MintPlayer.SlnLaunch 10.0.1

MintPlayer.SlnLaunch

Run a Visual Studio multi-project launch profile (.slnLaunch) from the command line — on any OS, in any editor. Visual Studio 2022 (17.11+) can start several projects at once with F5; the dotnet CLI cannot. slnlaunch reads the same .slnLaunch file and launches every project in a profile concurrently, then tears the whole group down cleanly on Ctrl+C.

Install

dotnet tool install --global MintPlayer.SlnLaunch

Or run it without installing using dnx (.NET 10+), which fetches and executes the tool on demand:

dnx MintPlayer.SlnLaunch --list
dnx MintPlayer.SlnLaunch -- --tenant acme        # arguments after -- are forwarded as usual

(You can also install it per-repo as a local tool: dotnet tool install MintPlayer.SlnLaunch inside a project with a tool manifest, then dotnet slnlaunch.)

Usage

slnlaunch [<file>] [options]

With no <file>, the single .slnLaunch in the current directory is used (then .slnLaunch.user, then .slnxLaunch).

slnlaunch                       # run the only profile in the discovered file
slnlaunch --list                # show profiles and their projects
slnlaunch --profile "HR + Fleet"   # pick a profile when there are several
slnlaunch App.slnLaunch --watch    # hot-reload via `dotnet watch`
slnlaunch --dry-run                # print the dotnet commands without running them

Each launched project becomes dotnet run --project <path> --launch-profile <DebugTarget>, so the selected launchSettings.json profile's environment variables, applicationUrl, and commandLineArgs apply exactly as in Visual Studio.

Options

Argument forwarding

Two layers, on top of what the launch profile already provides:

Shared build options (-c, -f, --no-build, -v) are forwarded to every project — e.g. run the whole composition in Release:

slnlaunch -c Release

Per-project app arguments. Add a ForwardArguments array to a project entry naming the arguments it wants. Everything after a standalone -- on the command line becomes a pool; each project receives only the names it opted into, as app arguments:

[
  {
    "Name": "HR + Fleet",
    "Projects": [
      { "Path": "Demo\\HR\\HR\\HR.csproj",       "Action": "Start", "DebugTarget": "https", "ForwardArguments": ["tenant", "region"] },
      { "Path": "Demo\\Fleet\\Fleet\\Fleet.csproj", "Action": "Start", "DebugTarget": "https", "ForwardArguments": ["port"] }
    ]
  }
]

slnlaunch -c Release -- --tenant acme --region eu --port 5005

HR's app receives --tenant acme --region eu; Fleet's app receives --port 5005. (ForwardArguments is a MintPlayer extension; Visual Studio ignores unknown fields.)

Tip: if a forwarded value itself begins with - (e.g. a negative number), use the --name=value form so it isn't mistaken for a flag.

Behavior notes

• Action: Start and StartWithoutDebugging both launch the project (there's no debugger to attach from the CLI). None, or a project omitted from the array, is skipped.
• Non-Project launch profiles: if a DebugTarget names a profile the CLI can't honor (IIS Express, Docker, …), slnlaunch warns and runs the project without --launch-profile. Docker Compose (.dcproj) projects are skipped.
• Clean shutdown: Ctrl+C (or SIGTERM) stops every project — including the app each dotnet run spawns — by killing the whole process tree on Windows, Linux, and macOS. No orphaned processes.
• Exit code: 0 when every project exits successfully or you cancel; otherwise the first non-zero exit code.

License

Apache-2.0