Getting started with .NET MAUI Smart Text Editor

8 Jul 20266 minutes to read

This section explains how to add the .NET MAUI SmartTextEditor control. It covers only the basic features needed to get started with the Syncfusion AI-Powered Text Editor. Follow the steps below to add a .NET MAUI AI-Powered Text Editor control to your project.

NOTE

The Smart Text Editor is distributed as part of the Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents package provides advanced AI-assisted features to enhance text editing and content management. Ensure your application has the required AI service configuration to enable these features.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Install .NET SDK
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI Environment with Visual Studio. Supported Visual Studio Versions:
    • Visual Studio 2022: Version 17.13 or later (e.g., 17.14.7) for .NET 9 development.
    • Visual Studio 2026: Required for .NET 10 development.

Step 1: Create a New .NET MAUI Project

  1. Go to File > New > Project and choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  2. Name the project and choose a location. Then click Next.
  3. Select the .NET framework version and click Create.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion® .NET MAUI SmartComponents NuGet Package

  1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and choose Manage NuGet Packages.
  2. Search for Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents and install the latest version.
  3. Ensure the necessary dependencies are installed correctly, and the project is restored.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Install .NET 9 SDK or later is installed.
  2. Set up a .NET MAUI environment with Visual Studio Code.
  3. Ensure that the .NET MAUI extension is installed and configured as described here.

Step 1: Create a New .NET MAUI Project

  1. Open the command palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P and type .NET:New Project and enter.
  2. Choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  3. Select the project location, type the project name and press Enter.
  4. Then choose Create project.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion® .NET MAUI SmartComponents NuGet Package

  1. Press Ctrl + ` (backtick) to open the integrated terminal in Visual Studio Code.
  2. Ensure you’re in the project root directory where your .csproj file is located.
  3. Run the command dotnet add package Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents to install the Syncfusion® .NET MAUI SmartComponents NuGet package.
  4. To ensure all dependencies are installed, run dotnet restore.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure the following are set up:

  1. Ensure you have the latest version of JetBrains Rider.
  2. Install .NET 9 SDK or later is installed.
  3. Make sure the MAUI workloads are installed and configured as described here.

Step 1: Create a new .NET MAUI Project

  1. Go to File > New Solution, Select .NET (C#) and choose the .NET MAUI App template.
  2. Enter the Project Name, Solution Name, and Location.
  3. Select the .NET framework version and click Create.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion® MAUI SmartComponents NuGet Package

  1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the project and choose Manage NuGet Packages.
  2. Search for Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents and install the latest version.
  3. Ensure the necessary dependencies are installed correctly, and the project is restored. If not, Open the Terminal in Rider and manually run: dotnet restore

Step 3: Register Syncfusion handler

Make sure to add the namespace.

using Syncfusion.Maui.Core.Hosting;

Register the Syncfusion core handler in your CreateMauiApp method of MauiProgram.cs file to use Syncfusion controls.

builder.ConfigureSyncfusionCore();

Step 4: Register the AI Service

Make sure to add the namespace.

using Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents.Hosting;

To configure the AI services, you must call the ConfigureSyncfusionAIServices() method in the MauiProgram.cs file.

string key = "<MENTION-YOUR-KEY>";
Uri azureEndPoint = new Uri("<MENTION-YOUR-URL>");
string deploymentName = "<MENTION-YOUR-DEPLOYMENT-NAME>";

// Shows how to configure Azure AI service to the Smart Components.
AzureOpenAIClient azureOpenAIClient = new AzureOpenAIClient(azureEndPoint, new AzureKeyCredential(key));
IChatClient azureChatClient = azureOpenAIClient.GetChatClient(deploymentName).AsIChatClient();

builder.Services.AddChatClient(azureChatClient);
builder.ConfigureSyncfusionAIServices();

NOTE

  • You can refer to Configure Chat Client for services like Azure, OpenAI, and Ollama.
  • You can also refer to the Custom AI Service section to configure your own services, such as Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Groq, etc.
  • If you are using a custom AI service, there is no need to register ConfigureSyncfusionAIServices() in MauiProgram.

Step 5: Import the namespace

Add the following namespace in your XAML or C#.

xmlns:smarttexteditor="clr-namespace:Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents;assembly=Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents"
using Syncfusion.Maui.SmartComponents;

Step 6: Add the Smart TextEditor component

Set the writing context and preferred expressions to guide completions:

  • UserRole (required): Describes who is typing and the intent, shaping the tone and relevance of suggestions.
  • UserPhrases (optional): A list of reusable statements that reflect your brand or frequent responses. Used for offline suggestions and to bias completions.
<smarttexteditor:SfSmartTextEditor Placeholder="Type your reply..."
                                   UserRole="Support engineer responding to customer tickets">
    <smarttexteditor:SfSmartTextEditor.UserPhrases>
        <x:String>Thanks for reaching out.</x:String>
        <x:String>Please share a minimal reproducible sample.</x:String>
        <x:String>We’ll update you as soon as we have more details.</x:String>
    </smarttexteditor:SfSmartTextEditor.UserPhrases>
</smarttexteditor:SfSmartTextEditor>

NOTE

If no AI inference service is configured, the editor generates offline suggestions from your UserPhrases.

Here is the result of the above codes,

Getting Started in .NET MAUI Smart Text Editor.

NOTE

You can refer to our .NET MAUI Smart Text Editor feature tour page for its groundbreaking feature representations. You can also explore our .NET MAUI Smart Text Editor Example that shows you how to render the Smart Text Editor in .NET MAUI.