dotnet-inspect: SourceLink and PDB source

Use this skill to get source mapped by the Portable PDB. dotnet-inspect verifies local files and GitHub committed blobs read through --repo against the PDB checksum. A network PDB Source fetch follows redirects permitted by the host transport and returns the body only when it matches that checksum; it does not treat the final destination as source provenance. Use library -S "SourceLink: Integrity" for opt-in verification that every fetchable, non-embedded compiler-source document preserves its attributed repository and revision through redirects. If no usable PDB or checksum-matching source is available locally or through SourceLink, use the always-local decompiler skill.

The checksum proves that returned bytes match the PDB's declaration. It does not independently prove that those bytes are the physical syntax tree that produced a MethodDef; PDB Source names that evidence boundary explicitly.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- <command>

Find where the source lives

-S "Source Files" maps types in type scope. Library and package scope use SourceLink: Files; -S "Source Locations" gives per-member file and line URLs without fetching bodies. Use --urls for a clean URL list and --paths for source path rows.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library System.Text.Json -S "SourceLink: Files"
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- package Newtonsoft.Json@13.0.3 \
  -S "SourceLink: Files" -t JsonReader -n 1 --tail --urls
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- type JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json -S "Source Files" --urls
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type Method:1 -S "Source Locations" --paths
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library coordinate 0x06000001+0x0 \
  --package System.Text.Json --library System.Text.Json.dll

For one package with exactly SourceLink: Files selected, -n, --tail, and --rows A..B select complete library/type/URL rows after every selected library has completed SourceLink collection and the optional --type filter has run. Count, structured formats, --urls, and --raw consume those same rows. Use --lines only when you intentionally want to clip rendered text. The multi-section @SourceLink document is not one file-row sequence.

Fetch PDB source

For an authored-first result rather than one provider, select Source on one exact Type or Member. It prefers verified authored source, may use the shared decompiled fallback, and retains provider and fallback context. PDB Source below remains the provider-specific view and never substitutes decompiled text.

-S "PDB Source" returns the source body selected by Portable PDB coordinates, acquired locally or through SourceLink, and verified against the PDB checksum (also part of the -S @Source bundle alongside the decompiled and IL views). Use --print to fetch the source body behind one printable SourceLink row. When the section renders multiple rows, add --row N|first|last; N addresses the displayed 1-based row number, while first and last mean the rendered endpoints. If that row has no printable document, the command reports it instead of silently choosing another row.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json Serialize:1 -S "PDB Source"
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --package System.Text.Json \
  Serialize:1 -S "PDB Source,Source Diff" --repo /path/to/runtime
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- type JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json -S "Source Files" --print --row 1
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json -m Serialize -S "Source Locations" --print --row 1
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- type JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json -S "Source Files" --print --row 1 --json-array

--repo requires a fully qualified clone path and applies only to raw.githubusercontent.com SourceLink URLs. Member PDB Source, printable type Source Files, printable member Source Locations, and implementation-diff PDB source consult the clone before fetching the source body remotely. Package or PDB acquisition may still use the network.

Inspect or print authored member parts

Focused member -S "Source Locations" --json returns member, document, and pdb_span, without acquiring source text. The PDB span is executable source, not a complete member boundary. Add --source-parts to acquire and verify source, then discover lexical parts separately from that span.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --package System.Text.Json \
  Serialize:1 --source-parts --json
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --package System.Text.Json \
  Serialize:1 --print --part xml-docs
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member JsonSerializer --package System.Text.Json \
  Serialize:1 --print --part body --markdown

Both gestures imply Source Locations unless -S is explicit. Select one member such as Serialize:1, or use --print --part with --row to select a member row. Part names are member, xml-docs, attributes, signature, and body. The full member includes attached XML documentation and attributes; a body includes its delimiters. Unavailable parts fail rather than selecting a substitute. Multiple documentation or attribute fragments are joined with LF; selection uses exact character spans, not whole-line slicing.

Discovery supports Markdown, plaintext, and --json. Printing supports ordinary text, explicit --markdown framing, and --json, --jsonl, or --json-array; JSON preserves the selected source characters. Rendered CLI text restores each fragment's original first-line indentation and follows normal LF and text-containment rules. Unqualified --print still prints the whole file. xml-docs selects raw source comments, not parsed DocumentationHouse content. These lexical ranges do not strengthen the PDB/checksum provenance claim.

URL forms

PDBs carry SourceLink data; they are not SourceLink themselves. SourceLink URL rows default to raw/fetchable form; add --prefer-rendered-urls to prefer browser views when supported, leaving other URLs unchanged. Prefer --urls when you want URL payloads, --paths for file paths, and --print when you want the referenced source body. --raw remains an undecorated selected-payload escape hatch.

dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- member Type Method:1 -S "Source Locations" --urls --jsonl
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- type JsonSerializer --platform System.Text.Json -S "Source Files" --urls --json-array
dnx dotnet-inspect -y -- library System.Text.Json -S "SourceLink: Files" --urls --prefer-rendered-urls

To check whether SourceLink is present and usable (rather than fetch source), see the signals skill. Library Signals summarizes map usability and SourceLink: Diagnostics reports parse errors or rejected mappings; SourceLink: Availability, SourceLink: Integrity, and SourceLink: Missing Files check the mapped documents. The document checks also aggregate across selected package libraries.