shiny-core

Shiny Core

Shiny.Core is the foundational library for the Shiny ecosystem. It provides the hosting model, platform abstractions, lifecycle hooks, connectivity/battery monitoring, and the AOT-friendly type registry that all other Shiny modules build upon. Storage and DI registration are layered on via the Shiny.Extensions.DependencyInjection and Shiny.Extensions.Stores source-generated packages — these are pulled in transitively by Shiny.Core so you don't add them manually.

When to Use This Skill

• The user needs to set up Shiny hosting in a MAUI, native, Blazor, or Linux/macOS app
• The user asks about IHost, HostBuilder, or UseShiny
• The user needs key-value storage (IKeyValueStore, settings, secure store) via Shiny.Extensions.Stores
• The user wants source-generated persistence with [Bind] partial properties or a service-attributed DI registration with [Service] / [Singleton] / [Scoped] / [Transient]
• The user asks about platform abstractions (IPlatform, directories, main thread invocation)
• The user needs Android, iOS, or macOS lifecycle hooks (IAndroidLifecycle, IIosLifecycle, IMacLifecycle)
• The user needs startup tasks (IShinyStartupTask, ShinyLifecycleTask)
• The user asks about AccessState, permission handling, or PermissionException
• The user needs network connectivity monitoring (IConnectivity) or battery status (IBattery)
• The user needs an entity repository (IRepository, IRepositoryEntity) — provided by Shiny.Extensions.Stores
• The user asks about remote configuration (IRemoteConfigurationProvider) or Shiny.Extensions.Configuration
• The user needs observable collections (INotifyReadOnlyCollection<T>, INotifyCollectionChanged<T>, BindingList<T>)

Library Overview

Item	Value
NuGet	Shiny.Core (pulls in Shiny.Extensions.DependencyInjection + Shiny.Extensions.Stores)
Namespace	Shiny, Shiny.Hosting, Shiny.Net, Shiny.Power, Shiny.Collections, Shiny.Extensions.Stores (storage), Shiny.Extensions.Configuration (remote config)
Platforms	iOS, Mac Catalyst, macOS, Android, Windows, Linux, Blazor WebAssembly, plain .NET

Companion Libraries

NuGet	Namespace	Purpose
Shiny.Hosting.Maui	Shiny	MAUI hosting integration (UseShiny)
Shiny.Hosting.Native	Shiny	Native hosting base classes (ShinyAppDelegate, ShinyAndroidApplication, ShinyAndroidActivity)
Shiny.Core.Linux	Shiny	Linux platform implementation + AddConnectivity() / AddBattery()
Shiny.Core.Blazor	Shiny	Blazor WebAssembly platform implementation + AddConnectivity() / AddBattery()
Shiny.Extensions.DependencyInjection	Shiny	Source-generated [Service] / [Singleton] / [Scoped] / [Transient] DI registration. Pulled in by Shiny.Core.
Shiny.Extensions.Stores	Shiny.Extensions.Stores	IKeyValueStore, IRepository, source-generated [Bind] partial-property persistence, static Shiny.Stores.Default/Secure accessor. Pulled in by Shiny.Core.
Shiny.Extensions.Stores.Web	Shiny.Extensions.Stores	Blazor WebAssembly localStorage / sessionStorage adapters (AddShinyWebAssemblyStores())
Shiny.Extensions.Serialization	Shiny.Extensions.Serialization	AOT-safe System.Text.Json serializer extensions used by Shiny modules
Shiny.Extensions.Configuration	Shiny.Extensions.Configuration	Remote configuration provider and platform preferences

Setup

MAUI Setup

In MauiProgram.cs, call UseShiny() on the MauiAppBuilder. This registers all core infrastructure services, the platform key/value stores, and lifecycle wiring automatically:

using Shiny;

public static class MauiProgram
{
    public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
    {
        var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
        builder
            .UseMauiApp<App>()
            .UseShiny(); // Registers Shiny core services, stores, and lifecycle hooks

        // Register your own services from [Service]/[Singleton]/[Scoped]/[Transient] attributes
        builder.Services.AddGeneratedServices();

        // Add device monitoring (these are no-ops if already registered)
        builder.Services.AddConnectivity();
        builder.Services.AddBattery();

        return builder.Build();
    }
}

Native (Non-MAUI) Setup

For native iOS apps, inherit from ShinyAppDelegate:

[Register("AppDelegate")]
public class AppDelegate : ShinyAppDelegate
{
    protected override IHost CreateShinyHost()
    {
        var builder = HostBuilder.Create();
        // Register services on builder.Services
        return builder.Build();
    }
}

For native Android apps, inherit from ShinyAndroidApplication and use ShinyAndroidActivity:

[Application]
public class MainApplication : ShinyAndroidApplication
{
    public MainApplication(IntPtr handle, JniHandleOwnership transfer) : base(handle, transfer) {}

    protected override IHost CreateShinyHost()
    {
        var builder = HostBuilder.Create();
        // Register services on builder.Services
        return builder.Build();
    }
}

[Activity(MainLauncher = true)]
public class MainActivity : ShinyAndroidActivity { }

Linux / macOS / plain .NET Setup

Shiny.Core.Linux provides the Linux IPlatform, IConnectivity, and IBattery implementations and is targeted at console / GTK apps. Use the same HostBuilder.Create() flow and call AddConnectivity() / AddBattery() from Shiny.Core.Linux if you need device monitoring.

Blazor WebAssembly Setup

For Blazor WASM, reference Shiny.Core.Blazor and call AddConnectivity() / AddBattery() to wire navigator-based monitoring. Storage requires Shiny.Extensions.Stores.Web and a call to host.Services.UseShinyStores() after Build() so the static Shiny.Stores accessor snapshots the IJSRuntime-backed LocalStorageKeyValueStore.

Code Generation Instructions

When generating code that uses Shiny.Core, follow these conventions:

1. Always call UseShiny() in MAUI apps or inherit the proper native base classes. This is required before any Shiny module works.
2. Register your own services via attributes from Shiny.Extensions.DependencyInjection — [Service(ServiceLifetime.Singleton)], or the shortcuts [Singleton], [Scoped], [Transient]. The source generator emits services.AddGeneratedServices() — call it once during host build. Multiple interfaces, keyed services, and open generics are honoured automatically.
3. Use the [Bind] partial-property pattern from Shiny.Extensions.Stores for persisted settings instead of an INotifyPropertyChanged base class. The generator emits getters/setters that round-trip through the store with zero reflection — fully AOT/trim safe.
4. Implement IShinyStartupTask for code that should run immediately after the DI container is built. Register it with services.AddSingleton<IShinyStartupTask, MyTask>() or tag it [Singleton] and explicitly add the IShinyStartupTask interface.
5. Inherit ShinyLifecycleTask for startup tasks that also need foreground/background application-lifecycle events. It composes IAndroidLifecycle.IApplicationLifecycle, IIosLifecycle.IApplicationLifecycle, IMacLifecycle.IApplicationLifecycle, and IShinyStartupTask into one base class.
6. Implement IAndroidLifecycle.*, IIosLifecycle.*, or IMacLifecycle.* sub-interfaces for platform-specific lifecycle hooks. Register them in DI and the lifecycle executor dispatches to them automatically.
7. Inject a keyed IKeyValueStore from Shiny.Extensions.Stores via [FromKeyedServices(StoreKeys.Default)] IKeyValueStore store (or StoreKeys.Secure). The store factory is also available via IKeyValueStoreFactory.Get(alias).
8. Use the static Shiny.Stores.Default / Shiny.Stores.Secure accessors for one-off reads/writes outside DI contexts — the accessor self-bootstraps on first use after AddShinyStores() has run (call host.Services.UseShinyStores() after Build() on Blazor WASM).
9. Use IPlatform to access AppData, Cache, Public directories and InvokeOnMainThread().
10. Use AccessState enum and state.Assert() extension method to validate permissions before proceeding with platform operations.
11. Use the Changed C# events on IConnectivity and IBattery to react to network or battery state — these are no longer observable. Rx has been removed from Shiny.Core and Shiny.Jobs; only Shiny.BluetoothLE retains reactive streams. Subscribe with += handler and unsubscribe in your Dispose / page-leave hook.
12. Use IRepository for entity persistence, with entities implementing IRepositoryEntity (must have an Identifier property). The default implementation is a filesystem JSON store registered by services.AddDefaultRepository() and used internally by Locations, Notifications, and HTTP Transfers.
13. For Blazor WASM, call host.Services.UseShinyStores() immediately after builder.Build() so the static Shiny.Stores accessor captures the DI-resolved LocalStorageKeyValueStore (it needs IJSRuntime).

Conventions

• Shiny services are typically singletons; the [Singleton] attribute is the right default.
• Persisted settings classes should be partial class with [Bind] partial properties from Shiny.Extensions.Stores.
• Place startup tasks in a Tasks/ or Infrastructure/ folder.
• Place settings classes in a Settings/ or Models/ folder.
• Always handle AccessState.Denied, AccessState.Disabled, and AccessState.NotSetup gracefully.
• Prefer C# events on Shiny.Core abstractions (IConnectivity.Changed, IBattery.Changed) over Rx — Rx is intentionally absent from Core.
• Extension methods in Shiny namespace are available when the appropriate package is referenced.

Namespace Ambiguities with MAUI

When using Shiny in a MAUI app, several Shiny types collide with MAUI implicit usings. Do NOT add all Shiny namespaces as global usings. Use explicit namespaces or FQNs for these:

Type	Shiny Namespace	MAUI Namespace	Resolution
IConnectivity	Shiny.Net	Microsoft.Maui.Networking	Use Shiny.Net.IConnectivity FQN
IBattery	Shiny.Power	Microsoft.Maui.Devices	Use Shiny.Power.IBattery FQN
DeviceInfo	Shiny.BluetoothLE	Microsoft.Maui.Devices	Use FQN for whichever you need

Safe global usings (won't conflict with MAUI):

global using Shiny;
global using Shiny.Extensions.Stores;   // IKeyValueStore, StoreKeys, [Bind]
global using Shiny.Jobs;
global using Shiny.Locations;
global using Shiny.BluetoothLE;
// Do NOT globally use: Shiny.Net, Shiny.Power, Shiny.Notifications, Shiny.Push, Shiny.BluetoothLE.Hosting

Best Practices

• Initialize Shiny early -- UseShiny() must be called in the builder chain before building the MAUI app. For native apps, the host must be created and Run() called in the application startup.
• Prefer attribute-based registration -- tag services with [Singleton]/[Scoped]/[Transient] and let the Shiny.Extensions.DependencyInjection source generator emit AddGeneratedServices(). AOT-clean, no reflection at startup, multiple interfaces handled.
• Prefer [Bind] partial properties for persisted settings instead of INotifyPropertyChanged plumbing. The generator emits getters/setters that round-trip through the configured IKeyValueStore.
• Keep startup tasks lightweight -- IShinyStartupTask.Start() runs synchronously on the main thread at startup.
• Use the right keyed store -- StoreKeys.Default for general preferences (backed by SharedPreferences / NSUserDefaults / ApplicationData.LocalSettings / localStorage), StoreKeys.Secure for sensitive data (Android Keystore / iOS Keychain / Windows secure storage).
• Use the static Shiny.Stores.Default / Shiny.Stores.Secure / Shiny.Stores.Keyed(alias) accessor for one-off reads/writes outside DI.
• Check Host.IsInitialized before accessing Host.Current in code that may run before initialization.
• Use BindingList<T> for thread-safe observable collections that can be bound to UI.
• Use the JSON contexts emitted by Shiny modules if you mix Shiny.Extensions.Serialization with your own — Shiny.Jobs, Shiny.Locations, Shiny.Notifications, and Shiny.Net.Http each ship their own JsonSerializerContext for AOT safety.

Reference Files

• API Reference