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Found 24 Skills
Guide for modernizing and migrating MSBuild project files to SDK-style format. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when encountering legacy .csproj/.vbproj files with verbose XML, packages.config, or AssemblyInfo.cs patterns. Covers legacy-to-SDK migration, removing boilerplate, PackageReference migration, and Directory.Build consolidation. Invoke when asked to modernize, migrate, or clean up project files.
Catalog of MSBuild anti-patterns with detection rules and fix recipes. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when reviewing, auditing, or cleaning up .csproj, .vbproj, .fsproj, .props, .targets, or .proj files. Each anti-pattern has a symptom, explanation, and concrete BAD→GOOD transformation. DO NOT use for non-MSBuild build systems (npm, Maven, CMake, etc.).
Proper handling of files generated during the MSBuild's build process. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when generated files are not being included in compilation, output, or when globs aren't capturing generated files. Covers MSBuild evaluation vs execution phases, timing targets to include generated files, and ensuring generated files are tracked for incremental builds and clean.
Detects MSBuild projects with conflicting OutputPath or IntermediateOutputPath. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. USE FOR: builds failing with 'Cannot create a file when that file already exists', 'The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process', intermittent build failures that succeed on retry, missing outputs in multi-project builds, multi-targeting builds where project.assets.json conflicts. Diagnoses when multiple projects or TFMs write to the same bin/obj directories due to shared OutputPath, missing AppendTargetFrameworkToOutputPath, or extra global properties like PublishReadyToRun creating redundant evaluations. DO NOT USE FOR: file access errors unrelated to MSBuild (OS-level locking), single-project single-TFM builds, non-MSBuild build systems. INVOKES: dotnet msbuild binlog replay, grep for output path analysis.
Guide for interpreting ResolveProjectReferences time in MSBuild performance summaries. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. 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 misleading. Guides users to focus on task self-time instead. Do not activate for general build performance -- use build-perf-diagnostics instead.
Manages .NET project setup, build systems, and developer tooling including solution structure, MSBuild (authoring, tasks, Directory.Build), build optimization, performance patterns, profiling (dotnet-counters/trace/dump), Native AOT publishing, trimming, GC/memory tuning, CLI app architecture (System.CommandLine, Spectre.Console, Terminal.Gui), docs generation, tool management, version detection/upgrade, and solution navigation.
Analyze MSBuild binary logs to diagnose build failures by replaying binlogs to searchable text logs. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. USE FOR: build errors that are unclear from console output, diagnosing cascading failures across multi-project builds, tracing MSBuild target execution order, investigating common errors like CS0246 (type not found), MSB4019 (imported project not found), NU1605 (package downgrade), MSB3277 (version conflicts), and ResolveProjectReferences failures. Requires an existing .binlog file. DO NOT USE FOR: generating binlogs (use binlog-generation), build performance analysis (use build-perf-diagnostics), non-MSBuild build systems. INVOKES: dotnet msbuild binlog replay, grep, cat, head, tail for log analysis.
Convert .NET projects and solutions (.sln, .slnx) to NuGet Central Package Management (CPM) using Directory.Packages.props. USE FOR: converting to CPM, centralizing or aligning NuGet package versions across multiple projects, inlining MSBuild version properties from Directory.Build.props into Directory.Packages.props, resolving version conflicts or mismatches across a solution or repository, updating or bumping or syncing package versions across projects. Also activate when packages are out of sync, drifting, or inconsistent -- even without the user mentioning CPM. Provides baseline build capture, version conflict resolution, build validation with binlog comparison, and a structured post-conversion report. DO NOT USE FOR: packages.config projects (must migrate to PackageReference first) or repositories that already have CPM fully enabled.
Guide for diagnosing and improving MSBuild project evaluation performance. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when builds are slow before any compilation starts, when evaluation time is high in binlog analysis, or when dealing with expensive glob patterns and deep import chains. Covers evaluation phases, glob optimization, import chain analysis, and /pp preprocessing.
Establish build performance baselines and apply systematic optimization techniques. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when diagnosing slow builds, establishing before/after measurements, or applying advanced optimization strategies like MSBuild Server, static graph builds, artifacts output, and dependency graph trimming. Start here before diving into specific optimizations from build-perf-diagnostics, incremental-build, or build-parallelism skills. DO NOT use for non-MSBuild build systems.
Guide for optimizing MSBuild incremental builds. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when builds are slower than expected on subsequent runs, when 'nothing changed but it rebuilds anyway', or when diagnosing why incremental builds are broken. Covers Inputs/Outputs on targets, FileWrites tracking, up-to-date checks, and diagnosing unnecessary rebuilds via binlog analysis.
Guide for optimizing MSBuild build parallelism and multi-project scheduling. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Use when builds are not utilizing all CPU cores, when looking to speed up multi-project builds, or when evaluating graph build mode. Covers /maxcpucount, project dependency graphs, graph build (/graph), BuildInParallel, and reducing unnecessary project references.