Getting Started: Building a Rich Console App

Create a New Project

Let's start by creating a new console application:

dotnet new console -n MySpectreApp
cd MySpectreApp

You should see a new folder called MySpectreApp with a basic console application inside.

Our project is ready.

Add Spectre.Console

Now let's add the Spectre.Console package:

dotnet add package Spectre.Console

You should see output confirming the package was installed. Now we're ready to write some code.

Display a Success Message

Let's start with a simple success message. We wrap text in color tags using [green]text[/]:

AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("[green]✓ Build completed successfully[/]");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see "✓ Build completed successfully" displayed in green. Notice how [/] closes the style - any text after it returns to the default color.

That's our first styled message.

Add a Warning Message

Now let's add a warning. We'll use a hex color code [#FFA500] for the orange symbol, and mix styled and plain text on the same line:

AnsiConsole.MarkupLineInterpolated($"[#FFA500]⚠[/] [yellow]3 warnings[/] in {fileName}");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see "⚠" in orange, "3 warnings" in yellow, and "in Authentication.cs" in the default color. Notice how we close each style with [/] before starting the next one.

Now we're mixing colors and plain text on a single line.

Show an Error Message

Errors need to stand out. Let's combine bold and red in a single tag by separating them with a space:

AnsiConsole.MarkupLineInterpolated($"[bold red]✗ Error:[/] Missing dependency '{dependency}'");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see "✗ Error:" in bold red, followed by the dependency name in the default style. Notice how [bold red] applies both styles at once.

Our error message really stands out now.

Include a Documentation Link

Let's help users find more information by adding a clickable link. We use [link=URL]text[/] to show friendly text instead of a raw URL:

AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("  → See: [link=https://docs.example.com/dependencies]documentation[/]");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see "→ See: documentation" where "documentation" is a clickable link (in terminals that support it). The link opens the URL when clicked.

We've added helpful navigation to our output.

Handle Dynamic Content

Real build tools display filenames and counts that come from variables. Let's use MarkupLineInterpolated() to safely include dynamic values:

AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("  → See: [link=https://docs.example.com/dependencies]documentation[/]");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see the same warning message as before, but now the filename and count come from variables. MarkupLineInterpolated() automatically escapes any brackets in the interpolated values, preventing markup parsing errors.

See the Markup Widget reference for more on escaping.

Complete Build Output

Now let's combine everything into our final build-output display:

var fileName = "Authentication.cs";
var dependency = "Newtonsoft.Json";
  
AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("[green]✓ Build completed successfully[/]");
AnsiConsole.MarkupLineInterpolated($"[#FFA500]⚠[/] [yellow]3 warnings[/] in {fileName}");
AnsiConsole.MarkupLineInterpolated($"[bold red]✗ Error:[/] Missing dependency '{dependency}'");
AnsiConsole.MarkupLine("  → See: [link=https://docs.example.com/dependencies]documentation[/]");

Run the code:

dotnet run

You should see all four lines of our build output: the green success message, the orange/yellow warning with the filename, the bold red error with the dependency name, and the clickable documentation link.

That's our complete build-output display.