ConsoleMVC.Framework 1.33.0

ConsoleMVC

An MVC framework for console applications, inspired by ASP.NET Core MVC.

ConsoleMVC brings the familiar Controller-ViewModel pattern to console apps, with convention-based routing, automatic discovery through a generated route table, and Razor-like .cvw view templates powered by a C# source generator.

Quick Start

# Install the template
dotnet new install ConsoleMVC.Template

# Create a new project
dotnet new consolemvc -n MyApp
cd MyApp
dotnet run

How It Works

Program.cs: familiar ASP.NET-style builder:

var builder = MvcApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IGreetingService, GreetingService>(); // optional
using var app = builder.Build();
await app.RunAsync();

Controllers: inherit from Controller, return ActionResult:

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        var model = new HomeViewModel { Title = "Hello!" };
        return View(model);
    }
}

Views: .cvw files with an @model directive and C-View Markup, no class boilerplate:

@model MyApp.Models.HomeViewModel

<box title="@Model.Title" border="rounded" color="cyan">
    <text>@Model.Message</text>
</box>

<input name="Name" label="Your name: " required />

<menu>
    <option key="1" nav="Greet/Result" post>Greet me</option>
    <option key="q" quit>Exit</option>
</menu>

Models: simple DTOs:

public class HomeViewModel
{
    public string Title { get; set; } = "";
}

Features

• Convention-based routing: Controllers and Views are found by name and namespace conventions, listed in a route table generated at build time
• Razor-like view engine: .cvw files are compiled into ConsoleView<TModel> classes at build time by a source generator
• No boilerplate: Views are plain C# code with an @model directive, no class inheritance required
• C-View Markup: <box>, <text>, <separator>, <br> and <table> elements with colours, borders, alignment and word wrapping, plus @ expressions and @if/@foreach; validated at compile time with errors pointing at the .cvw file, including nav targets that name a missing controller or action (CVW119), the same mistakes in RedirectToAction and NavigationResult calls (CVW120), and missing views (CVW121, with a fix that creates the view)
• Responsive screens: resizing the terminal lays the current screen out again at the new width
• Full screen and scrolling: builder.FullScreen = true uses the terminal's alternate screen, and <scroll> pages long content with the arrow keys
• Layout and themes: <columns> (stacking on narrow terminals), min-width/max-width, and theme classes with class="title"
• Layouts: Views/Shared/_Layout.cvw frames every screen, with <body /> where the view goes
• Partial views: reusable markup in Views/Shared/{Name}.cvw, rendered with <partial name="Header" model="@Model.Title" /> and checked at build time
• Declarative input and navigation: <input> fields (required, default, masked), <number> and <date> with ranges, <select> (with type-to-filter) and <radio> lists and <checkbox> (answered with the arrow keys in a terminal) collect a Form, and <menu> reads the choice and navigates
• Mouse: builder.Mouse = true makes menu options, choices and checkboxes clickable and the wheel scroll
• Keyboard shortcuts: app.MapKey(ConsoleKey.F1, "Help/Index", "Help"), NavigationResult.Back() on Esc, and <shortcuts /> to list them
• Markdown: <markdown text="@Model.Notes" /> (MarkdownElement) draws headings, lists, quotes, code, emphasis and links, sanitised
• Charts: <bar-chart> with <bar /> children and <sparkline values="@Model.History" /> (BarChartElement, SparklineElement)
• Live screens: <progress> and <spinner>, kept up to date while an async action works with ILiveDisplay.Start(element), and views that refresh on a timer with @refresh 5s or View(model).RefreshEvery(...) until the user types
• Areas and modules: Areas/{Area}/Views with [Area] or *.Areas.{Area} controllers and Area/Controller/Action routes, and builder.AddModule<TModule>() (IMvcModule) for controllers and views in other assemblies
• Localisation: IStringLocalizer<T> in views and controllers, builder.Localization (culture, FrameworkText translated from resources, localised DataAnnotations messages), and the ConsoleMVC:Culture setting
• Accessibility: builder.ScreenReader (ScreenReaderRenderer: plain text, no borders, typed answers) and builder.HighContrast (Theme.CreateHighContrast()), also chosen by users with the ConsoleMVC:ScreenReader and ConsoleMVC:HighContrast settings
• Secure output: model values are sanitised so they cannot inject terminal escape sequences
• Reusable rendering engine: the ConsoleMVC.Rendering namespace can draw elements in any console app
• Familiar API: View(), RedirectToAction(), ViewData, all the patterns you know from ASP.NET Core MVC
• Navigation: Views return NavigationResult to control app flow (NavigationResult.To(), Back(), Quit()); menus offer back options and <breadcrumbs /> shows the trail; route values (nav="Orders/Details?id=@order.Id") bind to action parameters
• Testing: the companion package ConsoleMVC.Testing runs the application with scripted input and compares screens with snapshot files
• Configuration and logging: builder.Configuration (appsettings.json, environment variables, command line), options with Configure<T>, builder.Environment and ILogger<T> through builder.Logging, with a built-in rolling file logger (builder.Logging.AddFile("logs/app.log"))
• Validation: posted forms are checked with DataAnnotations ([Required], [Range], [EmailAddress], …) before the action runs; use ModelState.IsValid, View("Form", model) and <errors /> as in ASP.NET Core MVC
• Dependency injection: builder.Services (Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection); constructor injection into controllers, @inject Type Name in views, one scope per screen
• Async actions and middleware: Task<ActionResult> actions, RunAsync(token), and app.Use(...) / UseMiddleware<T>() around every action
• Native AOT and trimming: a generated route table (IRouteTable) replaces reflection, so dotnet publish -p:PublishAot=true works with no warnings
• Remote sessions: app.ServeAsync(new TerminalServerOptions()) or the ConsoleMVC:Serve setting serves the application over Telnet (optionally TLS) with one session per client; ITerminalSession tells users apart, and RemoteTerminal plus RunSessionAsync run a session over any stream
• Live reload: dotnet watch applies .cvw and C# edits to the running app from the next screen; new pages are discovered automatically
• Form data posting: Views collect user input via Console.ReadLine() and post it to controller actions using NavigationResult.To("Controller", "Action", formData). The framework automatically binds the data to action method parameters, either as individual simple types (int, string, etc.) or as a complex model class with matching property names

IDE Support

For .cvw file recognition, syntax highlighting, and icon support in JetBrains Rider, install the ConsoleMVC CVWSupport plugin:

• JetBrains Marketplace
• Plugin Source Code

Documentation

For full documentation and source code, visit the GitHub repository.