Getting started

Getting started

Packages

Package	What it is	Install
Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector	The inspector itself — add it to your MAUI app.	dotnet add package Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector
Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Sync	The sync tool (maui-inspector-sync) that writes panel edits back into your .xaml files (optional).	dotnet tool install -g Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Sync
Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Persistency	SQLite storage backend — worth adding once recorded scenarios grow large (optional).	dotnet add package Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Persistency
Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Diagnostics	Build-only: gives Debug Android/iOS builds the diagnostic port the Memory view's heap dumps need — nothing to configure (optional).	dotnet add package Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector.Diagnostics

<!-- Debug-only reference keeps the inspector out of release builds entirely -->
<PackageReference Include="Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector" Version="0.9.18" Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Debug'" />

Targets net10.0-ios, net10.0-android and net10.0-windows (plus a no-op net10.0), MIT licensed.

Enable the inspector

In MauiProgram.cs — ideally only for debug builds:

using Immons.Tools.Maui.Inspector;

var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
builder.UseMauiApp<App>();

#if DEBUG
builder.UseMauiInspector(options =>
{
    options.EnableWebServer = true;                        // desktop web panel
    options.LongPressDuration = TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(800);
    // options.WebServerPort = 9295;                       // force a port (default: auto)
    // options.LongPressTouchCount = 2;                    // avoid clashing with app long-presses
    // options.ShakeToOpen = true;                         // shake the device to open the overlay
    // options.MaxCapturedBodyBytes = 4 * 1024 * 1024;     // largest HTTP body kept for the Network view
});
#endif

The web server picks a free port from 9295–9309 and prints the URL to the platform console and to the panel's Logs view:

[MauiInspector] web inspector listening on http://localhost:9296/ (auto-assigned)

MauiInspector.WebServerUrl returns the same URL at runtime (handy for a debug label in your app).

• iOS simulator — open that URL on the Mac.
• Android emulator — run maui-inspector-sync: it finds every connected device, forwards each app onto a free host port and prints the URL. By hand it is adb forward tcp:1<port> tcp:<port> — a shifted host port, never 1:1, because an iOS simulator app may already hold that number on the Mac.
• Physical devices — use the device IP (Android needs the INTERNET permission, present by default).

Manual control

MauiInspector.Show();          // open the on-device overlay
MauiInspector.Hide();
MauiInspector.Toggle();
MauiInspector.Inspect(someVisualElement);  // open with a specific element selected
MauiInspector.ShowCookbook();              // the design cookbook page (see Styles & resources)