis pluralsight

Open Ardalis's GitHub profile:

dnx ardalis github

Open Ardalis's NuGet profile:

dnx ardalis nuget

Open Ardalis's newsletter subscription page:

dnx ardalis subscribe

Display a random quote:

dnx ardalis quote

Display popular GitHub repositories:

dnx ardalis repos

Display popular NuGet packages:

dnx ardalis packages
# or show all packages including sub-packages
dnx ardalis packages --all

Display published books:

dnx ardalis books
# Disable paging (show all books at once)
dnx ardalis books --no-paging
# Set page size (default: 10)
dnx ardalis books --page-size 5

Display recent activity across platforms:

dnx ardalis recent
# or use verbose mode to see detailed progress
dnx ardalis recent --verbose

Display a random coding tip:

dnx ardalis tip

Display available courses:

dnx ardalis courses
# Disable paging (show all courses at once)
dnx ardalis courses --no-paging
# Set page size (default: 10)
dnx ardalis courses --page-size 5

Display top videos from .NET Conf playlists:

dnx ardalis dotnetconf-score 2025
# or other years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
dnx ardalis dotnetconf-score 2024
# save results as a markdown file
dnx ardalis dotnetconf-score 2025 --output results.md
dnx ardalis dotnetconf-score 2024 -o output.md

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a project (if needed)
3. Enable YouTube Data API v3
4. Create credentials (API key)

Future Enhancement: This command currently requires users to provide their own YouTube API key. A better approach would be to use a dedicated service endpoint that handles third-party API interactions, removing the need for individual users to manage API keys and quotas.

Open NimblePros website:

dnx ardalis nimblepros

Open Ardalis's contact page:

dnx ardalis contact

Open Ardalis's Sessionize speaker profile:

dnx ardalis speaker

Check the version:

dnx ardalis --version

Interactive Mode

Run in interactive mode to execute multiple commands without re-running the tool:

dnx ardalis -i

In interactive mode, simply type commands:

> card
(displays card)

> quote
"New is glue." - Ardalis

> repos
(displays popular GitHub repositories with stars)

> books
(displays published books)

> blog
(opens blog)

> dometrain
(opens Dometrain Author profile)

> bluesky
(opens Bluesky profile)

> linkedin
(opens LinkedIn profile)

> exit

Exit by typing exit, quit, or pressing Enter on an empty line.

Recent Activity Command

The recent command displays your latest activity from multiple platforms:

dnx ardalis recent

Use --verbose to see detailed progress from each source:

dnx ardalis recent --verbose

The verbose mode shows:

• ✅ Number of results found from each source
• ⚠️ Sources with no results
• ❌ Any errors encountered while fetching data

Activity is displayed with relative timestamps like "5 min ago" or "2 hours ago" for recent items, and short dates for older items.

Permanent Installation

To install globally and run as just ardalis (without dnx):

dotnet tool install -g ardalis

Then run from anywhere:

ardalis            # Show help
ardalis card       # Display business card
ardalis blog       # Open blog
ardalis dometrain  # Open Dometrain Author profile
ardalis youtube    # Open YouTube channel
ardalis bluesky    # Open Bluesky profile
ardalis linkedin   # Open LinkedIn profile
ardalis pluralsight # Open Pluralsight profile
ardalis github     # Open GitHub profile
ardalis nuget      # Open NuGet profile
ardalis quote      # Display random quote
ardalis tip        # Display random coding tip
ardalis repos      # Display popular GitHub repositories
ardalis packages   # Display popular NuGet packages
ardalis books      # Display published books
ardalis courses    # Display available courses
ardalis courses --no-paging  # Display all courses at once
ardalis recent     # Display recent activity
ardalis dotnetconf-score 2025  # Display top .NET Conf videos by views
ardalis nimblepros # Open NimblePros website
ardalis contact    # Open contact page
ardalis speaker    # Open Sessionize speaker profile
ardalis subscribe  # Open newsletter subscription page
ardalis --version  # Check version

Managing the Installation

Update to the latest version:

dotnet tool update -g ardalis

Uninstall:

dotnet tool uninstall -g ardalis

Features

• ⚡ One-command execution with the new dnx command—no installation needed!
• 🎨 Beautiful terminal UI with TimeWarp.Nuru
• 💼 Quick access to professional links
• 🌐 Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• 🚀 Built with .NET 10.0

dnx vs. Global Installation

Key Differences:

Method	Command	Installation	Use Case
dnx	dnx ardalis	None (downloads on first run)	Try it once, occasional use
Global Tool	ardalis	Permanent (dotnet tool install -g)	Frequent use, always available

The dnx command is .NET's answer to Node.js's npx, introduced in .NET 10. It allows you to run .NET tools on-demand without explicitly installing them. Perfect for trying out tools or running one-off commands!

Learn more: Running one-off .NET tools with dnx

Repository Structure

ardalis-card-dnx/
├── src/
│   └── Ardalis.Cli/              # Main CLI tool project
│       ├── Ardalis.Cli.csproj
│       ├── Program.cs            # Route definitions (all commands registered here)
│       ├── Urls.cs               # Centralised URL constants
│       ├── ArdalisApiClient.cs   # HTTP client for api.ardalis.com
│       ├── NuGetVersionData.cs   # NuGet API response model
│       ├── Behaviors/            # TimeWarp.Nuru pipeline behaviors (e.g. telemetry)
│       ├── Endpoints/            # One file per command (IQuery handlers)
│       ├── Helpers/              # UrlHelper, QuoteHelper, TipHelper
│       └── Telemetry/            # OpenTelemetry / PostHog wiring
└── tests/
    └── Ardalis.Cli.Tests/        # TUnit test project
        ├── Ardalis.Cli.Tests.csproj
        ├── ArdalisApiClientConstructorTests.cs
        ├── ArdalisApiClientExtractPlaylistIdTests.cs
        ├── ParsePublicationYearTests.cs
        ├── UrlHelperAddUtmSourceTests.cs
        └── UrlHelperStripQueryStringTests.cs

Building from Source

# Build everything
dotnet build

# Pack the tool
dotnet pack src/Ardalis.Cli/Ardalis.Cli.csproj

# Install locally from the packed output
dotnet tool install -g --add-source ./src/Ardalis.Cli/bin/Debug ardalis

# Or install and immediately test a specific command
dotnet run --project src/Ardalis.Cli -- card
dotnet run --project src/Ardalis.Cli -- --help

Running Tests

Tests use TUnit and are run with dotnet run:

dotnet run --project tests/Ardalis.Cli.Tests

Do not use dotnet test — TUnit on .NET 10 uses the Microsoft Testing Platform runner, which requires dotnet run.

About

Created by Steve "Ardalis" Smith

• 🌐 ardalis.com
• 🏢 nimblepros.com
• 📺 YouTube

Specializing in Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design, and .NET development.

Contributing

For maintainers: See CONTRIBUTING.md for instructions on publishing new versions.