IPC Code Generation

HyPrism’s IPC bridge between React and .NET is 100% auto-generated from C# annotations. There are zero hand-written TypeScript IPC types or helpers.

How It Works

1. Developer adds @ipc and @type annotations in C# doc comments in Services/Core/IpcService.cs
2. Scripts/generate-ipc.mjs parses these annotations
3. Generator outputs a single self-contained Frontend/src/lib/ipc.ts
4. MSBuild runs this automatically before every frontend build

Annotation Reference

@ipc — Define IPC Channels

Placed on individual handler registrations as doc comments:

/// @ipc invoke hyprism:settings:get -> SettingsSnapshot
Electron.IpcMain.On("hyprism:settings:get", async (args) => { ... });

Syntax: @ipc {type} {channel} [-> {ReturnType}]

@type — Define TypeScript Interfaces

Placed in the class-level doc comment block:

/// @type SettingsSnapshot {
///   language: string;
///   musicEnabled: boolean;
///   accentColor: string;
///   ramMb?: number;
///   [key: string]: unknown;
/// }

Rules:

Generated Output

Frontend/src/lib/ipc.ts contains (in order):

1. Window type augmentation — declares window.electron.ipcRenderer
2. Core helpers — send(), on(), invoke<T>()
3. TypeScript interfaces — all @type definitions
4. Domain API objects — typed methods per domain
5. Unified ipc export — single entry point for consumers

// Consumer usage
import { ipc } from "../lib/ipc";
import type { SettingsSnapshot } from "../lib/ipc";

const settings = await ipc.settings.get();
ipc.windowCtl.minimize();
ipc.game.onProgress((data) => console.log(data.progress));

Domain Name Conflicts

Domains named window or console are renamed in the export to avoid shadowing JavaScript globals:

MSBuild Integration

The GenerateIpcTs target in HyPrism.csproj runs before BuildFrontend:

<Target Name="GenerateIpcTs"
        BeforeTargets="BuildFrontend"
        Inputs="Services/Core/IpcService.cs"
        Outputs="Frontend/src/lib/ipc.ts">
  <Exec Command="node Scripts/generate-ipc.mjs" />
</Target>

MSBuild uses incremental build: if IpcService.cs hasn’t changed, codegen is skipped.

Adding a New IPC Channel

1. Add handler in IpcService.cs with @ipc annotation:

   /// @ipc invoke hyprism:myDomain:myAction -> MyResult
   Electron.IpcMain.On("hyprism:myDomain:myAction", async (args) => { ... });
   

2. Add type (if new) in the class doc comment:

   /// @type MyResult { success: boolean; data: string; }
   

3. Regenerate: node Scripts/generate-ipc.mjs (or just dotnet build)

4. Use in React:

   const result = await ipc.myDomain.myAction();