Format Command

The format command formats C# code using the built-in formatter and syntax emitters.

Usage

bsharp format <INPUT> [--write <BOOL>] [--print] [--newline-mode lf|crlf] \
  [--max-consecutive-blank-lines <N>] [--blank-line-between-members <BOOL>] \
  [--trim-trailing-whitespace <BOOL>] [--emit-trace] [--emit-trace-file <FILE>]

Arguments

<INPUT> (required)

Path to .cs file or directory
When a directory is given, formats all .cs files recursively
Hidden directories and bin/, obj/, target/ are skipped

Options

--write, -w <BOOL>

Write changes to files in-place
Default: true
When false and <INPUT> is a single file, the formatted content is printed to stdout
When false and formatting differences are found for multiple files, exits with code 2

--print

Always print formatted output for a single-file input and exit
Useful for piping to other tools; does not write to disk regardless of --write

--newline-mode <MODE>

Newline mode: lf (default) or crlf

--max-consecutive-blank-lines <N>

Maximum consecutive blank lines to keep (default: 1)

--blank-line-between-members <BOOL>

Insert a blank line between type members (default: true)

--trim-trailing-whitespace <BOOL>

Trim trailing whitespace (default: true)

--emit-trace

Enable emission tracing (JSONL) for debugging formatter behavior
Can also be enabled via environment variable BSHARP_EMIT_TRACE=1

--emit-trace-file <FILE>

Path to write the trace JSONL (defaults to stdout when omitted)

Examples

# Format a single file in-place
bsharp format Program.cs

# Print formatted output to stdout (do not write)
bsharp format Program.cs --write false

# Force printing formatted output even if --write is not set
bsharp format Program.cs --print

# Format a directory recursively
bsharp format src/

# Use CRLF newlines and avoid extra blank lines
bsharp format Program.cs --newline-mode crlf --max-consecutive-blank-lines 1

# Enable emission tracing to a file
bsharp format Program.cs --emit-trace --emit-trace-file format_trace.jsonl

Implementation

Command: src/bsharp_cli/src/commands/format.rs
Formatter: bsharp_syntax::Formatter with FormatOptions
Emission tracing is controlled by CLI flags or BSHARP_EMIT_TRACE and recorded as JSONL.
Files that fail to parse are skipped; a summary is printed and they are not modified.

Keyboard shortcuts