System Commandline Actions And Invocation

System.CommandLine: actions & invocation

Behavior attaches to a command with SetAction. You run the app by Parse-ing args into a ParseResult, then Invoke/InvokeAsync. SetHandler, delegate parameter binding, and IConsole were removed at GA — do not use them.

Do NOT web_search / web_fetch — nearly all samples show SetHandler(...) with positionally-bound parameters, which no longer exists.

Required setup

System.CommandLine is not in the shared framework — add the package (dotnet package add <proj> System.CommandLine), then using System.CommandLine;.

An action reads its inputs from the ParseResult by option/argument instance, so the instances have to be in scope and added to the command. Nothing is injected into the delegate:

using System.CommandLine;

var nameOption = new Option<string>("--name") { Description = "Who to greet" };

var root = new RootCommand("Greeter");
root.Options.Add(nameOption);                            // must be added, or it is never parsed
root.SetAction(parseResult =>
{
    string name = parseResult.GetValue(nameOption)!;     // by identity, not by name or position
    Console.WriteLine($"Hello, {name}!");
    return 0;
});
return await root.Parse(args).InvokeAsync();

command, root and nameOption in the examples below refer to instances set up this way.

SetAction signatures

// Sync — return int is the exit code (void overload exists too; implies 0):
command.SetAction(parseResult =>
{
    var name = parseResult.GetValue(nameOption)!;   // read by identity
    Console.WriteLine($"Hello {name}");
    return 0;
});

// Async — receives a CancellationToken; return Task<int> (or Task):
command.SetAction(async (parseResult, cancellationToken) =>
{
    var url = parseResult.GetValue(urlOption)!;
    await DoWorkAsync(url, cancellationToken);
    return 0;
});

• Read every input from the ParseResult by the option/argument instance: parseResult.GetValue(theOption). No parameters are injected.
• The int return value is the process exit code. Use the async overload whenever you await.

Parsing and running

// One-shot:
return await root.Parse(args).InvokeAsync();     // sync equivalent: root.Parse(args).Invoke()

// Or inspect before invoking:
ParseResult result = root.Parse(args);
if (result.Errors.Count > 0)
{
    foreach (var e in result.Errors) Console.Error.WriteLine(e.Message);
    return 1;
}
return await result.InvokeAsync();

• command.Parse(args) returns a ParseResult; Invoke() / InvokeAsync() then run the matched command's action (and built-in --help / --version / error reporting).
• Migration: command.Invoke(args) / InvokeAsync(args) (arg-taking overloads) are gone — always Parse(args) first, then invoke the result.

Errors & exit codes

• User-input errors: report with result.AddError("...") from a CustomParser or a validator on the option/argument. They land in ParseResult.Errors, are printed by the invoker, and produce a non-zero exit code automatically. Do not throw for bad input.
• Action outcome: return the exit code you want from SetAction.
• ParseResult.Errors is the list to check when you parse-then-decide manually.