{SA}PROJ File

What are {SA}PROJ files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a {SA}PROJ file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your {SA}PROJ files.

What is a {SA}PROJ file?

A .{SA}PROJ file is a {smartassembly} Project file.

The {smartassembly} Project file is a configuration file used by the SmartAssembly utility from Red Gate Software for .NET applications. It defines the settings and options that control how a user's assembly (exe or dll) will be processed - typically obfuscated, optimized, instrumented for error reporting, signing, and resource protection.

The file is authored and maintained by SmartAssembly when you create or edit a project through its GUI or via the command line; SmartAssembly also reads this file to apply the selected protections and transformations to the specified assembly. A project file retains user-specified settings such as which assemblies to include, what kind of obfuscation or encoding applies, how strong name signing is handled, where the resulting protected assembly is saved, and what level of debugging information is generated. It is used whenever building the protected version of your code.

Project files in SmartAssembly 4 and earlier use the extension .{sa}proj, while SmartAssembly 5 and above use .saproj. The format is XML-based, containing tags like MAINASSEMBLYFILENAME, DESTINATIONFILENAME, STRONGNAMESIGNING, OBFUSCATION, STRINGSENCODING, and OPTIONS that govern the build behavior. It begins with a signature such as the ASCII string ".SmartAssemblyProjectProjectID=" and includes keywords like EXCEPTIONREPORTING, ASSEMBLIES, NAMEMANGLING, CONFIGURATION NAME to identify sections of the configuration.

How to open {SA}PROJ files

Important: Different programs may use files with the {SA}PROJ file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your {SA}PROJ file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 14, 2026

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