tik4net

tik4net is a .NET netstandard2.0 library for communicating with MikroTik routers — enabling use in .NET Framework 4.6.1+, .NET Core 2.0+, .NET 5/6/7/8/9, Xamarin, and Unity. It offers a clean, easy-to-use interface that scales from low-level raw API access all the way up to a fully typed O/R mapper. Tested and debugged against RouterOS 7.23.2 (latest stable).

🆕 Many new connection types! Beyond the classic API, tik4net now drives the router over REST, Telnet, SSH, MAC-Telnet, and WinBox (terminal + native-M2, over IP or MAC layer). See Connection types and capabilities. tik4net is the only .NET library that speaks MAC-Telnet and the WinBox protocols.

Package	NuGet	Description
tik4net		Everything you normally need: the low-level ADO.NET-like API (sync and async R/W access) and the high-level O/R mapper (strongly typed entities, full CRUD)
tik4net.testing		Unit-testing support — TikFakeConnection lets you write tests without a live router
tik4net.ssh		SSH (TCP 22) transport — drives the RouterOS CLI over an SSH shell (Crud, Listen, SafeMode, RawCommand, like the other CLI transports). A separate package because of its Renci.SshNet dependency.

⚠️ Upgrading from 3.x? The O/R mapper used to be a separate tik4net.objects package. Since 4.0 it is part of tik4net itself — remove any PackageReference to tik4net.objects or you will get an assembly conflict. Your source code does not change. See Upgrading from 3.x to 4.0.

Tools — semi-automatic C# code generators for custom entities. The repo also ships an MCP server exposing a mikrotik_call tool that lets an AI assistant run a command against a live router over any tik4net transport.

Features

• Easy to use with O/R mapper like highlevel API
• Low level access supported by low level API
• Stable interface and backward compatibility
• Broad range of .NET runtimes supported (including .NET core 2 and Xamarin)
• New mikrotik v.6.43 login process supported
• Includes MNDP discovery helper
• 🆕 4.0 Safe Mode — SafeModeTake() / SafeModeRelease() / SafeModeUnroll() with automatic rollback-on-disconnect (lockout protection)
• 🆕 4.0 Change tracking — Save sends only the fields you changed; no-op saves skip the API call
• 🆕 4.0 Connection capability model — connection.Supports(TikConnectionCapability.Listen); unsupported features fail closed
• Unit testing without a router via tik4net.testing (TikFakeConnection)
• Uniform exception tree across all transports
• Easy to understand and well documented code

Connection types

All transports share the same ITikConnection API and O/R mapper — pick one via TikConnectionType. See Connection types and capabilities.

Transport	Port	What it is	Capabilities
Api / ApiSsl	TCP 8728 / 8729	native MikroTik API protocol — the default and fastest; TLS variant needs a certificate on the router	all of them: Crud, Listen, Streaming, RawSentences, Tagging, SafeMode, RawCommand
Rest / RestSsl	TCP 80 / 443	REST API, RouterOS 7.1+	Crud, Listen*† — stateless HTTP, so no streaming and no Safe Mode
Telnet	TCP 23	RouterOS CLI over plain-text Telnet	Crud, Listen*, SafeMode, RawCommand
Ssh	TCP 22	RouterOS CLI over an SSH shell (separate tik4net.ssh package)	Crud, Listen*, SafeMode, RawCommand
MacTelnet	UDP 20561	CLI over MAC-Telnet — reaches the router with no IP route	Crud, Listen*, SafeMode, RawCommand
WinboxCli / WinboxCliMac	TCP 8291 / UDP 20561	CLI over the encrypted WinBox channel (EC-SRP5 + AES, no certificates)	Crud, Listen*, SafeMode, RawCommand
WinboxNative / WinboxNativeMac	TCP 8291 / UDP 20561	structured WinBox M2 CRUD, no terminal	Crud, Listen*, SafeMode

* Listen outside the API is emulated by polling (re-issuing a snapshot on a background worker), not server push. Streaming (ExecuteListWithDuration) is binary-API only — no other transport holds a command exchange open for a blocking multi-row read.

† On REST an async monitor's rows arrive when the command ends, not as the router produces them: RouterOS buffers the whole HTTP response. Prefer an explicit bound (count/duration) on a REST monitor — and note that closing the connection does not stop a command already running on the router.

Every transport can have its connection reused. Concurrent commands on one connection work on Api/ApiSsl (set SendTagWithSyncCommand = true first), Rest/RestSsl and both WinBox-native transports; the CLI family drives a single request/reply terminal and serializes by design.

Binaries

Install via NuGet — see the package table above, or:

dotnet add package tik4net           # low-level API + O/R mapper — start here
dotnet add package tik4net.testing   # unit-testing support
dotnet add package tik4net.ssh       # SSH (TCP 22) transport

See release notes / version history for what's new.

Getting started and documentation

Mikrotik API wiki:

• Mikrotik API wiki
• Mikrotik API notes

Project wiki:

• Getting started — step-by-step first project (NuGet → connect → CRUD)
• wiki root
• CRUD examples for all APIs
• how to use
• Connection types and capabilities — pick a transport and see what it supports
• Exception handling — the full exception tree
• Safe Mode · Change tracking — the flagship 4.0 features
• Communication debugging & testing — protocol tracing and unit tests without a router
• History

Examples:

• example project
• support forum
• For VisualBasic trivial example see VB example

   using (ITikConnection connection = ConnectionFactory.CreateConnection(TikConnectionType.Api)) // TikConnectionType.Api works for both old and new (v6.43+) login
   {
      connection.Open(HOST, USER, PASS);

   ITikCommand cmd = connection.CreateCommand("/system/identity/print");
   var identity = cmd.ExecuteScalar(); 
   Console.WriteLine("Identity: {0}", identity);

   var logs = connection.LoadList<Log>();
   foreach (Log log in logs)
   {
       Console.WriteLine("{0}[{1}]: {2}", log.Time, log.Topics, log.Message);
   }

   var firewallFilter = new FirewallFilter()
   {
      Chain = FirewallFilter.ChainType.Forward,
      Action = FirewallFilter.ActionType.Accept,
   };
   connection.Save(firewallFilter);

   ITikCommand torchCmd = connection.CreateCommand("/tool/torch", 
      connection.CreateParameter("interface", "ether1"), 
      connection.CreateParameter("port", "any"),
      connection.CreateParameter("src-address", "0.0.0.0/0"),
      connection.CreateParameter("dst-address", "0.0.0.0/0"));

  torchCmd.ExecuteAsync(response =>
      {
         Console.WriteLine("Row: " + response.GetResponseField("tx"));
      });
  Console.WriteLine("Press ENTER");
  Console.ReadLine();
  torchCmd.Cancel();

Looking for help

• I am looking for collaborators. If you are interested in helping maintain this project, please reach out — open an issue or contact me directly.
• Looking for betatesters

Roadmap & future

See the 4.x roadmap wiki page for details. Highlights:

• create highlevel classes for all mikrotik entities (you can still generate your own classes)
• create tiklink project - easy use-to wrapper over mikrotik router with fluent API
• convert examples to separate unittests (in progress)
• tiktop — a MikroTik traffic monitor inspired by Linux iftop (currently in alpha, available on NuGet/GitHub)

Licenses

• Apache 2.0.