CSnakes

CSnakes - a tool for embedding Python code into .NET projects

Documentation CSnakes is a .NET Source Generator and Runtime that you can use to embed Python code and libraries into your C#.NET Solution at a performant, low-level without the need for REST, HTTP, or Microservices.

Check out the getting started guide or check out the demo solution to see more.

Features

• Supports .NET 8 and 9
• Supports Python 3.9-3.13
• Supports Virtual Environments and C-Extensions
• Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Tight integration between NumPy ndarrays and Spans, 2D Spans and TensorSpans (.NET 9)
• ⚡ Uses Python's C-API for fast invocation of Python code directly in the .NET process
• Uses Python type hinting to generate function signatures with .NET native types
• Supports CPython 3.13 "free-threading" mode
• Supports nested sequence and mapping types (tuple, dict, list)
• ️ Supports default values
• Supports Hot Reload of Python code in Visual Studio and supported IDEs
• Supports UV for fast installation of Python packages and dependencies

Benefits

• Uses native Python type hinting standards to produce clean, readable C# code with minimal boiler plate!
• Integration between .NET and Python is done at the C-API, meaning strong compatibility between Python versions 3.8-3.13 and .NET 8-9.
• Integration is low-level and high-performance.
• CSnakes uses the CPython C-API and is compatible with all Python extensions.
• Invocation of Python code and libraries is in the same process as .NET Click to watch the CSnakes demo video on YouTube

Example

CSnakes will generate a C#.NET class for any Python file in a project that is tagged as CSharp Analyzer Additional File (see Getting Started). All functions in that class with type annotations will be reflected to callable C# methods and an environment builder added to that module.

Given the following Python file called example.py

def hello_world(name: str, age: int) -> str:
  return f"Hello {name}, you must be {age} years old!"

CSnakes will generate a static .NET class called Example with the function:

public class Example {
  public static string HelloWorld(string name, long age) {
    ...
  }
}

When called, HelloWorld() will invoke the Python function from example.py using Python's C-API and return native .NET types.

FAQ

See the FAQ for more information.