Topic: skills
17,247 skills in this topic.
-
migrate-mstest-v1v2-to-v3
Migrate MSTest v1 or v2 test project to MSTest v3. Use when user says "upgrade MSTest", "upgrade to MSTest v3", "migrate to MSTest v3", "update test framework", "modernize tests", "MSTest v3 migration", "MSTest compatibility", "MSTest v2 to v3", or build errors after updating MSTest packages from 1.x/2.x to 3.x. USE FOR: upgrading from MSTest v1 assembly references (Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.UnitTestFramework) or MSTest v2 NuGet (MSTest.TestFramework 1.x-2.x) to MSTest v3, fixing assertion overload errors (AreEqual/AreNotEqual), updating DataRow constructors, replacing .testsettings with .runsettings, timeout behavior changes, target framework compatibility (.NET 5 dropped -- use .NET 6+; .NET Fx older than 4.6.2 dropped), adopting MSTest.Sdk. First step toward MSTest v4 -- after this, use migrate-mstest-v3-to-v4. DO NOT USE FOR: migrating to MSTest v4 (use migrate-mstest-v3-to-v4), migrating between frameworks (MSTest to xUnit/NUnit), or general .NET upgrades unrelated to MSTest.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
optimizing-ef-core-queries
Optimize Entity Framework Core queries by fixing N+1 problems, choosing correct tracking modes, using compiled queries, and avoiding common performance traps. Use when EF Core queries are slow, generating excessive SQL, or causing high database load.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
msbuild-modernization
Guide for modernizing and migrating MSBuild project files to SDK-style format. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. 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 Include> lists via implicit globbing, consolidating shared settings into Directory.Build.props. Indicators of legacy projects: ToolsVersion attribute, <Import Project="$(MSBuildToolsPath)">, .csproj files > 50 lines for simple projects. DO NOT USE FOR: projects already in SDK-style format, non-.NET build systems (npm, Maven, CMake), .NET Framework projects that cannot move to SDK-style. INVOKES: dotnet try-convert, upgrade-assistant tools.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-stylelint
Use Stylelint in .NET repositories that ship CSS, SCSS, or other stylesheet assets alongside web frontends. Use when a repo needs a dedicated CLI lint gate for selectors, properties, duplicate styles, naming conventions, or design-system rule enforcement.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-roslynator
Use the open-source free `Roslynator` analyzer packages and optional CLI for .NET. Use when a repo wants broad C# static analysis, auto-fix flows, dead-code detection, optional CLI checks, or extra rules beyond the SDK analyzers.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-aspire
Build, upgrade, and operate .NET Aspire application hosts with current CLI, AppHost, ServiceDefaults, integrations, dashboard, testing, and Azure deployment patterns for distributed apps.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
build-perf-baseline
Establish build performance baselines and apply systematic optimization techniques. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. USE FOR: diagnosing slow builds, establishing before/after measurements (cold, warm, no-op scenarios), applying optimization strategies like MSBuild Server, static graph builds, artifacts output, and dependency graph trimming. Start here before diving into build-perf-diagnostics, incremental-build, or build-parallelism. DO NOT USE FOR: non-MSBuild build systems, detailed bottleneck analysis (use build-perf-diagnostics after baselining).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-microsoft-agent-framework
Build .NET AI agents and multi-agent workflows with Microsoft Agent Framework using the right agent type, threads, tools, workflows, hosting protocols, and enterprise guardrails.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-grpc
Build or review gRPC services and clients in .NET with correct contract-first design, streaming behavior, transport assumptions, and backend service integration.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-winui
Build or review WinUI 3 applications with the Windows App SDK, including MVVM patterns, packaging decisions, navigation, theming, windowing, and interop boundaries with other .NET stacks. Use when building modern Windows-native desktop UI.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-asynkron-profiler
Use the open-source free `Asynkron.Profiler` dotnet tool for CLI-first CPU, allocation, exception, contention, and heap profiling of .NET commands or existing trace artifacts.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-graphify-dotnet
Use `graphify-dotnet` to generate codebase knowledge graphs, architecture snapshots, and exportable repository maps from .NET or polyglot source trees, with optional AI-enriched semantic relationships.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-resharper-clt
Use the free official JetBrains ReSharper Command Line Tools for .NET repositories. Use when a repo wants powerful `jb inspectcode` inspections, `jb cleanupcode` cleanup profiles, solution-level `.DotSettings` enforcement, or a stronger CLI quality gate for C# than the default SDK analyzers alone.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-eslint
Use ESLint in .NET repositories that ship JavaScript, TypeScript, React, or other Node-based frontend assets. Use when a repo needs a configurable CLI lint gate for frontend correctness, import hygiene, unsafe patterns, or framework-specific rules.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-test-frameworks
Reference data for .NET test framework detection patterns, assertion APIs, skip annotations, setup/teardown methods, and common test smell indicators across MSTest, xUnit, NUnit, and TUnit. DO NOT USE directly — loaded by test analysis skills (test-anti-patterns, exp-test-smell-detection, exp-assertion-quality, exp-test-maintainability, exp-test-tagging) when they need framework-specific lookup tables.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
directory-build-organization
Guide for organizing MSBuild infrastructure with Directory.Build.props, Directory.Build.targets, Directory.Packages.props, and Directory.Build.rsp. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. USE FOR: structuring multi-project repos, centralizing build settings, implementing NuGet Central Package Management (CPM) with ManagePackageVersionsCentrally, consolidating duplicated properties across .csproj files, setting up multi-level Directory.Build hierarchy with GetPathOfFileAbove, understanding evaluation order (Directory.Build.props → SDK .props → .csproj → SDK .targets → Directory.Build.targets). Critical pitfall: $(TargetFramework) conditions in .props silently fail for single-targeting projects — must use .targets. DO NOT USE FOR: non-MSBuild build systems, migrating legacy projects to SDK-style (use msbuild-modernization), single-project solutions with no shared settings. INVOKES: no tools — pure knowledge skill.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
analyzing-dotnet-performance
Scans .NET code for ~50 performance anti-patterns across async, memory, strings, collections, LINQ, regex, serialization, and I/O with tiered severity classification. Use when analyzing .NET code for optimization opportunities, reviewing hot paths, or auditing allocation-heavy patterns.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
check-bin-obj-clash
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.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
minimal-api-file-upload
File upload endpoints in ASP.NET minimal APIs (.NET 8+)
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
template-discovery
Helps find, inspect, and compare .NET project templates. Resolves natural-language project descriptions to ranked template matches with pre-filled parameters. USE FOR: finding the right dotnet new template for a task, comparing templates side by side, inspecting template parameters and constraints, understanding what a template produces before creating a project, resolving intent like "web API with auth" to concrete template + parameters. DO NOT USE FOR: actually creating projects (use template-instantiation), authoring custom templates (use template-authoring), MSBuild or build issues (use dotnet-msbuild plugin), NuGet package management unrelated to template packages.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
dotnet-cloc
Use the open-source free `cloc` tool for line-count, language-mix, and diff statistics in .NET repositories. Use when a repo needs C# and solution footprint metrics, branch-to-branch LOC comparison, or repeatable code-size reporting in local workflows and CI.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
maui-app-lifecycle
.NET MAUI app lifecycle guidance — the four app states, cross-platform Window lifecycle events (Created, Activated, Deactivated, Stopped, Resumed, Destroying), platform-specific lifecycle mapping, backgrounding and resume behavior, and state-preservation patterns. USE FOR: "app lifecycle", "window lifecycle events", "save state on background", "resume app", "OnStopped", "OnResumed", "backgrounding", "deactivated event", "ConfigureLifecycleEvents", "platform lifecycle hooks". DO NOT USE FOR: navigation events (use maui-shell-navigation), dependency injection setup (use maui-dependency-injection), platform API invocation (use conditional compilation and partial classes).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
msbuild-server
Guide for using MSBuild Server to improve CLI build performance. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Activate when developers report slow incremental builds from the command line, or when CLI builds are noticeably slower than IDE builds. Covers MSBUILDUSESERVER=1 environment variable for persistent server-based caching. Do not activate for IDE-based builds (Visual Studio already uses a long-lived process).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
-
migrate-mstest-v3-to-v4
Migrate an MSTest v3 test project to MSTest v4. Use when user says "upgrade to MSTest v4", "update to latest MSTest", "MSTest 4 migration", "MSTest v4 breaking changes", "MSTest v4 compatibility", or has build errors after updating MSTest packages from 3.x to 4.x. Also use for target framework compatibility (e.g. net6.0/net7.0 support with MSTest v4). USE FOR: upgrading MSTest packages from 3.x to 4.x, fixing source breaking changes (Execute -> ExecuteAsync, CallerInfo constructor, ClassCleanupBehavior removal, TestContext.Properties, Assert API changes, ExpectedExceptionAttribute removal, TestTimeout enum removal), resolving behavioral changes (TreatDiscoveryWarningsAsErrors, TestContext lifecycle, TestCase.Id changes, MSTest.Sdk MTP changes), handling dropped TFMs (net5.0-net7.0 dropped, only net8.0+, net462, uap10.0 supported). DO NOT USE FOR: migrating from MSTest v1/v2 to v3 (use migrate-mstest-v1v2-to-v3 first), migrating between test frameworks, or general .NET upgrades unrelated to MSTest.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302