Documentation

Everything you need to build with CSharpDB — reference docs, runnable samples, and guided tutorials.

Choose the right path: use Runnable Samples when you want complete projects and working example code. Use Guided Tutorials when you want an explanation-first walkthrough of a feature, pattern, or subsystem.

Start Here

Runnable Samples

Complete example apps and practical code you can run locally and adapt to your own project.

Guided Tutorials

Step-by-step explanation-first walkthroughs for bulk import, daemon hosting, storage internals, and other focused topics.

Core Concepts

DbType, DbValue, TableSchema, IndexSchema — the foundational types that power the database.

SQL Reference

DDL, DML, JOINs, aggregates, CTEs, subqueries, views, triggers, data hygiene commands, stored procedures, and built-in functions.

Collection API

Typed Collection<T> with JSON serialization, nested path indexing, array-element queries, and range scans.

Full-Text Search

Built-in FTS with Unicode tokenization, term-intersection queries, and automatic index maintenance.

ETL Pipelines

Built-in pipeline runtime with CSV/JSON connectors, transforms, validation, dry-run, and run history.

Database Modes

File-based, in-memory, and hybrid (lazy-resident) — how each mode works and when to use it.

Storage Engine

B+tree operations, paging, transactions, WAL, checkpointing, serialization, and diagnostics.

Storage Architecture Deep Dive

Pager, WAL, B+tree, SchemaCatalog — how the storage engine components collaborate.

Tools & Ecosystem

CLI REPL, Admin UI, REST API, gRPC daemon, Client SDK, ADO.NET provider, MCP server, and VS Code extension.

Database DevOps

Schema compare, data compare, drift reports, script previews, and Admin Compare / Deploy workflows.

Configuration

Connection strings, storage modes, daemon settings, Admin hosting, CLI flags, and environment variables.

EF Core Provider

Use DbContext, migrations, LINQ, and embedded storage tuning with CSharpDB.EntityFrameworkCore.

ADO.NET / EF Tuning

Embedded storage presets and open modes for ADO.NET and Entity Framework Core applications.

Admin UI Guide

CSharpDB Studio — browse data, write SQL, manage schemas, design pipelines, and inspect storage.

Admin Collections

Browse, inspect, create, update, and delete JSON documents from the Admin workspace.

Reports

Visual report designer with banded layouts, grouping, sorting, expressions, aggregates, and printable preview.

CLI Reference

Interactive REPL, meta-commands, SQL introspection, transaction management, and storage inspector commands.

Trusted C#

Form Controls

Add custom Blazor designer previews, runtime controls, and property editors to Admin Forms.

REST API

HTTP endpoints for tables, rows, indexes, views, triggers, SQL execution, and stored procedures.

MCP Server

Connect AI assistants — Claude, Cursor, VS Code, LM Studio — to CSharpDB via Model Context Protocol.

Internals & Contributing

Project structure, query flow walkthrough, adding SQL statements, testing strategy, and concurrency model.

FAQ

Common questions about setup, SQL, schema, the CLI, Admin UI, and development workflow.

Storage Inspector

Read-only diagnostics — database file, WAL, page, and index integrity checks with JSON output.

Collection Indexing

Document indexes — scalar, nested object, array-element paths with equality and range queries.

Storage Engine Reference

Low-level API walkthrough — IStorageDevice, Pager, B+tree, WAL, SlottedPage, indexing, and schema catalog.

Collation Support

Case-insensitive and locale-aware sorting plan — NOCASE, ICU, COLLATE clause for queries and indexes.

Migrations

CSharpDB.Core to CSharpDB.Primitives — namespace, project reference, and package migration guide.