INI Master

A high-performance, cross-platform INI parser for .NET and Unity.

A lightweight but feature-rich INI library designed for both Unity and .NET. It offers blazing-fast parsing and writing speeds, reflection-free AOT compatibility, and support for categories, comments, and advanced data types.

Overview

INI Master is a lightweight but feature-rich INI library designed for both Unity and .NET. It offers blazing-fast parsing and writing speeds, with support for categories, inline and block comments, and a wide range of data types beyond basic primitives. The library is usable in one line, but offers extended APIs for structured reading, writing, and batch editing. Its cross-platform nature makes it equally at home in Unity games, desktop apps, or server-side tools.

The Problem

Most INI libraries are either too limited (supporting only strings and numbers) or too clunky for real-world usage. They often lack comment preservation, structured categories, or modern collection support. For Unity developers especially, many existing solutions are either slow or don't integrate well with engine-specific types.

The Solution

INI Master solves these issues by providing a modern INI workflow. It supports primitives, Unity types, and collections such as arrays, lists, stacks, and hashsets. Developers can use a simple one-liner API like `INIMaster.SetVar()` or `INIMaster.GetVar<T>()`, while still having access to structured read/write operations via sections. Comment preservation ensures human-readable configs remain clean and editable.

Technical Details

Performance

Optimized for speed, INI Master handles reading and writing large files with minimal overhead, making it suitable for runtime-critical applications.

AOT & Reflection-Free

Fully compatible with IL2CPP and Ahead-of-Time compilation, thanks to its reflection-free design. Works flawlessly in constrained Unity environments.

Advanced Data Types

Beyond primitives, INI Master natively supports Unity types, arrays, lists, stacks, and hashsets, giving developers flexibility without extra serialization steps.

Categories and Comments

Supports organized sections with preserved comments (inline or block style), making configuration files both machine- and human-friendly.

Simple API

The API is designed for convenience: `SetVar` and `GetVar<T>` cover most use cases, while advanced methods like `ReadSection` or `WriteSections` enable structured workflows.

Cross-Platform & Multi-Environment

Built on .NET Standard 2.1, it runs reliably across Windows, macOS, and Linux, while integrating seamlessly with Unity and standard .NET applications. Whether you're building games, tools, or backend services, it fits right in.

Outcome & Impact

INI Master turned out to be a compact but powerful library. Its speed and flexibility made it a go-to solution in my Unity projects for configuration handling, while also proving useful in general .NET tooling. It simplifies a problem developers often overlook, but run into repeatedly.

My Role

Designed and implemented the library, optimized for performance, and ensured seamless Unity integration.

Want to use INI Master?

The library is lightweight, cross-platform, and flexible. Reach out if you'd like to integrate it into your projects or see it open sourced.