.NET CLI Tab Completion

Enable tab autocomplete for the dotnet CLI in your preferred shell.

Steps

1. Determine .NET version (CRITICAL – commands differ by version)

   dotnet sdk check
   

   • Parse output to identify installed SDK versions
   • .NET 10+: Uses dotnet completions script <shell> (native completions)
   • Pre-.NET 10: Uses dotnet complete --position (dynamic completions)

2. Ask user which shells they use, allowing multi-select:

   • PowerShell
   • bash
   • zsh
   • fish
   • nushell

For each user shell:

1. Detect profile file location based on shell:

   Shell	Profile Path
   PowerShell	$PROFILE
   bash	~/.bashrc
   zsh	~/.zshrc
   fish	~/.config/fish/config.fish
   nushell	~/.config/nushell/config.nu

2. Check if completion already configured

   • Read the profile file
   • Search for existing dotnet completion setup
   • If found, inform user and ask if they want to replace it

3. Append completion script to profile based on .NET version and shell

4. Inform user to restart their shell or source the profile

Completion Scripts

.NET 10+ (Native Completions)

PowerShell:

dotnet completions script pwsh | Out-String | Invoke-Expression

bash:

eval "$(dotnet completions script bash)"

zsh:

eval "$(dotnet completions script zsh)"

fish:

dotnet completions script fish | source

nushell: See .NET CLI docs for config.nu setup.

Pre-.NET 10 (Dynamic Completions)

PowerShell:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
Register-ArgumentCompleter -Native -CommandName dotnet -ScriptBlock {
    param($wordToComplete, $commandAst, $cursorPosition)
    dotnet complete --position $cursorPosition "$commandAst" | ForEach-Object {
        [System.Management.Automation.CompletionResult]::new($_, $_, 'ParameterValue', $_)
    }
}

bash:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
_dotnet_bash_complete() {
    local cur="${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}"
    local IFS=$'\n'
    local candidates
    read -d '' -ra candidates < <(dotnet complete --position "${COMP_POINT}" "${COMP_LINE}" 2>/dev/null)
    read -d '' -ra COMPREPLY < <(compgen -W "${candidates[*]}" -- "$cur")
}
complete -f -F _dotnet_bash_complete dotnet

zsh:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
_dotnet_zsh_complete() {
    local completions=("$(dotnet complete --position ${CURSOR} "${BUFFER}" 2>/dev/null)")
    reply=("${(ps:\n:)completions}")
}
compctl -K _dotnet_zsh_complete dotnet

fish:

# dotnet CLI tab completion
complete -f -c dotnet -a "(dotnet complete --position (commandline -cp) (commandline -op))"

nushell:

# Add to external_completer in config.nu
let external_completer = {|spans|
    match $spans.0 {
        dotnet => (
            dotnet complete (
                $spans | skip 1 | str join " "
            ) | lines
        )
    }
}

Error Handling

• If dotnet sdk check fails: Ensure .NET SDK is installed
• If profile file doesn’t exist: Create it with the completion script
• If profile file is read-only: Warn user and provide script to add manually

Notes

• .NET 10+ provides native dotnet completions command
• Pre-.NET 10 uses dotnet complete with dynamic scripts
• Always back up profile before modifying
• User must restart shell or source profile for changes to take effect