How to switch to C# Dev Kit Mode

Note

Due to the unavailability of the C# Dev Kit extension on OpenVSX, users of VSCodium, Gitpod... are always on the OmniSharp mode. Visit this guide if you need to use Omnisharp with VSCode.

Ensure you are using either .NET 8 (or later) or Uno.WinUI 5.0.116 (or later)

C# Dev Kit requires Uno Platform extension 0.12 or later. The extension itself need .NET 8 (or later) or your projects need to use Uno Platform 5.0.116 (or later).

.NET 8

From a terminal (external or inside VS Code) type:

dotnet --version

If the version listed is older than 8.0.100 then, inside VS Code, press F1 and select Run Uno-Check to setup this environment for Uno Platform to update your system. Quit and restart VS Code afterward so the new version of dotnet can be used by the extensions.

If you have version 8.0.100 (or later) then there's no need to update your version of .NET or Uno.

Uno.WinUI 5.0.116 or later

The latest versions of Uno.WinUI ship with an additional MSBuild task, so running .NET 8 is not required.

To see which version of Uno.WinUI you're currently using, open the Directory.Packages.props file at the root of your project and look for Uno.WinUI, e.g.

<PackageVersion Include="Uno.WinUI" Version="5.0.116" />

If you have version 5.0.116 (or later), then there's no need to update your version of .NET or Uno to use VS Code.

If you need to update you can use a tool like dotnet outdated to update your dependencies to the latest available. Also see Migrating from previous releases for additional information about updating your project(s).

Disable OmniSharp

If you used the OmniSharp mode then you need to disable the preferCSharpExtension setting.

  • Open the VS Code Settings using Ctrl + , (or ⌘ + , on a Mac)
  • Search for preferCSharpExtension preferCSharpExtension
  • Disable it (checkbox)
Note

You do not have to disable useOmnisharp as C# Dev Kit will ignore it if preferCSharpExtension is not set.

Reload the window

Press F1, select Developer: Reload Window and select it. VS Code will reload itself and restart its extensions.

Validation

You can verify that the Uno Platform extension is working by looking at the Uno Platform logs inside the Output pane by using Ctrl + Shift + U (Shift + ⌘ + , on a Mac). After reloading the window you should see a line with [Info] Running in Dev Kit mode inside the logs.