CodeGlyphX - No-deps QR & Barcode Toolkit for .NET

CodeGlyphX is a fast, dependency-free toolkit for QR codes and barcodes, with robust decoding and a minimal API. It targets modern .NET as well as legacy .NET Framework, and includes renderers, payload helpers, and WPF controls.

Status: Actively developed · Stable core · Expanding format support

📦 NuGet Package

🛠️ Project Information

👨‍💻 Author & Social

What it's all about

CodeGlyphX is a no-deps QR + barcode toolkit for .NET with:

Reliable QR decoding (ECI, FNC1/GS1, Kanji, structured append, Micro QR)
1D barcode encoding/decoding (Code128/GS1-128, Code39, Code93, Code11, Codabar, MSI, Plessey, EAN/UPC, ITF-14)
2D encoding/decoding (Data Matrix, MicroPDF417, PDF417, Aztec)
Renderers (SVG / SVGZ / HTML / PNG / JPEG / WebP / GIF / TIFF / BMP / PPM / PBM / PGM / PAM / XBM / XPM / TGA / ICO / PDF / EPS / ASCII) and image decoding (PNG/JPEG/WebP/GIF/BMP/PPM/PBM/PGM/PAM/XBM/XPM/TGA/ICO/TIFF, plus limited PSD/PDF)
OTP helpers (otpauth://totp + Base32)
WPF controls + demo apps

Highlights

Zero external dependencies (no System.Drawing, no SkiaSharp, no ImageSharp)
Encode + decode for QR/Micro QR + common 1D/2D symbologies
Robust pixel decoder for screenshots, gradients, low-contrast, rotation/mirroring
Payload helpers for QR (WiFi, email/phone/SMS, contacts, calendar, payments, crypto, social, OTP)
Friendly APIs: one-liners + options + fluent presets

Security & Safe Usage

When decoding untrusted images, use explicit limits via ImageDecodeOptions (recommended presets: Safe() / UltraSafe()) and pass them to ImageReader or QrImageDecoder. Global defaults (ImageReader.MaxImageBytes, ImageReader.MaxPixels) are set to conservative values, but you should tune them for your environment.

var safe = ImageDecodeOptions.UltraSafe(maxBytes: 8 * 1024 * 1024, maxPixels: 8_000_000);
var rgba = ImageReader.DecodeRgba32(bytes, safe, out var width, out var height);

Convenience helpers: ImageReader.DecodeRgba32Safe / TryDecodeRgba32Safe apply safe defaults for untrusted inputs.

See SECURITY.md for reporting guidance and FUZZING.md for the decoder fuzzing harness.

Roadmap & Website

Roadmap: ROADMAP.md
Benchmarks: BENCHMARK.md
Website docs: WEBSITE.md

Installation

dotnet add package CodeGlyphX

Examples

Run all examples:

dotnet run --project CodeGlyphX.Examples

Outputs land under CodeGlyphX.Examples/bin/<TFM>/Examples.

Targeted runs (set one env var at a time):

CODEGLYPHX_DIAG_QR=1 - QR diagnostics
CODEGLYPHX_DECODE_HARD_ART=1 - hard art diagnostics
CODEGLYPHX_DECODE_SAMPLES=1 - decode sample sweep
CODEGLYPHX_MODULE_DIFF=1 - module diff render
CODEGLYPHX_SCREENSHOT_WALKTHROUGH=1 - screenshot decode walkthrough

Target Framework Feature Matrix

CodeGlyphX targets netstandard2.0, net472, net8.0, and net10.0. Most features are available everywhere, but the full QR pixel pipeline and Span-based APIs are net8+ only.

| Feature | net8.0 / net10.0 | net472 / netstandard2.0 | | --- | --- | --- | | Encode (QR/Micro QR + 1D/2D symbologies) | ✅ | ✅ | | Decode from module grids (BitMatrix) | ✅ | ✅ | | Renderers + image file codecs (PNG/JPEG/SVG/PDF/etc) | ✅ | ✅ | | 1D/2D pixel decode (Barcode/DataMatrix/PDF417/Aztec) | ✅ | ✅ | | QR pixel decode from raw pixels / screenshots | ✅ | ⚠️ Best-effort fallback (clean/generated images) | | QR pixel debug rendering | ✅ | ✖ | | Span-based overloads | ✅ | ✖ (byte[] only) |

Notes:

netstandard2.0 and net472 require System.Memory 4.5.5 (automatically pulled by NuGet).
net8+ uses the full QR pixel pipeline; net472/netstandard2.0 use a best-effort fallback for QR image decode via QrImageDecoder and byte[] overloads.
Runtime checks are available via CodeGlyphXFeatures (e.g., SupportsQrPixelDecode, SupportsQrPixelDecodeFallback, SupportsQrPixelDebug).

net472 capability notes (QR from images):

✅ Clean/generated PNG/JPEG QR renders (including large module sizes)
⚠️ Multi-code screenshots, heavy styling/art, blur, warp, and low-contrast scenes are best-effort
✅ Recommended: run the quick smoke checklist in Build/Net472-SmokeTest.md

Recommended pattern for shared code:

if (CodeGlyphXFeatures.SupportsQrPixelDecode &&
    QrImageDecoder.TryDecodeImage(bytes, QrPixelDecodeOptions.Screen(), out var decoded))
{
    Console.WriteLine(decoded.Text);
}
else
{
    // net472 fallback: decode from module grids or run QR pixel decode on a net8+ worker.
}

Choosing a target:

Pick net8.0/net10.0 when you need the most robust QR pixel decode from images/screenshots, pixel debug rendering, Span APIs, or maximum throughput.
Pick net472/netstandard2.0 for legacy apps; QR image decode is available via a best-effort fallback, but it is less robust on heavily styled/artistic inputs.

Decode (unified)

using CodeGlyphX;
using CodeGlyphX.Rendering;

var options = new CodeGlyphDecodeOptions {
    PreferBarcode = false,
    Qr = new QrPixelDecodeOptions {
        Profile = QrDecodeProfile.Robust,
        MaxMilliseconds = 800
    }
};

if (CodeGlyph.TryDecode(pixels, width, height, stride, PixelFormat.Rgba32, out var decoded, options)) {
    Console.WriteLine($"{decoded.Kind}: {decoded.Text}");
}

Diagnostics:

if (!CodeGlyph.TryDecode(pixels, width, height, stride, PixelFormat.Rgba32, out var decoded, out var diagnostics, options)) {
    Console.WriteLine(diagnostics.FailureReason);
    Console.WriteLine(diagnostics.Failure);
}

Presets for easy tuning:

var fast = CodeGlyphDecodeOptions.Fast();
var robust = CodeGlyphDecodeOptions.Robust();
var stylized = CodeGlyphDecodeOptions.Stylized();
var screen = CodeGlyphDecodeOptions.Screen(maxMilliseconds: 300, maxDimension: 1200);

Barcode checksum policy:

var options = new CodeGlyphDecodeOptions {
    ExpectedBarcode = BarcodeType.Code39,
    Code39Checksum = Code39ChecksumPolicy.StripIfValid,
    PreferBarcode = true
};

Cancellation and time budget:

using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(500));

var options = new CodeGlyphDecodeOptions {
    Qr = new QrPixelDecodeOptions { Profile = QrDecodeProfile.Robust },
    CancellationToken = cts.Token
};

if (CodeGlyph.TryDecode(pixels, width, height, stride, PixelFormat.Rgba32, out var decoded, options)) {
    Console.WriteLine(decoded.Text);
}

Screen-friendly preset:

var options = CodeGlyphDecodeOptions.Screen(maxMilliseconds: 300, maxDimension: 1200);
if (CodeGlyph.TryDecode(pixels, width, height, stride, PixelFormat.Rgba32, out var decoded, options)) {
    Console.WriteLine(decoded.Text);
}

Screenshot decode preset:

var imageOptions = ImageDecodeOptions.Screen(maxMilliseconds: 600, maxDimension: 1400);
var qrOptions = QrPixelDecodeOptions.Screen(maxMilliseconds: 600, maxDimension: 1400);
qrOptions.EnableTileScan = true;
qrOptions.TileGrid = 3;

if (QrImageDecoder.TryDecodeImage(bytes, imageOptions, out var decoded, out var info, qrOptions)) {
    Console.WriteLine(decoded.Text);
}

Supported .NET Versions and Dependencies

Core Library (CodeGlyphX)

.NET 10 / .NET 8 (Windows, Linux, macOS)
- No external dependencies
.NET Standard 2.0 (Cross-platform compatibility)
- System.Memory (4.5.5)
.NET Framework 4.7.2 (Windows only)
- System.Memory (4.5.5)

Examples Project

.NET 8.0 only

WPF Projects

.NET 8.0 (windows) only

Platform support (at a glance)

Runs wherever .NET runs (Windows, Linux, macOS). WPF controls are Windows-only.

| Feature | Windows | Linux | macOS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Core encode/decode (QR/1D/2D) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Renderers (PNG/SVG/SVGZ/HTML/JPEG/WebP/GIF/TIFF/BMP/PPM/PBM/PGM/PAM/XBM/XPM/TGA/ICO/PDF/EPS/ASCII) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | Image decoding (PNG/JPEG/WebP/GIF/BMP/PPM/PBM/PGM/PAM/XBM/XPM/TGA/ICO/TIFF/PSD/PDF) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | WPF controls | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |

Build Status

Cross-Platform Testing: Builds and tests run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Windows additionally builds WPF and .NET Framework targets.

Benchmarks (local run)

Latest benchmark tables are generated into BENCHMARK.md (and Assets/Data/benchmark*.json). This README intentionally does not mirror benchmark tables to avoid drift. See BENCHMARK.md for the latest Windows/Linux/macOS quick and full runs, including timestamps and hardware details. Quick runs use fewer iterations but include the sam

CodeGlyphX

Install / Use

README