DotNetCoreOutputToConsole

A lightweight ASP.NET Core helper library that allows developers to output logs, variables, and errors directly into the browser console using inline <script> injection.

Ideal for Development, Debug, and UAT environments.

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📥 Download

You can download the full source code from your GitHub repository once uploaded:

https://github.com/<your-account>/DotNetCoreOutputToConsole

If you need a GitHub release ZIP template, just tell me.

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✨ Features

• Write messages directly to browser DevTools console
• Supports multiple console API functions:
  • console.log
  • console.info
  • console.warn
  • console.error
  • console.trace
  • console.table
• Automatically JSON-encodes objects (safe for XSS)
• Easy integration with ASP.NET Core
• Only runs in:
  • Development
  • Staging
  • UAT
• Works with:
  • Minimal API
  • MVC
  • Razor Pages

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❗ Not Supported

This library does NOT support Blazor Web App, Blazor Server, or Blazor WebAssembly.

Blazor does NOT execute inline <script> inside its rendering pipeline.
To support Blazor, a JSInterop-based version would be required (future extension).

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📦 Installation

Add the library project reference:

<ProjectReferenceInclude="..\DotNetCoreOutputToConsole\DotNetCoreOutputToConsole.csproj" />

Or include the source project directly in your solution.

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⚙ Environment Setup

Set the environment name so console output only appears in safe environments:

ConsoleOutputSettings.CurrentEnvironment=builder.Environment.EnvironmentName;

The library will ONLY output console messages when the environment is:

• Development
• Staging
• UAT

In Production, all calls become no-ops (silently ignored).

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🚀 Usage Examples

⭐ Minimal API Example

app.MapGet("/test",async ctx =>{awaitBrowserConsole.Log(ctx.Response,"Hello from Minimal API");awaitBrowserConsole.Info(ctx.Response,new{User="livecode",Time=DateTime.UtcNow});awaitBrowserConsole.Warn(ctx.Response,"This is a warning");awaitBrowserConsole.Error(ctx.Response,"This is an error");awaitBrowserConsole.Trace(ctx.Response,"Trace message");awaitBrowserConsole.Table(ctx.Response,new[]{new{Id=1,Name="Item A"},new{Id=2,Name="Item B"}});awaitctx.Response.WriteAsync("<h3>Console test complete – open DevTools.</h3>");});

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⭐ MVC Example

Controller

publicclassHomeController:Controller{publicIActionResultIndex(){BrowserConsole.Log(Response,"MVC HomeController loaded");BrowserConsole.Info(Response,new{Page="Home/Index",Time=DateTime.UtcNow});BrowserConsole.Warn(Response,"This is a test warning from MVC");BrowserConsole.Error(Response,new{Error="Something failed",Code=500});returnView();}}

View (Views/Home/Index.cshtml)

<h2>MVC Console Test Page</h2><p>Check your browser console.</p>

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⭐ Razor Pages Example

Pages/Index.cshtml.cs

publicclassIndexModel:PageModel{publicvoidOnGet(){BrowserConsole.Info(Response,"Razor Page Loaded");BrowserConsole.Table(Response,new[]{new{Id=1,Description="Razor Row 1"},new{Id=2,Description="Razor Row 2"}});}}

Pages/Index.cshtml

@page
@model IndexModel
<h3>Razor Pages Console Test</h3><p>Open browser DevTools → Console.</p>

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🧩 Console API Supported

Function	Method in Library	Example Usage
console.log	BrowserConsole.Log()	await BrowserConsole.Log(Response, "msg");
console.info	BrowserConsole.Info()	await BrowserConsole.Info(Response, obj);
console.warn	BrowserConsole.Warn()	await BrowserConsole.Warn(Response, "warn");
console.error	BrowserConsole.Error()	await BrowserConsole.Error(Response, ex);
console.trace	BrowserConsole.Trace()	await BrowserConsole.Trace(Response, "trace");
console.table	BrowserConsole.Table()	await BrowserConsole.Table(Response, list);

All methods serialize objects to JSON and safely embed them into <script> blocks, which are then executed by the browser.

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🔐 Security Notes

• Objects are JSON-encoded before being written into the script.
• Output is restricted to non-production environments via ConsoleOutputSettings.
• If writing to the response fails (stream closed, headers sent, etc.), the library will silently ignore the error so it never breaks your application behavior.

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📁 Project Structure

A typical solution layout:

DotNetCoreOutputToConsole/
│
├── src/
│ ├── DotNetCoreOutputToConsole/
│ │ ├── DotNetCoreOutputToConsole.csproj
│ │ ├── BrowserConsole.cs
│ │ └── Config/
│ │ └── ConsoleOutputSettings.cs
│ │
│ ├── DotNetCoreOutputToConsole.Tests/
│ │ ├── DotNetCoreOutputToConsole.Tests.csproj
│ │ ├── BrowserConsoleTests.cs
│ │ └── Config/
│ │ └── ConsoleOutputSettingsTests.cs
│ │
│ ├── MinimalApiConsoleTestApp/
│ │ ├── MinimalApiConsoleTestApp.csproj
│ │ └── Program.cs
│ │
│ ├── MvcConsoleTestApp/
│ │ ├── MvcConsoleTestApp.csproj
│ │ ├── Program.cs
│ │ ├── Controllers/
│ │ │ └── HomeController.cs
│ │ └── Views/
│ │ └── Home/
│ │ └── Index.cshtml
│ │
│ └── RazorPagesConsoleTestApp/
│ ├── RazorPagesConsoleTestApp.csproj
│ ├── Program.cs
│ └── Pages/
│ ├── Index.cshtml
│ └── Index.cshtml.cs
│
└── README.md

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🧪 Unit Tests

Unit tests (in DotNetCoreOutputToConsole.Tests) may include:

• Verifying console script injection content contains the correct function (log/info/warn/error/trace/table).
• Ensuring no content is written when environment is Production.
• Verifying that different message types (string, object, collections) serialize correctly to JSON.

Example snippet:

[Fact]publicasyncTaskLog_WritesConsoleLogScriptInDev(){ConsoleOutputSettings.CurrentEnvironment="Development";varctx=newDefaultHttpContext();ctx.Response.Body=newMemoryStream();awaitBrowserConsole.Log(ctx.Response,"Test message");ctx.Response.Body.Seek(0,SeekOrigin.Begin);varhtml=newStreamReader(ctx.Response.Body).ReadToEnd();Assert.Contains("console.log",html);Assert.Contains("Test message",html);}

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👤 Author

livecode

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📝 License

MIT License — see LICENSE.

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⭐ Support This Project

If this library makes your ASP.NET Core debugging easier, consider giving it a ⭐ on GitHub!