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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/ProwlEngine/Prowl.Echo/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Prowl.Echo is distributed as a single NuGet package that includes both the runtime library and the bundled source generator. There is no separate analyzer package to install — everything you need for zero-reflection, compile-time serialization ships in one reference.

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Supported Frameworks

The Prowl.Echo package targets multiple frameworks and the NuGet toolchain automatically selects the correct build for your project. No manual framework selection is required.
FrameworkSupported
.NET 6.0✅
.NET 7.0✅
.NET 8.0✅
.NET 9.0✅

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Installing via the .NET CLI

Run the following command in the directory containing your .csproj file: 
dotnet add package Prowl.Echo
This adds the latest stable version of Prowl.Echo to your project and restores the package automatically.

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Installing via PackageReference

Add the following entry to the <ItemGroup> in your .csproj file to pin to the current stable release: 
<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="Prowl.Echo" Version="2.2.1" />
</ItemGroup>
After saving the file, run dotnet restore (or let your IDE restore automatically) to download the package.

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The Bundled Source Generator

The Prowl.Echo NuGet package ships the Echo.SourceGenerator Roslyn analyzer inside the analyzers/dotnet/cs package path. When you reference Prowl.Echo, the source generator is registered automatically — no additional <PackageReference> entry, no IsPackable flag, and no manual analyzer registration is needed. To activate source generation for a type, annotate it with [GenerateSerializer] and declare the type as partial: 
using Prowl.Echo;

[GenerateSerializer]
public partial class SaveData
{
    public string PlayerName = "";
    public int Level = 1;
    public float PlaytimeHours = 0f;
}
The partial keyword is required for [GenerateSerializer] to work. The source generator emits a second partial declaration that adds the ISerializable implementation alongside your own code. If partial is absent the build will fail with a generator diagnostic.
The generator supports classes and structs. For small, fixed-layout value types, combine [GenerateSerializer] with [FixedEchoStructure] to enable compact positional serialization that omits field names entirely: 
<!-- Complete .csproj example with Prowl.Echo -->
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Prowl.Echo" Version="2.2.1" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

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Verifying the Installation

After installing, add the following snippet to confirm that both the runtime and source generator are working correctly: 
using Prowl.Echo;

[GenerateSerializer]
public partial class Ping
{
    public string Message = "hello";
}

var echo = Serializer.Serialize(new Ping());
var result = Serializer.Deserialize<Ping>(echo)!;
Console.WriteLine(result.Message); // hello
If the project builds without errors and prints hello, Prowl.Echo is installed and the source generator is active.

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