.NET Compile in VS Code

Some offensive tooling and PoCs ship as raw C# source rather than a compiled binary. Here’s the quickest path to compiling one from Visual Studio Code, without needing the full Visual Studio IDE.

Set up the project

Install the .NET SDK and the C# extension for VS Code (VS Code will prompt to install it automatically once you open a .cs file).

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dotnet new console -n YourAppName   # Scaffold a new console application
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cd YourAppName

Drop your source into the generated project, then build and run it:

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dotnet build --configuration Release
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dotnet run --project YourAppName

Target an older .NET version

If you have the .NET 8 SDK installed but need to build against an older runtime (down to .NET 5), edit the .csproj file:

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<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>   <!-- was net8.0 -->

For .NET 4.0 and below, also comment out ImplicitUsings and Nullable in the same file, then build again:

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dotnet build --configuration Release