DnRelay 1.0.0

DnRelay

dnrelay is a compact wrapper around dotnet for AI agents and humans.

It keeps the full child output in repo-local logs, but prints a short stable summary by default. It also adds repo-aware locking, timeout control, environment injection, and tighter handling for noisy commands like tests and benchmarks.

By default, dnrelay asks the .NET CLI to emit English UI text via DOTNET_CLI_UI_LANGUAGE=en-US so summaries and saved logs stay stable across machines and operating systems. If you need a different language, override it with --env DOTNET_CLI_UI_LANGUAGE=<value>.

Additional guidance:

• generic usage guidance: BEST_PRACTICES.md
• repo-specific dogfooding notes: DOGFOODING.md

Status

Current commands:

• build
• test
• run
• bench
• stats
• kill
• config

Companion development tool:

• dnrelay-tool

Current design goals:

• short default output
• full logs on disk
• explicit timeout control
• --env and --env-file
• conservative locking where project metadata makes conflicts inferable
• practical dogfooding as a local .NET tool
• NativeAOT-friendly implementation choices

NativeAOT

The current implementation is written to stay friendly to NativeAOT:

• regex uses GeneratedRegexAttribute
• JSON output and lock metadata serialization use source-generated System.Text.Json metadata

Current validation command:

dotnet publish src\DnRelay\DnRelay.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 /p:PublishAot=true

Install

Install dnrelay as a global .NET tool:

dotnet tool install --global DnRelay

After global install, use the short command directly:

dnrelay --help

NuGet package:

• DnRelay

Update:

dotnet tool update --global DnRelay

Uninstall:

dotnet tool uninstall --global DnRelay

For repository-local pinning instead of global install:

dotnet new tool-manifest
dotnet tool install --local DnRelay
dotnet dnrelay --help

Companion Tool

dnrelay-tool is a separate development helper, not part of the main execution wrapper surface.

Current companion command:

• tool-refresh

Install:

dotnet tool install --global DnRelay.Tool

Package:

• DnRelay.Tool

Example:

dnrelay-tool tool-refresh
dnrelay-tool tool-refresh --bump minor
dnrelay-tool tool-refresh --version 2.0.0-rc.1
dnrelay-tool tool-refresh src\DnRelay.Tool\DnRelay.Tool.csproj

tool-refresh:

• reads version from either <Version> or <VersionPrefix> plus optional <VersionSuffix>
• defaults to patch, or uses <ToolRefreshBump> when present in the target project
• accepts --bump patch|minor|major
• accepts --version <semver> for an explicit target version
• updates the local tool if it is already installed, or installs it into the local manifest if not

Commands

config

dnrelay config logs .artifacts\logs
dnrelay config logs .artifacts\logs --force

config logs writes .dnrelay\config.json with a logsDir entry for the current repository.

build

dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj
dnrelay build --target src\App\App.csproj
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --timeout 30s
dnrelay build src\App.slnx --json
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --env ContinuousIntegrationBuild=true
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --env-file .env.build
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --logs-dir .artifacts\logs
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj -- --no-restore
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj -- -c Release -p:TreatWarningsAsErrors=true
dnrelay build samples\DnRelay.BuildWarningSmokeApp\DnRelay.BuildWarningSmokeApp.csproj
dnrelay build samples\DnRelay.BuildErrorSmokeApp\DnRelay.BuildErrorSmokeApp.csproj

Summary includes:

• status
• target
• duration
• warning count
• error count
• log path
• lock scope summary
• lock wait duration

Text mode also prints an immediate BUILD STARTED block with the target and log path before lock wait or execution begins.

Build smoke samples in this repo:

• samples\DnRelay.BuildWarningSmokeApp\DnRelay.BuildWarningSmokeApp.csproj
  • succeeds with a nullable warning so warnings: and top warnings: can be dogfooded
• samples\DnRelay.BuildErrorSmokeApp\DnRelay.BuildErrorSmokeApp.csproj
  • fails with a compile error so errors: and top errors: can be dogfooded

test

dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj
dnrelay test --target tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --env ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --env-file .env.test
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --logs-dir .artifacts\logs
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --timeout 2m
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --json
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj -- --filter MyTest
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj -- --filter Category=Smoke
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj -- --logger "console;verbosity=minimal"

test writes a full log and a .trx file, then summarizes:

• total
• passed
• failed
• skipped
• errors
• top failures
• log path
• trx path
• lock scope summary
• lock wait duration

Text mode also prints an immediate TEST STARTED block with the target and log path before lock wait or execution begins.

run

dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj
dnrelay run --target src\App\App.csproj
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --timeout 45s
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --logs-dir .artifacts\logs
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --env-file .env.local
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --env ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --json
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --no-build
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --raw
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj -- --urls http://localhost:5007
dnrelay run --project samples\DnRelay.RunSmokeApp\DnRelay.RunSmokeApp.csproj -- 1000

run builds first under a project-graph-aware build lock when needed, then executes with --no-build. This avoids holding the build lock across the whole process.

In normal use, do not pass --no-build. dnrelay run already decides whether it needs a coordinated build phase, then invokes dotnet run --no-build internally for the actual execution step. Pass top-level --no-build only when you intentionally want to skip dnrelay's build phase because you already know the outputs are up to date.

Summary includes:

• status
• target
• duration
• exit code
• log path
• optional raw output streaming
• bounded output tail

Text mode also prints an immediate RUN STARTED block with the target and log path before build coordination or execution begins.

kill

dnrelay stats
dnrelay stats --json
dnrelay kill 12345
dnrelay kill 12345 --json
dnrelay kill *

kill is a repo-local cleanup command for lingering dnrelay-related processes.

Use dnrelay stats first to see active process ids and lock owners for the current repository.

kill accepts:

• a process id shown by dnrelay stats
• * to kill every dnrelay-related process for the repository

This is mainly useful for cases such as:

• leftover testhost processes after test
• long-running run processes you want to stop quickly
• stale benchmark processes during dogfooding

stats

dnrelay stats
dnrelay stats --json

stats shows:

• active tracked dnrelay processes for the repository
• active lock owners under .dnrelay\locks\
• process id, command, target, and start time
• automatic cleanup of stale .dnrelay\pids\*.json and .dnrelay\locks\*.json records when their owner pid is already gone

This is the primary way to discover ids for dnrelay kill.

bench

dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj
dnrelay bench --target perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj -- --filter *Parser*
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj --json -- --filter *Parser*
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj -c Release
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj --timeout 10m
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj --logs-dir .artifacts\logs
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj --env DOTNET_TieredPGO=1
dnrelay bench --project perf\Benchmarks\Benchmarks.csproj -- --job short --filter *Parser*
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSingleSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSingleSmokeApp.csproj
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj --list
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj --select 2
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj --select ParserBenchmarks
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj -- --filter *Parser*
dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchFailureSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchFailureSmokeApp.csproj

bench is intended for BenchmarkDotNet-style projects. It:

1. builds under a project-graph-aware build lock
2. releases that lock
3. runs the benchmark under a narrower project-scoped bench lock

This keeps build coordination conservative without blocking unrelated repo work for the full benchmark duration.

Summary includes:

• status
• target
• duration
• exit code
• log path
• BenchmarkDotNet artifacts path
• compact highlights
• bounded output tail
• build lock scope summary
• build lock wait duration

Text mode also prints an immediate BENCH STARTED block with the target and log path before build coordination begins.

The full details still live in BenchmarkDotNet.Artifacts.

The sample benchmark projects in this repo cover three dogfooding patterns:

• DnRelay.BenchSingleSmokeApp: one benchmark, runs directly without selection
• DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp: multiple benchmarks, exercises --list, --select, and --filter
• DnRelay.BenchFailureSmokeApp: throwing benchmark, exercises benchmark failure reporting

All of them use ShortRunJob so iteration stays fast.

If multiple benchmarks are discovered and you did not pass --select or --filter, the harness prints the benchmark list and exits instead of entering interactive selection. Use --list to inspect candidates, --select <index> to run one benchmark by number, or --select <name> / --filter for name-based selection.

bench output format

bench has three main output shapes:

1. list output
2. selection-required output
3. progress plus final summary when execution starts

Example for list mode:

BENCH STARTED
target: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
log: .dnrelay\logs\bench-20260412-121957-221-pid188612.txt
BENCH LIST
project: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
benchmarks:
- [0] FormattingBenchmarks.JoinWithStringJoin
- [1] FormattingBenchmarks.JoinWithStringBuilder
- [2] ParserBenchmarks.ParseCsv
- [3] ParserBenchmarks.ParsePipeSeparated

Example for selection-required mode:

BENCH STARTED
target: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
log: .dnrelay\logs\bench-20260412-121957-226-pid193604.txt
BENCH SELECTION REQUIRED
project: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
benchmarks:
- [0] FormattingBenchmarks.JoinWithStringJoin
- [1] FormattingBenchmarks.JoinWithStringBuilder
- [2] ParserBenchmarks.ParseCsv
- [3] ParserBenchmarks.ParsePipeSeparated
next:
- dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj --select 0
- dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj --select FormattingBenchmarks.JoinWithStringJoin
- dnrelay bench --project samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj -- --filter *SomeBenchmark*

Example for execution mode:

BENCH STARTED
target: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
log: .dnrelay\logs\bench-20260412-024109-141-pid213648.txt
benchmark running... 15s
BENCH SUCCEEDED
project: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
duration: 29.1s
exit code: 0
log: .dnrelay\logs\bench-20260412-024109-141-pid213648.txt
artifacts: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\BenchmarkDotNet.Artifacts\results
build lock: samples\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp\DnRelay.BenchSmokeApp.csproj
build lock wait: 0.0s
highlights:
- | Method   | Mean     | Error   | StdDev  |
- | ParseCsv | 885.7 ns | 3.42 ns | 3.20 ns |

Field meanings:

• benchmark running... <seconds>s
  • heartbeat only
  • indicates the benchmark process is still alive
  • not part of the final summary object
• <COMMAND> STARTED
  • immediate text-mode acknowledgement that the harness accepted the command
  • emitted before lock wait and before child process execution
  • includes the resolved target path and harness log path
  • suppressed in --json mode so the final JSON object remains the only stdout payload
• BENCH LIST
  • printed when --list is used
  • shows the discovered benchmark methods with stable numeric indices
• BENCH SELECTION REQUIRED
  • printed when multiple benchmarks are discovered and no --select or --filter was provided
  • intended to be the default agent-friendly flow for multi-benchmark assemblies
  • includes concrete next-command examples instead of entering interactive selection
• BENCH SUCCEEDED / BENCH FAILED / BENCH TIMED OUT
  • final harness status
• reason
  • optional failure-focused one-line diagnosis
  • appears when the harness can identify a benchmark issue such as an exception or invalid benchmark result set
• project
  • resolved benchmark project path relative to the repo root
• duration
  • total harness-observed wall-clock duration, including build phase and benchmark execution
• exit code
  • final process exit code returned by the harness
• log
  • full harness log path
• artifacts
  • BenchmarkDotNet results directory
  • this is the primary pointer for detailed benchmark reports such as .csv, .md, and .html
• build lock
  • the build-phase lock scope used before BenchmarkDotNet execution begins
• build lock wait
  • time spent waiting for the build-phase lock
• highlights
  • selected lines promoted from BenchmarkDotNet output
  • intended to give a compact human/agent-readable result without dumping the full log
  • successful runs prefer the final summary table rows only
  • if the table cannot be extracted, dnrelay falls back to the broader final summary section
  • failed runs may instead prefer exception and export lines
• output tail
  • bounded last lines from the benchmark output
  • primarily useful for failures and unusual final-context clues
  • successful runs may omit it entirely if the tail adds no value
  • not intended to be a stable machine-readable contract

JSON Contract

All --json modes emit exactly one final JSON object to stdout.

Shared fields:

• command
• status
• project
• duration
• exitCode
• timedOut
• log

build --json adds:

• warnings
• errors
• topWarnings
• topErrors

test --json adds:

• total
• passed
• failed
• skipped
• errors
• trx
• topFailures
• topErrors

run --json adds:

• outputTail

bench --json adds:

• artifacts
• reason
• selectionRequired
• availableBenchmarks
• highlights
• outputTail

stats --json adds:

• repo
• processes
• locks
• removedStaleProcessIds
• removedStaleLocks

Each processes[] entry includes:

• id
• command
• target
• started

Each locks[] entry includes:

• name
• ownerId
• state
• command
• target
• started

kill --json adds:

• selector
• repo
• matchedPids
• killedPids
• alreadyGonePids
• failedPids
• removedStaleProcessIds
• removedStaleLocks

Kill-specific status values:

• completed
• no_match
• failed

Bench-specific status values:

• listed
• selection_required
• succeeded
• failed
• timed_out

What is intentionally not in the main summary:

• full statistical detail such as histogram, quartiles, skewness, kurtosis, and confidence interval breakdown
• full environment dump
• full BenchmarkDotNet transcript

Those remain in:

• log
• artifacts

Practical interpretation:

• use --list first when you do not know the benchmark names
• use --select <index> for the most deterministic follow-up command
• read the summary first
• use highlights for quick result inspection
• use output tail for quick failure/context clues
• open log or BenchmarkDotNet.Artifacts when you need the full BenchmarkDotNet output contract

Common Options

Supported across the main commands:

• --json
• --timeout <duration>
• --logs-dir <path>
• --env KEY=VALUE
• --env-file <path>

Examples:

dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --timeout 30s
dnrelay build src\App\App.csproj --logs-dir .artifacts\logs
dnrelay test tests\App.Tests\App.Tests.csproj --env ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development
dnrelay run --project src\App\App.csproj --env-file .env.local

Logging And Artifacts

Harness logs go under:

.dnrelay/logs/

Test result artifacts go under:

artifacts/test-results/

BenchmarkDotNet keeps its own detailed artifacts under the benchmark project, typically:

<benchmark-project-dir>/BenchmarkDotNet.Artifacts/

The harness summary is the primary output. Logs and artifacts are for follow-up investigation.

Logs are written as UTF-8 without BOM, and child process stdout/stderr is decoded as UTF-8 by default so common Windows dotnet output stays readable in the saved transcript. dnrelay also defaults DOTNET_CLI_UI_LANGUAGE to en-US for its child dotnet processes so CLI and MSBuild output are consistently English unless you override that environment variable explicitly.

You can override the harness log directory per command with --logs-dir <path>. If the path is relative, it is resolved from the repository root.

You can also generate a repo-local default with:

dnrelay config logs .artifacts\logs

Or write .dnrelay\config.json directly:

{
  "logsDir": ".artifacts/logs"
}

Resolution order:

• --logs-dir
• .dnrelay\config.json logsDir
• default .dnrelay\logs\

Locking Model

Current locking policy:

• build and test resolve a project/solution lock scope from .csproj, .sln, or .slnx
• if that scope cannot be resolved safely, they fall back to a repo-wide build lock
• run uses the same build lock scope only for the build phase when needed
• bench uses the same build lock scope for the build phase, then a project-scoped bench lock for the benchmark run

Lock files and repo-local config live under:

.dnrelay/

In practice that means:

• .dnrelay\config.json for repo-local defaults
• .dnrelay\.gitignore auto-generated to ignore logs/, locks/, and pids/
• .dnrelay\logs\ for default harness logs
• .dnrelay\locks\ for build and bench coordination files
• .dnrelay\pids\ for tracked child process metadata used by kill

The intended rule is:

• lock what can be inferred from project/solution/build metadata
• do not try to infer arbitrary runtime resource conflicts such as ports, databases, or external services

If a runtime conflict is outside the project graph, normal failure plus compact summary is acceptable.

Help

Root help:

dnrelay --help
dnrelay-tool --help

Per-command help:

dnrelay build --help
dnrelay test --help
dnrelay run --help
dnrelay bench --help
dnrelay stats --help
dnrelay kill --help
dnrelay-tool tool-refresh --help