CheatEngine.Client.Templates 1.0.0

CheatEngine.Client.Templates

Context

CheatEngine.Client.Templates is the content-only NuGet package that provides the dotnet new ceplugin template. It creates a C# 14, .NET 10, x64, managed in-process Cheat Engine plugin whose composition starts from CheatEngineClientPlugin.

Why this project exists

Cheat Engine plugins need a direct reference to both packages below:

• CheatEngine.Client supplies the high-level facade, fluent API, dependency-injection composition, activation lifecycle, and module model.
• CheatEngine.SDK supplies the plugin entry-point generator and native Lua bridge build assets. Those assets are not guaranteed to flow through a transitive dependency.

The template makes that deployment-critical relationship explicit. Its <CheatEngineClientPluginProject>true</CheatEngineClientPluginProject> marker activates Hosting's full plugin profile: both references remain direct, exactly one Client plugin is required, and the net10.0/C# 14/x64-or-AnyCPU host contract is checked before compilation.

How it helps improve CheatEngine.Client

The template turns the intended consumption model into buildable source. It exercises activation-scoped DI, generated SDK plugin bootstrap, explicit configuration, AOB probing with a bounded copy (post-filtered global scan), typed memory access, Address List inspection, and an application-owned Lua module. Keeping this path executable prevents package, bootstrap, and documentation drift.

It deliberately does not imply that a Native AOT binary is loadable by Cheat Engine. The project enables AOT compatibility analysis for the library graph, but a plugin must be deployed as the complete managed output required by the SDK. Value scans remain experimental (CECLIENT5001) until their full Cheat Engine 7.7 x64 lifecycle has passed the opt-in live gate, so the template does not use them.

Create a plugin

Install the published template, then instantiate it from the directory that should contain the new project:

dotnet new install CheatEngine.Client.Templates
dotnet new ceplugin --name Contoso.CheatEngine.Plugin
dotnet build .\Contoso.CheatEngine.Plugin\Contoso.CheatEngine.Plugin.csproj --configuration Release --no-restore

dotnet new ceplugin --name <name> creates the project in a <name> folder (--output chooses another folder) with a .gitignore for build output, and restores it unless --no-restore is passed. That restore writes packages.lock.json, the exact package graph of the plugin with the content hash of each package, CheatEngine.SDK's included: commit it, and restore with --locked-mode on a build machine. The lock also records the Microsoft.NET.ILLink.Tasks version that the .NET SDK adds for IsAotCompatible, which changes with the SDK, a monthly patch included: pin the exact .NET SDK in a global.json ("rollForward": "disable") on every machine that restores the plugin, or regenerate the lock with dotnet restore --force-evaluate after each SDK update.

The template derives two names from the project name:

• the name the plugin reports to Cheat Engine, the project name in printable ASCII (Contoso.CheatEngine.Plugin);
• its Lua status global, the project name in ASCII lower_snake_case followed by _status (contoso_cheat_engine_plugin_status).

A Lua global has one owner: the Client refuses to replace a global that another plugin registered. Different project names can derive the same global, because the derivation lowercases the name and turns each camel-case boundary and each run of other characters, non-ASCII letters included, into _: MyPlugin and My.Plugin both give my_plugin_status, and a name without an ASCII letter or digit gives plugin_status. Rename the global in the generated Modules/PluginLuaFunctions.cs when another plugin exports it.

The generated project's README explains the composition, configuration, and managed deployment requirements. Keep both direct package references when adapting the project. The generated project references the exact CheatEngine.Client version of this template package and CheatEngine.SDK 2.0.0; keep CheatEngine.SDK on 2.x until a Client release says otherwise. A 3.x SDK fails the build with CECLIENT017, and a version below 2.0.0 fails the restore with NU1605.

Supported host profile

This Client release consumes CheatEngine.SDK 2.0.0 and names one Cheat Engine host profile, the qualifiable profile that CheatEngine.SDK 2.0.0 names. A profile is what a qualification result can name; it is not itself a qualification result.

Never edit an installed Cheat Engine to match this profile: its runtime configuration applies to every managed plugin of the installation, and CheatEngine.Client never treats such an edit as a setup step. A stock installation is not a qualified profile, and a result on this profile authorizes no x86 or ARM64 plugin claim.