Dotnet Inspect Relationships

dotnet-inspect: relationships and dependency graphs

Use this skill to map how code connects: what implements or extends a type, what it depends on, and who calls it. Dependency views already render as trees; add --mermaid for a standalone diagram or --markdown --mermaid to embed one. Member Call Graphs instead default to Markdown edge tables and offer an explicit --tree path view.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- <command>

Scope any of these commands the same way: --project path/to.csproj (restored project references), --package Foo (repeatable), --library path.dll, --platform (all in-box frameworks), --extensions or --aspnetcore (current Microsoft.* sets), and --tfm net9.0. For implements and extensions, use --package-prefix Azure.AI to search up to 500 packages under a NuGet ID prefix; the command warns when that bound is reached. depends does not accept --package-prefix.

--project reads existing restored assets; restore/build first if dependencies changed.

What does the root declare directly?

dependency-evidence reports one normalized snapshot of the direct dependencies declared by explicit package, nuspec, restored-project, or package-prefix roots. It preserves framework scopes, version constraints, restored resolution evidence, and root-set completion without walking the transitive dependency tree. Use depends when traversal is the goal.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- dependency-evidence \
  --package Newtonsoft.Json --tfm net8.0
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- dependency-evidence \
  --project ./src/App/App.csproj --nuspec ./artifacts/App.nuspec -v:n
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- dependency-evidence \
  --package-prefix Microsoft.Extensions --tfm net10.0 --jsonl

What implements or extends it?

implements Interface finds concrete implementors and subclasses; extensions Type finds extension methods. Add --reachable (with --depth N) to include extensions on types reachable through properties and methods.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- implements IDisposable --platform
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- extensions HttpClient --platform --reachable
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- implements ILogger --package-prefix Microsoft.Extensions
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- implements IEquatable --project ./src/App/App.csproj -v:q
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- extensions string --project ./src/App/App.csproj -v:n

What does it depend on?

depends Type walks dependency graphs upward — type hierarchy, library references, or package dependencies, depending on scope. Add --mermaid for a diagram.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- depends JsonSerializer --package System.Text.Json
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- depends MyType --library MyLib.dll --mermaid
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- depends Command --project ./src/App/App.csproj -v:q

Who calls it? (reverse edges)

member Type -m Method:1 -S Calls lists what a method calls; -S Callers lists the call sites that reach it. With an explicit source, widen the caller search with --bin, --project, or --caller-package. With no explicit source, the first --project is the source context; repeated --project values after it remain caller scopes.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S Calls
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member string -m IndexOf~147d84bbd7 -S Callers --caller-package System.Text.Json@9.0.0 --tfm net9.0

Call Graph is the bounded bidirectional view centered on one member: inbound callers toward entry points plus outbound calls. Its default Markdown view is an edge table. Select --tree for a standalone path-oriented view, --mermaid for a standalone diagram, or --markdown --mermaid for a diagram inside the Markdown document. For scripts, --tsv and --jsonl expose the same ordered edges. Machine fields from and to are always present; from_group, to_group, and label appear only when the whole graph uses them. A row window does not change that schema. --count and --rows address edge rows consistently across these views.

For a type-level dependency summary, Called Types groups direct calls by target type, assembly, members, and call kinds.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S "Call Graph"
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S "Call Graph" --tree
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S "Call Graph" --mermaid
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S "Call Graph" --markdown --mermaid
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type -m Method:1 -S "Call Graph" --jsonl
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- type Type --library MyLib.dll -S "Called Types"

What does it integrate with? (ecosystem)

All integrations are enabled by default. Discover and narrow the ordinary Integration result with canonical ecosystem identities:

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library -Q Integrations
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library Aspire.Hosting.Redis@13.5.3 --tfm net8.0 -S Integrations --where "ecosystem=ecosystem.aspire"
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library MyLibrary.dll -S "Integration: Aspire" --where "ecosystem=ecosystem.aspire" --jsonl

Omitting -S with this predicate selects the Integration family. Use a concrete section for tabular output. An empty filtered result is not absence of all Integration support; full-library presence and Census remain unchanged. Unsupported IDs and combinations fail explicitly. Do not combine the ecosystem predicate with Performance Triage or Body Shapes queries. This option belongs to library, not package --library or graph.

graph integrations compares an explicit package set inside one binding-consistent target. Repeat --package name[@version], provide the shared --tfm, and add --relationship <id> only when the default Integration family should be narrowed. This is an induced set, not a traversal: it has no direction or depth. Markdown is an edge table by default; --tree, --mermaid, --json, --jsonl, --count, and --rows project the same logical relationships. Missing api.extension or integration.observed endpoints whose assemblies are absent from the explicit package set remain outside the induced graph; add the owning package to admit those relationships. A missing integration.opportunity target and other binding failures -- unavailable, ambiguous, rejected, or selected outside the active context -- remain visible and produce a nonzero exit.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- graph integrations \
  --package Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions@10.0.0 \
  --package Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions@10.0.0 \
  --package Microsoft.Extensions.Logging@10.0.0 \
  --package Microsoft.Extensions.Http@10.0.0 \
  --tfm net10.0 \
  --relationship integration.observed

-S @Integrations on library or package --library rolls up the ecosystem frameworks a library plugs into — DI, hosting, ASP.NET Core, AI, OpenTelemetry, configuration, logging, and more — plus Integration Opportunities and language/runtime integration signals like C# union types.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- package Microsoft.Extensions.AI --library -S @Integrations
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library MyLibrary.dll -S "Union Types" --tsv
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library --platform System.Text.Json -S "Union Types" --tsv

Use Union Types when looking for C# union adoption in libraries. It reports types annotated with System.Runtime.CompilerServices.UnionAttribute, whether they implement IUnion, and constructor-derived case types. Current platform libraries may expose the runtime infrastructure before any production library declares union types, so an empty table is still a useful signal.