Xml2Doc.Cli

Command-line interface for Xml2Doc, part of the mod-posh organization.

Overview

Xml2Doc.Cli converts C# XML documentation into Markdown using the Xml2Doc.Core engine. It’s ideal for developers and CI systems that want quick, repeatable Markdown docs from existing XML output.

Target Frameworks (multi-TFM)

The CLI is multi-targeted and ships for:

• net8.0
• net9.0

The rendered Markdown is identical across these TFMs. Choose whichever runtime you have available on the machine that runs the tool.

Running the CLI (pick one TFM)

Build first, then run the produced DLL for the desired framework:

# Build both TFMs (default for the project) dotnet build Xml2Doc/src/Xml2Doc.Cli/Xml2Doc.Cli.csproj -c Release # Run the built artifact (net8.0) dotnet Xml2Doc/src/Xml2Doc.Cli/bin/Release/net8.0/Xml2Doc.Cli.dll --xml path\to\MyLib.xml --out .\docs # Or run the net9.0 artifact dotnet Xml2Doc/src/Xml2Doc.Cli/bin/Release/net9.0/Xml2Doc.Cli.dll --xml path\to\MyLib.xml --out .\docs

Tip: Prefer running the built DLL as shown above. Using dotnet run can be confusing with multi-targeted projects; if you do use it, you must specify a single --framework that exists in the csproj.

Usage

# Per-type documentation Xml2Doc.exe --xml .\bin\Release\net9.0\MyLib.xml --out .\docs # Single combined file Xml2Doc.exe --xml .\bin\Release\net9.0\MyLib.xml --out .\docs\api.md --single --file-names clean

Options

Option	Description
--xml <path>	Path to the XML documentation file
--out <path>	Output directory (multi-file) or output file (single-file)
--single	Combine all documentation into a single Markdown file
--file-names <verbatim|clean>	Filename mode — preserve generics or shorten to readable form
--rootns <namespace>	Optional root namespace to trim
--lang <language>	Code block language (default: csharp)
--config <file>	Path to a JSON configuration file
--help	Display help text

Example Config File

xml2doc.json

{ "Xml": "src/MyLib/bin/Release/net9.0/MyLib.xml", "Out": "docs/api.md", "Single": true, "FileNames": "clean", "RootNamespace": "MyCompany.MyProduct", "CodeLanguage": "csharp" }

Run with:

Xml2Doc.exe --config xml2doc.json

CLI flags always override values from the config file.

Notes for CI

• Build once (dotnet build -c Release), then run the desired built CLI DLL (net8.0 or net9.0).
• Output is deterministic across TFMs, so your pipelines can choose the runtime that’s already available.