mvvm-toolkit

CommunityToolkit.Mvvm (core)

Use this skill when authoring or reviewing ViewModels, properties, commands, or validation in apps that use CommunityToolkit.Mvvm 8.x.

Companion skills. Load mvvm-toolkit-messenger for IMessenger pub/sub patterns. Load mvvm-toolkit-di for Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection integration.

Quick recap. [ObservableProperty] on private fields in partial classes; [RelayCommand] on instance methods; inherit from ObservableObject (or ObservableValidator for input forms, ObservableRecipient when using IMessenger).

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Package & setup

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="CommunityToolkit.Mvvm" Version="8.*" />
</ItemGroup>

Targets: netstandard2.0, netstandard2.1, net6.0+. Works on .NET, .NET Framework, Mono. Source generators ship in the same NuGet — no extra analyzer reference required.

Namespaces:

using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.ComponentModel;   // ObservableObject, [ObservableProperty]
using CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.Input;             // [RelayCommand], RelayCommand, AsyncRelayCommand

Universal rule. Every type that uses [ObservableProperty] or [RelayCommand] — and every enclosing type, if nested — must be declared partial. Without it, the generators emit MVVMTK0008 / MVVMTK0042.

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Source generators cheat sheet

Attribute	Applied to	Generates
[ObservableProperty]	private field	Public INotifyPropertyChanged property + OnXxxChanging/OnXxxChanged partial-method hooks
[NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(Other))]	observable field	Also raises PropertyChanged for the listed property
[NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(MyCommand))]	observable field	Calls MyCommand.NotifyCanExecuteChanged() on change
[NotifyDataErrorInfo]	observable field on ObservableValidator	Calls ValidateProperty(value) from the setter
[NotifyPropertyChangedRecipients]	observable field on ObservableRecipient	Broadcast(old, new) after the change
[RelayCommand]	instance method	Lazy RelayCommand / AsyncRelayCommand exposed as IRelayCommand / IAsyncRelayCommand
[RelayCommand(CanExecute = nameof(CanX))]	instance method	Wires CanExecute to a method or property
[RelayCommand(IncludeCancelCommand = true)]	async method with CancellationToken	Also generates XxxCancelCommand
[RelayCommand(AllowConcurrentExecutions = true)]	async method	Allows queued/parallel invocations (default disables while running)
[RelayCommand(FlowExceptionsToTaskScheduler = true)]	async method	Surfaces exceptions via ExecutionTask instead of awaiting and rethrowing
[property: SomeAttr]	observable field or [RelayCommand] method	Forwards SomeAttr onto the generated property (e.g., [JsonIgnore])

Naming. Field name / _name / m_name → Name. Method LoadAsync → LoadCommand (the Async suffix is stripped; a leading On is also stripped).

See references/source-generators.md for the full attribute reference with generated-code samples.

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ViewModel patterns

Simple observable property

public partial class ContactViewModel : ObservableObject
{
    [ObservableProperty]
    private string? name;
}

Hooks: OnXxxChanging / OnXxxChanged

[ObservableProperty]
private string? name;

partial void OnNameChanged(string? value) =>
    Logger.LogInformation("Name changed to {Name}", value);

Both single-arg (value) and two-arg (oldValue, newValue) overloads are available. Implement only the ones you need; unimplemented hooks are elided by the compiler (zero runtime cost).

Dependent properties + dependent commands

[ObservableProperty]
[NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(FullName))]
[NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(SaveCommand))]
private string? firstName;

[ObservableProperty]
[NotifyPropertyChangedFor(nameof(FullName))]
[NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(SaveCommand))]
private string? lastName;

public string FullName => $"{FirstName} {LastName}".Trim();

Wrapping a non-observable model

public sealed class ObservableUser(User user) : ObservableObject
{
    public string Name
    {
        get => user.Name;
        set => SetProperty(user.Name, value, user, (u, n) => u.Name = n);
    }
}

Pass a static lambda (no captured state) to keep the call allocation-free.

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Commands

[RelayCommand]
private void Refresh() => Items.Reset();

[RelayCommand]
private async Task LoadAsync()
{
    foreach (var item in await service.GetItemsAsync())
        Items.Add(item);
}

[RelayCommand(IncludeCancelCommand = true)]
private async Task DownloadAsync(CancellationToken token)
{
    await using var stream = await http.GetStreamAsync(url, token);
    // ...
}

[RelayCommand(CanExecute = nameof(CanSave))]
private Task SaveAsync() => repo.SaveAsync(Name!);

private bool CanSave() => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Name);

Reach for manual RelayCommand / AsyncRelayCommand constructors only when you must own the command's lifetime explicitly or compose it from non-trivial sources. The attribute style covers ~95% of cases.

See references/relaycommand-cookbook.md for sync / async / cancellable / concurrency / error-surfacing recipes.

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Base class selection

Base class	Use when
ObservableObject	Default. INotifyPropertyChanged + INotifyPropertyChanging + SetProperty overloads + SetPropertyAndNotifyOnCompletion for Task properties
ObservableValidator	The VM needs INotifyDataErrorInfo (forms, settings input)
ObservableRecipient	The VM sends or receives IMessenger messages — see the mvvm-toolkit-messenger skill

C# is single-inheritance: ObservableValidator and ObservableRecipient both extend ObservableObject, so combining them requires composition (e.g., inject IMessenger into an ObservableValidator).

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Validation

using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

public sealed partial class RegistrationViewModel : ObservableValidator
{
    [ObservableProperty]
    [NotifyDataErrorInfo]
    [Required, MinLength(2), MaxLength(100)]
    private string? name;

    [ObservableProperty]
    [NotifyDataErrorInfo]
    [Required, EmailAddress]
    private string? email;

    [RelayCommand]
    private void Submit()
    {
        ValidateAllProperties();
        if (HasErrors) return;
        // submit...
    }
}

Other entry points: TrySetProperty, ValidateProperty(value, name), ClearAllErrors(), GetErrors(propertyName). Custom rules support [CustomValidation] methods and custom ValidationAttribute subclasses.

See references/validation.md for the full validator surface area.

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Top pitfalls

1. Forgetting partial. Class (and every enclosing type) must be partial. Compile error MVVMTK0008 / MVVMTK0042.
2. PascalCase field name. [ObservableProperty] private string Name; collides with the generated property. Use name, _name, or m_name.
3. async void on [RelayCommand]. The generator only wraps Task-returning methods as IAsyncRelayCommand. async void becomes a sync RelayCommand and exceptions are unobserved. Always return Task.
4. Forgetting [NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor]. The Save button stays disabled even though CanSave() would now return true.
5. Mutating the same reference held by an [ObservableProperty] field. EqualityComparer<T>.Default returns true, no notification fires. Replace the instance instead of mutating it.

For the full diagnostic table (MVVMTK0xxx) and more pitfalls, see references/troubleshooting.md.

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End-to-end mini walkthrough

A two-pane Notes app demonstrating generators + commands + [NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor]:

public sealed partial class NoteViewModel(INotesService notes,
    IMessenger messenger) : ObservableRecipient(messenger)
{
    [ObservableProperty]
    [NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(SaveCommand))]
    [NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(DeleteCommand))]
    private string? filename;

    [ObservableProperty]
    [NotifyCanExecuteChangedFor(nameof(SaveCommand))]
    private string? text;

    [RelayCommand(CanExecute = nameof(CanSave))]
    private Task SaveAsync()
    {
        Messenger.Send(new NoteSavedMessage(Filename!));
        return notes.SaveAsync(Filename!, Text!);
    }

    [RelayCommand(CanExecute = nameof(CanDelete))]
    private Task DeleteAsync() => notes.DeleteAsync(Filename!);

    private bool CanSave() =>
        !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Filename) && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text);
    private bool CanDelete() => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Filename);
}

For the full sample (DI wiring, View code-behind, XAML, unit tests), see references/end-to-end-walkthrough.md.

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References & companion skills

Topic	Where
Source generator attribute reference	references/source-generators.md
RelayCommand recipes	references/relaycommand-cookbook.md
Validation deep dive	references/validation.md
Full Notes-app walkthrough	references/end-to-end-walkthrough.md
MVVMTK0xxx diagnostics & pitfalls	references/troubleshooting.md
Messenger pub/sub	Companion skill: mvvm-toolkit-messenger
Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection wiring	Companion skill: mvvm-toolkit-di

External sources:

• Toolkit overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/communitytoolkit/mvvm/
• WinUI MVVM Toolkit tutorial: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/tutorials/winui-mvvm-toolkit/intro
• Source: https://github.com/CommunityToolkit/dotnet
• Samples: https://github.com/CommunityToolkit/MVVM-Samples