We’re excited to announce that in addition to C++, Go, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java/Kotlin, Python, Swift, and Rust, the Buf Schema Registry now provides generated SDKs for C# via NuGet. The BSR's NuGet repository currently serves generated SDKs for the popular protocolbuffers/csharp and grpc/csharp plugins.

How we did it

Generated SDKs for C# contain everything you need to seamlessly integrate Protobuf into your Visual Studio or dotnet CLI project. Similarly to our generated SDKs for Java via Maven, the BSR precompiles the NuGet packages it distributes (using dotnet pack) to support the broadest range of .NET target frameworks.

Like our other generated SDKs, the BSR resolves all transitive module and plugin dependencies automatically for you. There’s no need to navigate the dependencies of your code or use multiple C# plugins to get the correct generated types you need. You can depend on a Protobuf module like any other C# library in your project.

Example usage

Integrating the BSR’s generated SDKs into your C# project is easy. Here’s an example of using the BSR’s Registry API in a simple console app to obtain information about an organization.

Create a new console application

First, let’s create a new C# console project using the dotnet CLI:

$ dotnet new console --output BsrTest && cd BsrTest

Configure nuget.config with a BSR package source

Next, let’s create a nuget.config file within the project and add the BSR as a new package source, like so:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
    <packageSources>
        <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
        <add key="BSR" value="<https://buf.build/gen/nuget/index.json>" protocolVersion="3" />
    </packageSources>
    <packageSourceCredentials>
        <BSR>
            <add key="Username" value="{username}" />
            <add key="ClearTextPassword" value="{token}" />
            <add key="ValidAuthenticationTypes" value="Basic" />
        </BSR>
    </packageSourceCredentials>
    <packageSourceMapping>
        <packageSource key="nuget.org">
            <package pattern="*" />
        </packageSource>
        <packageSource key="BSR">
            <package pattern="BSR.*" />
        </packageSource>
    </packageSourceMapping>
</configuration>

You’ll also need to configure some form of access credentials (sub out {username} and {token}, respectively) to access the BSR as a NuGet package source. Pro and Enterprise customers may choose to configure a Bot user for this.

Install our packages

Next, let’s add the bufbuild/registry Protobuf module to the project as a native C# dependency:

$ dotnet add package BSR.Bufbuild.Registry.Grpc.Csharp # Add BSR generated SDK
$ dotnet add package Grpc.Net.Client # Add the gRPC Client APIs

Finally, in Program.cs, let’s write a small program leveraging our SDK that prints out when the bufbuild organization was created:

using Buf.Registry.Owner.V1;
using Grpc.Net.Client;

const string instanceHostname = "buf.build";
const string organizationName = "bufbuild";

var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("https://" + instanceHostname);
var client = new OrganizationService.OrganizationServiceClient(channel);
var request = new GetOrganizationsRequest
{
    OrganizationRefs = { new Buf.Registry.Owner.V1.OrganizationRef { Name = organizationName } }
};
var response = client.GetOrganizations(request);
var organization = response.Organizations[0];

Console.WriteLine($"{instanceHostname}/{organizationName} was created at {organization.CreateTime}.");

That’s it! When you run the program, you’ll get the following result:

$ dotnet run
buf.build/bufbuild was created at "2021-05-27T20:44:01.946721Z".

We're excited for the Buf Schema Registry to start supporting the C# ecosystem. We’ll begin rolling this functionality out to our Community and Teams customers in the coming weeks. Get in touch on our Slack channel or shoot us an email at feedback@buf.build with questions and suggestions!