dotnet-msbuild

Plugin dotnet-msbuild from marketplace dotnet-agent-skills in dotnet/skills. Commands read from the repo's manifest — today.

Skills (21)

• binlog-failure-analysis

  Analyze MSBuild binary logs to diagnose build failures. USE FOR: build errors that are unclear from console output, diagnosing cascading failures across multi-project builds, tracing MSBuild target execution order, and generally any MSBuild build issues. Requires an existing .binlog file. DO NOT USE

• binlog-generation

  Generate MSBuild binary logs (binlogs) for build diagnostics and analysis. USE FOR: adding /bl:{} to any dotnet build, test, pack, publish, or restore command to capture a full build execution trace, prerequisite for binlog-failure-analysis and build-perf-diagnostics skills, enabling post-build inve

• build-parallelism

  Analyze MSBuild scheduling across at least two distinct projects in a solution/filter/Build.proj. USE FOR: measured idle workers, -m not scaling, serial ProjectReference critical paths, graph builds, MSBuild Projects-list scheduling. DO NOT USE FOR: duplicate executions or invariant-generation races

• build-perf-baseline

  Establish MSBuild/.NET baselines before optimizing. USE FOR: unranked slow builds; cold/warm/incremental/no-op measurements; before/after comparisons; CI caching; static graph, artifacts output, dependency graph trimming. DO NOT USE FOR: measured bottlenecks (build-perf-diagnostics), known repeated

• build-perf-diagnostics

  Diagnose MSBuild bottlenecks from binlog timelines and Target/Task Performance Summaries after baseline measurements. USE FOR: unknown build slowness, RAR >5s, analyzers >30% of Csc, a target >50% of build, node utilization below 80%, excessive Copy, restore overhead. DO NOT USE FOR: within-build du

• check-bin-obj-clash

  Find OutputPath/IntermediateOutputPath collisions between distinct projects or required property/TFM variants. USE FOR: missing/overwritten bin/obj or project.assets.json, parallel 'Cannot create a file when that file already exists' or 'file is being used by another process', shared paths, missing

• copy-to-output-directory

  Choosing an MSBuild CopyToOutputDirectory / CopyToPublishDirectory mode: Never, PreserveNewest, Always, and IfDifferent (MSBuild 17.13+), plus $(SkipUnchangedFilesOnCopyAlways). USE FOR: removing the per-build Always copy perf hit; resetting output files mutated between builds. DO NOT USE FOR: gener

• directory-build-organization

  USE ONLY for (1) two or more projects with repeated MSBuild policy, targets, or package versions, or (2) an existing Directory.Build.props/targets/rsp hierarchy with an import, placement, or layering defect. A one-project repo without an existing Directory.Build file is outside scope; do not load th

• eliminate-redundant-restores

  Remove repeated NuGet restores from multi-step .NET builds safely. USE FOR: build/test/publish steps that each restore, Directory.Build.rsp with -restore, safe restore suppression, NETSDK1004/NETSDK1047 after --no-restore. DO NOT USE FOR: slow first restore, only one restore, version or lock errors,

• eval-performance

  Diagnose measured MSBuild evaluation cost before targets run. USE FOR: evaluation-only repeats under global-property variants, expensive node_modules/.git/bin/obj globs, import depth >20, /pp >10K lines, file-I/O property functions, five-phase evaluation. DO NOT USE FOR: duplicate executions (find-r

• extension-points

  Own MSBuild import and hook discovery. USE FOR: CustomBefore/CustomAfter hooks, ordered wildcard and NuGet auto-imports, control properties, build/buildTransitive packed layout, package ID and file-name matching, per-TFM forwarders, and tracing why assets or hooks are missing, broken, or replaced. A

• find-repeated-work-within-one-build

  Use ONLY for auditing executed-task counts or batching/hoisting costs within ONE MSBuild invocation: per-project Exec, duplicate dependency builds, per-item generators, run-once races. NEVER load for evaluation-only global-property variants with once-only target/task execution, idle-node/serial-chai

• including-generated-files

  Own MSBuild generated-artifact integration. USE FOR: a target that creates or should create source, Content, None, or another physical file but the artifact is missing from compilation or output; target timing; evaluation-time glob misses; $(IntermediateOutputPath) placement; and FileWrites clean tr

• incremental-build

  Fix MSBuild incremental/no-op builds: 'nothing changed but it rebuilds anyway'. USE FOR: targets re-executing on subsequent builds, missing Inputs/Outputs or FileWrites, volatile output paths, untracked writes, glob changes, Visual Studio Fast Up-to-Date Check (FUTDC); 'Building target completely' v

• item-management

  Own concrete MSBuild ItemGroup and item-expression questions. USE FOR: Include, Remove, Update, item identity and metadata, transforms, filtering, batching, duplicate or overlapping items, and reviews that verify whether those operations are correct. Generated items stay in scope when the central de

• msbuild-antipatterns

  DO NOT INVOKE when the primary request explicitly asks to convert, migrate, modernize, or rewrite a legacy/old-style project to SDK style; use msbuild-modernization. Migration prompts often mention ToolsVersion, explicit Compile/Reference entries, packages.config, or Microsoft.CSharp.targets, but me

• msbuild-modernization

  Guide for modernizing and migrating MSBuild project files to SDK-style format. USE FOR: converting legacy .csproj/.vbproj with verbose XML to SDK-style, migrating packages.config to PackageReference, removing Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs in favor of auto-generation, eliminating explicit Compile Includ

• property-patterns

  Diagnose and fix concrete MSBuild property defects in projects and existing shared-file hierarchies. USE FOR: conditions, defaults, append versus overwrite, last-write-wins values, OS/TFM checks, portable paths, normalization, and reviews centered on those property defects. Property defects in Direc

• resolve-project-references

  Guide for interpreting ResolveProjectReferences time in MSBuild performance summaries. Activate when ResolveProjectReferences appears as the most expensive target and developers are trying to optimize it directly. Explains that the reported time includes wait time for dependent project builds and is

• target-authoring

  Canonical patterns for writing custom MSBuild targets. USE FOR: diagnosing and fixing custom target authoring anti-patterns; broken SDK target chains across files (e.g., Directory.Build.targets silently redefining SDK targets); targets that replace CompileDependsOn instead of extending it with $(Com

• troubleshoot-binlog-mcp

  Diagnose dotnet-msbuild binlog MCP startup failures. USE FOR: CONNECTION_CLOSED, binlog server won't connect, missing binlog tools, Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp not found, dnx launch errors. Checks workspace SDK, feeds, and source mapping without bypassing policy. DO NOT USE FOR: errors inside a binl

Subagents (3)

• build-perf

  Agent for diagnosing and optimizing MSBuild build performance. Runs multi-step analysis: generates binlogs, analyzes timeline and bottlenecks, identifies expensive targets/tasks/analyzers, and suggests concrete optimizations. Invoke when builds are slow or when asked to optimize build times.

• msbuild-code-review

  Agent that reviews MSBuild project files for anti-patterns, modernization opportunities, and best practices violations. Scans .csproj, .vbproj, .fsproj, .props, .targets files and produces actionable improvement suggestions. Invoke when asked to review, audit, or improve MSBuild project files.

• msbuild

  Expert agent for MSBuild and .NET build troubleshooting, optimization, and project file quality. Routes to specialized agents for performance analysis and code review. Verifies MSBuild domain relevance before deep-diving. Specializes in build configuration, error diagnosis, binary log analysis, and

MCP servers (1)

• binlog

  runs: dotnet dnx Microsoft.AITools.BinlogMcp --yes --prerelease