dotnet-inspect 0.27.0

Discovery, queries, and explanation

• Breaking: Package and Library population queries now use find --packages and find --libraries. The former package query and
  library query commands are removed; ordinary find remains API discovery,
  and find PATTERN --package-prefix PREFIX still searches APIs in matching
  packages. The three population grains have distinct discovery and result
  contracts. Exact Package references returned by queries can be reopened
  with package "$package_ref" or supplied as a Package source to Library,
  Type, and Member inspection (#10276, #10822).
• Expands Package discovery with Ecosystem populations, query facets and
  evidence-bearing result rows. find --packages --explain returns installed
  query rules as HAL JSON without contacting NuGet; explain package-query/query/facets/<facet> narrows that reading. An explicit
  --take bounds the answer and can finish successfully at that boundary;
  hitting a default candidate ceiling instead reports an incomplete view and
  exits nonzero. These rules also apply to Library population queries where
  supported (#8804, #9807, #9895, #9953, #9999, #10106).
• Improves API discovery with exact namespace and Namespace.* descendant
  lookup, ranked Type prefixes and member-name fallbacks, distinct Platform
  and Package observations, progressive Type/Member rows, and indexed
  Ecosystem Type search before live Package-prefix search. An unscoped find
  still includes installed Platform populations; package API scope remains
  explicit except for authorized namespace observations (#8493, #8510,
  #8725, #9159, #9212, #9891, #10401, #10723).
• Makes installed capability discovery actionable through explain search,
  resource paths, section shapes, CLI bindings, HAL projections, and
  product-owned vocabulary values. explain diff and diff -D/-Q now
  disclose Diff's sections and query rules. Breaking: the standalone
  vocabulary command is retired; use explain vocabularies,
  explain vocabularies/<id>, or a value's resource path (#9336, #9438,
  #9465, #9493, #9774, #10246, #10688, #10913).
• Documents the installed explain experience, whose initial implementation
  (#7974, #8002) was already present in v0.26.0 but intentionally omitted
  from that release's notes. v0.27.0 adds its release-note and skill adoption,
  not its first implementation. Member explanations now distinguish the
  command, an overload group, and an exact overload; --explain replaces
  ordinary stdout, while -E accompanies it on stderr. Contextual tips are
  opt-in with a separate -E .tips token; former --tips/-T spellings
  are not the current interface (#8696, #9060, #10961).

CLI inspection and output

• Breaking: Source-only type requests no longer silently inventory a
  Library: supply a Type name or explicit pattern, such as
  type System.Text.Json -t '*' for a selected source's Type inventory.
  -n limits results; numeric -t is a Type pattern, not a row limit.
  Package-backed Library selection also offers --namesake-library for
  exactly one assembly matching the Package ID and --first-library for
  the first namesake or first Library (#10300, #10769, #10837).
• Breaking: Default Package and Library inspection favors their native
  hierarchy; a single selected section uses its declared shape, often TSV
  for tables, rather than automatically framing a Markdown document. Select
  -S "Package Info" or -S "Library Info" for metadata, and --markdown
  for explicit framing. Mixed sections retain their composed document.
  Format flags such as --json, --table, --tsv, and --jsonl remain
  supported; there is no replacement --format switch (#9336, #9357,
  #9598, #10382).
• Breaking: Removes --info and --trace-mermaid; their
  DOTNET_INSPECT_INFO and DOTNET_INSPECT_TRACE_MERMAID environment
  variables no longer affect output. Supported Debug
  --evidence-envelope <path> routes, such as diff --history, expose
  House acquisition evidence with per-acquisition transfer receipts;
  these are not a replacement global Release-build diagnostic switch
  (#8472).
• Breaking: Package file sections are now Files, Nuspec, README,
  Licenses, and Skills (and Project's document section is README).
  package --files selects Files in place of --layout; --lib,
  --tools, and Files --tfm select typed file rows. --tfms selects
  Target Frameworks, including its ordinary section row and JSON contracts,
  rather than a separate renderer. Package inspection now accepts one
  Package coordinate, not a plural cross-product (#9379, #9637, #9709,
  #10943).
• Breaking: The exact metadata/IL location route is library address,
  not library coordinate; it retains exact method-token/offset and
  metadata-heap addressing, including bounded --file input. A lone
  selected Library table streams its native rows while --markdown requests
  its document presentation (#8655, #9026, #9598).
• Adds a complete exact Type Signature alongside Type Info and shared
  Browser Type Overview, including nested generic constraints. Member
  navigation distinguishes a method group from an exact overload and makes
  overload selectors replayable; an exact Member's default selected view is
  its Signature. Source/documentation requests are explicit rather than
  inferred from Detailed verbosity (#9220, #10682, #10763, #10782, #10820,
  #10848, #10887).

Workspaces and Inspect Web

• Breaking: workspace now authors a portable definition without
  acquisition by default: --json produces packet JSON, --share url
  produces an activation URL, and --inventory explicitly requests live
  exhaustive inventory. Package, Library, Type, and Member commands admit
  Workspace context directly. Saved Package Library and Member views can be
  replayed through ordinary inspection where supported; a packet does not
  imply that every section has saved replay (#8957, #10355, #10464, #10527).
• Adds first-class Project inputs and dependency views to Workspace and
  Inspect Web, including local Project upload and explicit Project navigation.
  CLI depends --project-document <file> accepts a supplied .csproj or
  project.assets.json without treating it as a Package coordinate.
  Registered Ecosystems and Package prefixes can also provide Workspace
  search scope (#9664, #10306, #10573, #10637, #10730, #10757, #10835).
• Adds routed whole-Type Explore, exact-body Inspect, Library Complexity
  Explorer and Relationship Crossing, plus a Member Diff Explore that keeps
  classified changes and endpoint-aware Source available. Member Body
  Compare admits compatible baseline assets; graph Explore supplies target
  and fit framing. These Browser experiences retain exact selection and
  Workspace context instead of relying on presentation text for identity
  (#8378, #8407, #8463, #8491, #8538, #8980, #9740).
• Spotlight surfaces installed capabilities, ranked Type/Member search,
  Package-prefix discovery, and indexed Browser Type Find. Package navigation
  defaults to Package Overview while explicit Library routes remain.
  Browser Library Analysis exposes progressive-disclosure Unsafe member
  evidence and shared Library References, alongside its existing Metrics,
  Relationships, and Performance views (#8752, #9600, #10723, #10741,
  #10744, #10766, #10821).

Packages, dependencies, and acquisition

• Reads selected exact-package archive entries by range where the source
  permits, including Package-backed API search, documents, and focused
  Browser Package opens; semantic demands avoid acquiring unrelated
  Libraries for supported Package inspections. PackageHouse still chooses
  complete acquisition or fallback when required. Selected-Files and
  Package Info views preserve their established content rather than
  promising every request is range-only (#8415, #8423, #8489, #9677,
  #9785, #9995, #10789).
• Adds direct lib/*.dll assets to the Package Library population's
  framework-agnostic any slice and keeps even empty selected frameworks
  inspectable as Package Overview, without inventing Libraries. Browser
  package versions expose independent Prerelease and Unlisted controls,
  both off by default. Package Activity Ecosystem selection now follows
  recorded prefixes instead of curated package lists; its structured
  ecosystem-change-report moves to schema 2 (#8822, #9554, #10159,
  #10213).
• Extends dependency inspection with a levelized Library namespace
  Dependency Structure, explicit depends -S Pruning against platform
  Libraries, and a Latest Versions view that distinguishes the
  compatibility target from the latest compatible version. License inventory
  and Package-source operations retain bounded, visible acquisition;
  application-authored references receive policy evidence rather than
  silently changing graph traversal (#9184, #10017, #10045, #10267).
• Package-origin graph calls continues through dependencies and eligible
  Platform targets while preserving Package/Library ownership on exact
  navigation. External references resolve progressively; missing
  implementation assets are not silently replaced with reference-only
  Libraries. Breaking: graph cluster N opens a Direct-Use Cluster;
  Graph Libraries' former --where "Cluster=N" reopening is retired
  (#8419, #9309, #9601, #10760).

Analysis, comparisons, and source fidelity

• Adds named pairwise diff --analysis selectors and combined
  Summary, Changes, and Transitions views; the default remains API
  comparison. Opt-in analyses include exact unsafe-member census changes
  and string-literal findings with explained predicate rules. Breaking:
  pairwise --finding and Finding Transitions are replaced by the
  analysis selector and Transitions; history retains its separate
  --finding contract (#8769, #10798, #10878).
• Provides structural Type hierarchy under Type sections instead of the
  retired top-level implements command. Library Metrics gain JSON
  transport, navigable Complexity and Relationship evidence, Resource
  Triage, and Performance: Sync Calls in Async. The unsafe member census
  groups compiler-generated bodies under declaring members; an incomplete
  Unsafe Members view discloses partial results and exits nonzero, while
  per-site evidence remains in its other sections (#8589, #9291, #9630,
  #9720, #9840, #10735).
• Separates authored-first Source from forced PDB/decompiled providers;
  @Source includes Source Diff, while Annotated Source and IL remain under
  @Decompiler. Source Diff identifies whitespace-only and moved changes.
  Inspect Web can request Platform Type Source and explicit decompiled Type
  source. Bounded PDB provenance and SourceHouse settlement retain visible
  provider, checksum, and unavailable-source outcomes (#8488, #8520, #8521,
  #8921, #8926, #9581, #10666, #10672).
• Improves decompiled C# for reference joins, structured local functions,
  classic-async receiver aliases and ordered cleanup, by-ref parameter
  modifiers, and verified state-machine relationships. Body Shapes selection
  can stop once its requested prefix is established, but a search that could
  not inspect every required body now prints observed rows, reports the gap,
  and exits nonzero instead of claiming no matches (#9266, #9733, #9735,
  #9736, #9808, #9823, #10033, #10286).
• Preserves typed exact-method identity, source correspondences, and
  exception-clause differences through analysis and canonical IL comparison.
  Mixed IL-coordinate semantic inspection shares focused method analysis
  instead of repeating complete method work; exact Package Type and Member
  sections acquire only the evidence they need where supported (#9256,
  #10121, #10455, #10707, #10773, #10853).

Runtime and agent guidance

• Narrows selected Package and Platform acquisition and removes repeated
  metadata work in bounded Find, Member search, and analysis. Focused
  NativeAOT evidence accompanies improvements such as source-native Member
  Find windows and shared mixed-coordinate analysis; these do not assert
  that every online or full-inventory workload is faster (#9756, #10165,
  #10535, #10707, #10789).
• Updates the shipped skill and README guidance around basic tasks and
  common arguments, with installed explain, exact Member --explain /
  -E, and subject/section discovery for deeper questions. The guides now
  signpost portable Workspace packet/URL replay, supplied Project files,
  package dependency-license inventory and root exclusion, vocabulary
  resources, and .NET Metadata and IL Analysis Tool discovery instead of
  prescribing retired command spellings (#10815, #10827, #10961, #10964).