WebAPI2CLI

Execute ASP.NET Core WebAPI from Command Line . Source at https://github.com/ignatandrei/WebAPI2CLI

Why

What if, instead of running the WebAPI ( or just the site ) and waiting for commands from the user, you want also to execute from the command line some controllers actions ?

This project let's you do that by enabling the command line with

< myexe >.exe --CLI_ENABLED=1 --CLI_Commands=" ... "

The command names are in a cli.txt file that can be generated with

< myexe >.exe --CLI_ENABLED=1 --CLI_HELP=1

How to use ( for .NET Core 3.1 )

Step 0 : install into your ASP.NET Core Web

Install the package https://www.nuget.org/packages/ExtensionNetCore3

Modify your ASP.NET Core as below:

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    services.AddCLI();
//your code omitted
}    
public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IWebHostEnvironment env)
{
    app.UseCLI();
//your code omitted
}       

And that is all modifications that you need to do for the source code.

Step 1 - find and save the definition of the commands, i.e. WebAPI endpoints

First, you must generate the definition of the commands. For this, we take the OPEN API (swagger ) approach.

For this, after you compile the project, you will run your .exe program with arguments:

< myexe >.exe --CLI_ENABLED=1 --CLI_HELP=1

( or make this from Visual Studio, Project, Properties, Debug )

This will generate a cli.txt file with all definitions of the WebAPI. ( if your API does not appear, check if you have ApiController defined)

Open your cli.txt file and modify the names of the commands as you wish (also , the arguments )

Copy this cli.txt in your solution and be sure that is copied with the exe ( in Visual Studio right click the file, properties, Build Action = Content, CopyToOutputDirectory = Copy if newer)

Step 2 - run the commands

Ensure that the file is near your exe WebAPI.

Run the exe with the following:

< myexe >.exe --CLI_ENABLED=1 --CLI_Commands="your first command,your second command, and enumerate all commands"

The program will run the commands and output the result.

Optional Step 3 - letting others download the app to use as CLI

Modify the endpoints to add zip

 app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
            {
                endpoints.MapControllers();

                endpoints.MakeZip(app);
            });

and browser to /zip to download the whole application. More details here( including a demo)

https://ignatandrei.github.io/WebAPI2CLI/

Environment Variables: see https://github.com/ignatandrei/Interpreter