Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 2, 2026

StyleCop

StyleCop is an open-source static code analysis tool from Microsoft that checks C# code for conformance to StyleCop's recommended coding styles and a subset of Microsoft's .NET Framework Design Guidelines. StyleCop analyses the source code, allowing it to enforce a different set of rules from FxCop. The rules are classified into the following categories:Documentation Layout Maintainability Naming Ordering Readability Spacing

Last revised
Jun 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
313 w
Citations
8
Source
Wikipedia ↗
StyleCop
Original authorMicrosoft
DevelopersJason Allor,
Andy Reeves,
Chris Dahlberg
Stable release
5.0.6329.1 / April 30, 2017 (2017-04-30)
Written inC#
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
Platform.NET Framework
TypeStatic code analysis tool
LicenseMicrosoft Public Licence
Websitegithub.com/StyleCop
Repositorygithub.com/StyleCop/StyleCop

StyleCop is an open-source static code analysis tool from Microsoft1 that checks C# code for conformance to StyleCop's recommended coding styles and a subset of Microsoft's .NET Framework Design Guidelines. StyleCop analyses the source code, allowing it to enforce a different set of rules from FxCop (which, instead of source code, checks .NET managed code assemblies).23 The rules are classified into the following categories:

  • Documentation
  • Layout
  • Maintainability
  • Naming
  • Ordering
  • Readability
  • Spacing

StyleCop includes both GUI and command-line versions of the tool. It is possible to add new rules to be applied.

StyleCop was originally developed by Jason Allor as a Microsoft internal tool, and was released externally as an open-source project in April 2010 on CodePlex.

StyleCop 4.7.55 (November 10, 2016) is compatible with Visual Studio 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015.4 (Microsoft Visual Studio Extension)

StyleCop began a move to GitHub in December 2014,5 and the last change applied to the CodePlex edition was November 11, 2016.6

StyleCop 5.0.6329.1 (April 30, 2017) works with Visual Studio 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2017.7 (Windows Installer)

Development is stopping. A named successor is StyleCopAnalyzers, for Visual Studio 2015 and later.8

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "A Brief History Of C# Style". 25 May 2008. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  2. Patton, Tony (June 24, 2011). "Maintain code consistency with Microsoft StyleCop". Blogs / Software Engineer. TechRepublic. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  3. Chinery, Clive (July 30, 2009). "8 More Useful Tools for ASP.NET". ASP .Net. Server-Side Magazine. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  4. https://stylecop.codeplex.com/ StyleCop (old CodePlex site)
  5. https://api.github.com/repos/StyleCop/StyleCop GitHub API response for StyleCop repository
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20171226050423/http://stylecop.codeplex.com/SourceControl/list/changesets archive.org retrieval of StyleCop on CodePlex source history
  7. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ChrisDahlberg.StyleCop StyleCop - Visual Studio Marketplace
  8. https://github.com/StyleCop/StyleCop#considerations StyleCop repository on GitHub
External links