Metadata Inspector

Overview

The Metadata Inspector is a standalone command-line tool for examining .NET assembly metadata. It ships as a separate global tool (WiseOwl.Inspector, command inspector) and runs without any license key for its Community feature set. Installing WiseOwl.Demeanor auto-installs Inspector on first use; you can also install it directly without ever buying Demeanor. It reads any .NET assembly (Framework, Core, .NET 5–10) and lets you explore its types, methods, fields, properties, events, custom attributes, IL code, and all 31 ECMA-335 metadata tables.

Some Inspector capabilities (--query, --diff, --mcp, --json) require a Demeanor Enterprise license key supplied via the DEMEANOR_LICENSE environment variable. The same key unlocks both Demeanor Enterprise and Inspector Enterprise — there is no separate Inspector license. See Community vs Enterprise below for the full split.

Use it to:

• Understand the structure of any .NET assembly
• Verify what an obfuscator preserved or renamed
• Compare assemblies before and after obfuscation Enterprise
• Audit assemblies for specific attributes, interfaces, or patterns
• Decode custom attribute blobs without writing code

Community vs Enterprise

Inspector ships in two editions. Community is the default state when no license key is present — free, fully featured for everyday inspection, no time limit, commercial use permitted. Enterprise unlocks at runtime when the DEMEANOR_LICENSE environment variable is set to a valid Demeanor Enterprise key. The same key unlocks Demeanor Enterprise and Inspector Enterprise; there is no separate Inspector license to buy.

To unlock Enterprise capabilities, set DEMEANOR_LICENSE to your Enterprise key on the machine where Inspector runs:

setx DEMEANOR_LICENSE "your-enterprise-key"      # Windows (persistent)
export DEMEANOR_LICENSE="your-enterprise-key"    # Linux / macOS

Close and reopen your terminal afterward so the new variable is picked up. If the variable is unset or invalid, Inspector continues to run with Community features and will tell you so on stderr if you try an Enterprise-only flag. See pricing for Enterprise license details.

Installation

Installing Demeanor auto-installs the inspector the first time you run demeanor, so inspector is already on your PATH if you followed Getting Started. To install the inspector on its own (no Demeanor required):

dotnet tool install -g WiseOwl.Inspector

Then run:

inspector MyApp.dll

Two Ways to Use It

One-shot mode (CLI flags)

Pass flags to get a specific view and exit:

inspector MyApp.dll --summary
inspector MyApp.dll --table typedef
inspector MyApp.dll --type WeatherForecast
inspector MyApp.dll --query "show public methods returning string"

Interactive mode (REPL)

Launch without flags to enter the interactive prompt. Type queries directly:

inspector MyApp.dll

inspector> summary
inspector> show public methods
inspector> which types implement IDisposable
inspector> describe OrderService
inspector> quit

Query Language Enterprise

The inspector understands structured English queries beyond the Community-tier summary and find commands. You don't need to memorize command syntax — describe what you want to see. The inspector shows how it interpreted your query before displaying results. The natural-language query engine documented below is part of the Enterprise edition (one-shot via --query / -q, or interactively in the REPL when a valid DEMEANOR_LICENSE is set).

Showing items

Filtering by accessibility

Filtering by signature

Filtering by owner / location

Filtering by type hierarchy

Counting

Detail views

Searching

How matching works

All name matching is case-insensitive and uses substring containment by default. show methods on Order matches OrderService, OrderRepository, and ReorderQueue.

Driving the inspector from an AI assistant Enterprise

This section is optional. The inspector’s primary interface is the CLI documented above — the REPL and one-shot commands cover every capability, and the structured English query language needs no AI to work.

If you already use an MCP-capable assistant (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Continue.dev, or any other MCP client), the inspector’s built-in MCP server (--mcp) lets the assistant answer the same questions in conversation on your behalf. The inspector auto-registers with detected MCP clients the first time you install it — nothing to configure, no separate API key. Everything runs locally over stdio; no assembly data leaves your machine. The MCP surface exposes 9 tools (inspect_query, inspect_summary, inspect_types, inspect_methods, inspect_fields, inspect_properties, inspect_attributes, inspect_find, inspect_diff) the assistant can call.

The MCP server requires a valid DEMEANOR_LICENSE Enterprise key. Requires your own Claude subscription — not included with Demeanor. Any other MCP-capable assistant works the same way with its own subscription.

Ask it anything

See the conversational walkthrough for an end-to-end conversation where the assistant drives both the inspector and Demeanor’s audit surface in the same session.

One-Shot CLI Options

All options work from the command line for scripting and CI/CD integration.

Options marked Enterprise require a valid DEMEANOR_LICENSE environment variable. Unmarked options work in the Community edition with no key.

Display options

Filters and formatting

MCP server Enterprise

Metadata Tables

The inspector can display any of the 31 ECMA-335 metadata tables. Use --table <name> in one-shot mode.

Core tables

Reference tables

Relationship tables

Generic tables

Interop and layout tables

Assembly-level tables

Examples

Quick overview of an assembly

inspector MyApp.dll --summary

Compare before and after obfuscation

inspector obfuscated/MyApp.dll --diff original/MyApp.dll

Find all types that implement a specific interface

inspector MyApp.dll -q "which types implement IHostedService"

Audit for specific attributes

inspector MyApp.dll -q "types with attribute JsonSerializable"

Check what an obfuscator preserved

inspector obfuscated/MyApp.dll -q "show public properties"

Explore interactively

inspector MyApp.dll

inspector> summary
  Assembly:   MyApp
  Types:      142
  Methods:    891
  ...

inspector> show types implementing IDisposable
  -> Show types implementing IDisposable
  public class MyApp.Data.DbContext : System.Object
  public class MyApp.Services.HttpClientPool : System.Object
  (2 type(s))

inspector> describe DbContext
  -> Show details of type DbContext
  === MyApp.Data.DbContext ===
  Base: System.Object
  Implements: System.IDisposable
  Fields (3): ...
  Methods (12): ...

inspector> show methods on DbContext
  -> Show methods on DbContext
  ...

inspector> quit

Script-friendly JSON output

inspector MyApp.dll --json --summary

Drive from an AI assistant (optional)

If you already use an MCP-capable assistant, the inspector can be driven conversationally. See Driving the inspector from an AI assistant.

# Ask (if you use an MCP-capable assistant):
# "Show me all public methods that accept a CancellationToken and return Task"
# The assistant queries the inspector and answers in context.

How Query Translation Works

Under the hood, every query (whether typed as English or passed via --table) is converted into a structured InspectQuery object with these fields:

Available filter fields

Each filter has a field, an operator, and a value. Not every field applies to every target — the inspector validates compatibility and rejects mismatched combinations.

Filter operators

In the CLI, the -> interpretation line shows you how your English was parsed before execution. When driving the inspector from an AI assistant, the assistant constructs queries using these same fields and operators.