monodevelop

Cross-platform IDE for .NET, Mono, C#, and F#

TLDR

Start MonoDevelop

$ monodevelop

Open a solution file

$ monodevelop [solution.sln]

Open a project file

$ monodevelop [project.csproj]

Open in a new window

$ monodevelop --newwindow [solution.sln]

Skip splash screen

$ monodevelop --nologo

SYNOPSIS

monodevelop [options] [files...]

monodevelop is a cross-platform integrated development environment for .NET and Mono. It supports C#, F#, Visual Basic, and a range of other languages via add-ins. Features include code completion (IntelliSense-equivalent), an integrated debugger, version control integration (Git, Subversion), refactorings, NuGet support, and a project/solution model compatible with Microsoft Visual Studio.On macOS the same codebase is shipped as Visual Studio for Mac. Linux distributions usually package it as monodevelop.

PARAMETERS

--newwindow

Open the given file or solution in a new window instead of focusing an existing one.

--nologo

Skip the splash screen during startup.

--ipc-tcp

Use a TCP socket for inter-process communication (useful when Unix sockets are unavailable).

--perf-log

Enable performance logging for diagnostics.

-v, --version

Display version information.

-h, --help

Display usage information.

CAVEATS

MonoDevelop development has slowed considerably; Visual Studio for Mac was discontinued by Microsoft in August 2024, and active .NET development on Linux/macOS has largely shifted to Visual Studio Code with the C# extension or JetBrains Rider. Recent .NET SDKs may not be fully supported.

HISTORY

MonoDevelop began as a port of SharpDevelop for the Mono platform around 2003, led by the Mono team at Ximian/Novell. It became Microsoft's Visual Studio for Mac after the Xamarin acquisition in 2016. Microsoft retired Visual Studio for Mac on 31 August 2024.