ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin 0.18.0 

dotnet add package ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin --version 0.18.0
                    


                    

                
NuGet\Install-Package ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin -Version 0.18.0
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package. 
<PackageReference Include="ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin" Version="0.18.0">
  <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
  <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers</IncludeAssets>
</PackageReference>
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package. 
<PackageVersion Include="ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin" Version="0.18.0" />
                    


                            Directory.Packages.props
                        

                    

                
<PackageReference Include="ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin">
  <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
  <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers</IncludeAssets>
</PackageReference>
                    


                            Project file
For projects that support Central Package Management (CPM), copy this XML node into the solution Directory.Packages.props file to version the package. 
paket add ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin --version 0.18.0
                    


                    

                
#r "nuget: ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin, 0.18.0"
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package. 
#:package ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin@0.18.0
#:package directive can be used in C# file-based apps starting in .NET 10 preview 4. Copy this into a .cs file before any lines of code to reference the package. 
#addin nuget:?package=ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin&version=0.18.0
                    


                            Install as a Cake Addin
                        

                    

                
#tool nuget:?package=ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin&version=0.18.0
                    


                            Install as a Cake Tool

ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin

A MonoGame Content Builder (MGCB) content-processor plugin that compiles your .fx shaders with ShadowDusk, inside MGCB's own process — no mgfxc, no fxc.exe, no Wine, no Windows SDK. It works on Linux, macOS, and Windows build agents alike.

This is a delivery shape of the ShadowDusk compiler library, not a second compiler. The processor builds a CompilerOptions from MGCB's build context and calls the same EffectCompiler the ShadowDusk CLI and the runtime API call, so the .mgfx bytes inside the .xnb are byte-for-byte what the CLI emits for the same source and target.

MGCB compiles .fx in-process and never launches an external effect compiler, so putting a drop-in mgfxc on PATH does not route an .mgcb build through ShadowDusk. This plugin is the route.

Install

dotnet add package ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin

It is a build-time (DevelopmentDependency) package: nothing from it ends up in your shipped game assembly.

Use

Add a /reference: line to your .mgcb, then select the ShadowDusk importer and processor on each effect:

/reference:$(NuGetPackageRoot)shadowdusk.mgcbplugin/<version>/tools/net8.0/any/ShadowDusk.MgcbPlugin.dll

#begin MyEffect.fx
/importer:ShadowDuskEffectImporter
/processor:ShadowDuskEffectProcessor
/build:MyEffect.fx

MGCB's /reference: needs a real path, so spell out the package-cache path (or copy the tools/net8.0/any directory somewhere stable in your repo and point at that). Everything the plugin needs — the ShadowDusk assemblies and the pinned DXC, SPIRV-Cross, and vkd3d-shader natives — ships in that one directory.

Nothing else is required. The target is derived from the content project's own /platform: line, and the output is the backwards-compatible MGFX v10 container that every MonoGame 3.8.1.263+ and KNI runtime loads.

.mgcb /platform: ShadowDusk target
Windows DirectX 11 (DXBC SM5)
DesktopGL, MacOSX, iOS, Android, RaspberryPi, Web, NativeClient OpenGL (GLSL)
PlayStation4, PlayStation5, XboxOne, Switch, Xbox360, Stadia not supported — fails loudly

Processor parameters

Every one is optional; the defaults are the correct path.

/processorParam: Default What it does
DebugMode Auto Auto follows the content build configuration, exactly like MonoGame's stock EffectProcessor. Debug / Optimize force it.
Defines (empty) Preprocessor macros, in mgfxc's /Defines: spelling: NAME=VALUE entries separated by ; or ,; a bare NAME defines it as 1.
IncludeDirs (empty) Extra #include search directories, ;-separated. The including file's own directory is always searched first.
ShaderProfile (empty) Escape hatch. Overrides the target derived from /platform:. DirectX_11, DirectX_12, OpenGL, Vulkan — needed only for MonoGame's WindowsDX12 / DesktopVK runtimes, which MGCB's platform list cannot name.
MgfxVersion 10 Escape hatch. 11 opts into the newer MGFX container (MonoGame 3.8.5+).
DxbcBackend vkd3d Escape hatch. d3dcompiler opts into the Windows-only correctness oracle for the DirectX target.

Diagnostics

Shader errors surface through MGCB in the file(line,col-col): error CODE: message form fxc/mgfxc use and MSBuild and IDEs parse, with the underlying compiler's own words verbatim beneath. The build fails; nothing is silently swallowed.

Learn more

There are no supported framework assets in this package.

Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

This package has no dependencies.

NuGet packages

This package is not used by any NuGet packages.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last Updated
0.18.0 106 8/3/2026
0.17.0 112 8/1/2026