left-code.BcSymbols 0.1.0

BcSymbols

Deterministic AL symbol restore for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

BcSymbols is a .NET CLI tool that restores AL symbols into .alpackages/ using the same public symbol feeds used by the VS Code AL extension.

It behaves similarly to:

• dotnet restore
• npm install
• cargo build

…but for Business Central AL symbols.

Features

• Restores Microsoft and AppSource AL symbols
• Reads dependencies from app.json
• Downloads and extracts .app packages
• Writes symbols into .alpackages
• Recursive transitive dependency restoration
• Deterministic package resolution
• Stable locked restore mode
• Floating latest restore mode
• Supports custom output directories
• Supports custom app.json paths

Installation

.NET Tool

dotnet tool install --global BcSymbols

Verify installation

bcsymbols --help

Usage

Restore symbols

bcsymbols restore

Restores symbols using deterministic locked dependency resolution.

Restore latest dependency graph

bcsymbols restore --latest

Uses floating dependency resolution and restores the newest compatible graph.

Restore from custom app.json

bcsymbols restore path/to/app.json

Restore to custom output directory

bcsymbols restore --output ./symbols

Restore Modes

Default restore

bcsymbols restore

Behavior:

• Stable deterministic restore
• Prefers versions declared in app.json
• Constrains Microsoft packages by Business Central major version
• Produces reproducible dependency graphs

Comparable to:

dotnet restore
npm ci

Floating restore

bcsymbols restore --latest

Behavior:

• Restores latest compatible dependency graph
• Updates Microsoft and partner packages together
• Uses recursive dependency graph as authoritative source

Comparable to:

npm install

Public Symbol Feeds

Microsoft symbols

https://dynamicssmb2.pkgs.visualstudio.com/DynamicsBCPublicFeeds/_packaging/MSSymbolsV2/nuget/v3/index.json

AppSource / Partner symbols

https://dynamicssmb2.pkgs.visualstudio.com/DynamicsBCPublicFeeds/_packaging/AppSourceSymbols/nuget/v3/index.json

How It Works

BcSymbols generates deterministic package IDs compatible with Business Central symbol conventions.

Example:

Microsoft.BaseApplication.symbols.<AppId>

Resolution uses:

• normalized publisher
• normalized app name
• AL AppId GUID

The dependency graph is restored recursively using:

• app.json root dependencies
• NuGet nuspec transitive dependencies
• NuGet v3 metadata feeds

Example Workflow

cd MyBcProject

bcsymbols restore

Result:

.alpackages/
    Microsoft_System_26.0.0.0.app
    Microsoft_Base Application_26.0.0.0.app
    MyDependency_1.2.0.0.app

Roadmap

Planned improvements:

• Semantic version range support
• Dependency conflict resolution
• Local metadata cache
• Authenticated feeds

Tech Stack

• .NET 8
• NuGet.Protocol
• System.CommandLine

Architecture Notes

BcSymbols evolved from a simple symbol downloader into a recursive NuGet-backed AL package manager with:

• deterministic package resolution
• recursive dependency traversal
• transitive graph restoration
• NuGet v3 metadata integration

The recursive graph now operates primarily in NuGet dependency space rather than reconstructing package identities manually.

License

MIT License

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.