How to read powershell manifest file (.psd1) using c#

Question

I am trying to access manifest details for a custom PowerShell module that has the manifest file stored along with the module(psm1) file in my directory structure.

What is the best way to access the manifest details like Description, GUID etc?

Answer 1

A psd1 file is a valid PowerShell script, so it's best to let PowerShell parse the file.

The simplest way is to use the Test-ModuleManifest cmdlet. From C#, that would look something like:

using (var ps = PowerShell.Create())
{
    ps.AddCommand("Test-ModuleManifest").AddParameter("Path", manifestPath);
    var result = ps.Invoke();
    PSModuleInfo moduleInfo = result[0].BaseObject as PSModuleInfo;

    // now you can look at the properties like Guid or Description
}

Other approaches cannot handle the complexities of parsing PowerShell, e.g. it would be easy to incorrectly handle comments or here strings when trying to use a regex.