Topic: skills
17,247 skills in this topic.
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resolve-project-references
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.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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binlog-generation
Generate MSBuild binary logs (binlogs) for build diagnostics and analysis. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. 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 investigation of errors or performance. Requires MSBuild 17.8+ / .NET 8 SDK+ for {} placeholder; PowerShell needs -bl:{{}}. DO NOT USE FOR: non-MSBuild build systems (npm, Maven, CMake), analyzing an existing binlog (use binlog-failure-analysis instead). INVOKES: shell commands (dotnet build /bl:{}).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-managedcode-orleans-signalr
Use ManagedCode.Orleans.SignalR when a distributed .NET application needs Orleans-based coordination of SignalR real-time messaging, hub delivery, and grain-driven push flows.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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coverage-analysis
Automated, project-wide code coverage and CRAP (Change Risk Anti-Patterns) score analysis for .NET projects with existing unit tests. Auto-detects solution structure, runs coverage collection via `dotnet test` (supports both Microsoft.Testing.Extensions.CodeCoverage and Coverlet), generates reports via ReportGenerator, calculates CRAP scores per method, and surfaces risk hotspots — complex code with low test coverage that is dangerous to modify. Use when the user wants project-wide coverage analysis with risk prioritization, coverage gap identification, CRAP score computation across an entire solution, or to diagnose why coverage is stuck or plateaued and identify what methods are blocking improvement. DO NOT USE FOR: targeted single-method CRAP analysis (use crap-score skill), writing tests, general test execution unrelated to coverage/CRAP analysis, or coverage reporting without CRAP context.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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filter-syntax
Reference data for test filter syntax across all platform and framework combinations: VSTest --filter expressions, MTP filters for MSTest/NUnit/xUnit v3/TUnit, and VSTest-to-MTP filter translation. DO NOT USE directly — loaded by run-tests, mtp-hot-reload, and migrate-vstest-to-mtp when they need filter syntax.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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template-instantiation
Creates .NET projects from templates with validated parameters, smart defaults, Central Package Management adaptation, and latest NuGet version resolution. USE FOR: creating new dotnet projects, scaffolding solutions with multiple projects, installing or uninstalling template packages, creating projects that respect Directory.Packages.props (CPM), composing multi-project solutions (API + tests + library), getting latest NuGet package versions in newly created projects. DO NOT USE FOR: finding or comparing templates (use template-discovery), authoring custom templates (use template-authoring), modifying existing projects or adding NuGet packages to existing projects.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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exp-test-tagging
Analyzes test suites and tags each test with a standardized set of traits (e.g., positive, negative, critical-path, boundary, smoke, regression). Use when the user wants to categorize, audit, or label tests with traits. Do not use for writing new tests, running tests, or migrating test frameworks.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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binlog-failure-analysis
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.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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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
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exp-assertion-quality
Analyzes the variety and depth of assertions across .NET test suites. Use when the user asks to evaluate assertion quality, find shallow testing, identify tests with only trivial assertions, measure assertion coverage diversity, or audit whether tests verify different facets of correctness. Produces metrics and actionable recommendations. Works with MSTest, xUnit, NUnit, and TUnit. DO NOT USE FOR: writing new tests (use writing-mstest-tests), detecting anti-patterns (use test-anti-patterns), or fixing existing assertions.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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crap-score
Calculates CRAP (Change Risk Anti-Patterns) score for .NET methods, classes, or files. Use when the user asks to assess test quality, identify risky untested code, compute CRAP scores, or evaluate whether complex methods have sufficient test coverage. Requires code coverage data (Cobertura XML) and cyclomatic complexity analysis. DO NOT USE FOR: writing tests, general test execution unrelated to coverage/CRAP analysis, or general code coverage reporting without CRAP context.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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platform-detection
Reference data for detecting the test platform (VSTest vs Microsoft.Testing.Platform) and test framework (MSTest, xUnit, NUnit, TUnit) from project files. DO NOT USE directly — loaded by run-tests, mtp-hot-reload, and migrate-vstest-to-mtp when they need detection logic.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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template-instantiation
Creates .NET projects from templates with validated parameters, smart defaults, Central Package Management adaptation, and latest NuGet version resolution. USE FOR: creating new dotnet projects, scaffolding solutions with multiple projects, installing or uninstalling template packages, creating projects that respect Directory.Packages.props (CPM), composing multi-project solutions (API + tests + library), getting latest NuGet package versions in newly created projects. DO NOT USE FOR: finding or comparing templates (use template-discovery), authoring custom templates (use template-authoring), modifying existing projects or adding NuGet packages to existing projects.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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eval-performance
Guide for diagnosing and improving MSBuild project evaluation performance. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. USE FOR: builds slow before any compilation starts, high evaluation time in binlog analysis, expensive glob patterns walking large directories (node_modules, .git, bin/obj), deep import chains (>20 levels), preprocessed output >10K lines indicating heavy evaluation, property functions with file I/O ($([System.IO.File]::ReadAllText(...))), multiple evaluations per project. Covers the 5 MSBuild evaluation phases, glob optimization via DefaultItemExcludes, import chain analysis with /pp preprocessing. DO NOT USE FOR: compilation-time slowness (use build-perf-diagnostics), incremental build issues (use incremental-build), non-MSBuild build systems. INVOKES: dotnet msbuild -pp:full.xml for preprocessing, /clp:PerformanceSummary.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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maui-shell-navigation
Guide for implementing Shell-based navigation in .NET MAUI apps. Covers AppShell setup, visual hierarchy (FlyoutItem, TabBar, Tab, ShellContent), URI-based navigation with GoToAsync, route registration, query parameters, back navigation, flyout and tab configuration, navigation events, and navigation guards. Use when: setting up Shell navigation, adding tabs or flyout menus, navigating between pages with GoToAsync, passing parameters between pages, registering routes, customizing back button behavior, or guarding navigation with confirmation dialogs. Do not use for: deep linking from external URLs (see .NET MAUI deep linking documentation), data binding on pages (use maui-data-binding), dependency injection setup (use maui-dependency-injection), or NavigationPage-only apps that don't use Shell.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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mcp-csharp-debug
Run and debug C# MCP servers locally. Covers IDE configuration, MCP Inspector testing, GitHub Copilot Agent Mode integration, logging setup, and troubleshooting. USE FOR: running MCP servers locally with dotnet run, configuring VS Code or Visual Studio for MCP debugging, testing tools with MCP Inspector, testing with GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, diagnosing tool registration issues, setting up mcp.json configuration, debugging MCP protocol messages, configuring logging for stdio and HTTP servers. DO NOT USE FOR: creating new MCP servers (use mcp-csharp-create), writing automated tests (use mcp-csharp-test), publishing or deploying to production (use mcp-csharp-publish).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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mtp-hot-reload
Suggests using Microsoft Testing Platform (MTP) hot reload to iterate fixes on failing tests without rebuilding. Use when user says "hot reload tests", "iterate on test fix", "run tests without rebuilding", "speed up test loop", "fix test faster", or needs to set up MTP hot reload to rapidly iterate on test failures. Covers setup (NuGet package, environment variable, launchSettings.json) and the iterative workflow for fixing tests. DO NOT USE FOR: writing test code, diagnosing test failures, CI/CD pipeline configuration, or Visual Studio Test Explorer hot reload (which is a different feature).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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code-testing-agent
Generates comprehensive, workable unit tests for any programming language using a multi-agent pipeline. Use when asked to generate tests, write unit tests, improve test coverage, add test coverage, create test files, or test a codebase. Supports C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, and more. Orchestrates research, planning, and implementation phases to produce tests that compile, pass, and follow project conventions.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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technology-selection
Guides technology selection and implementation of AI and ML features in .NET 8+ applications using ML.NET, Microsoft.Extensions.AI (MEAI), Microsoft Agent Framework (MAF), GitHub Copilot SDK, ONNX Runtime, and OllamaSharp. Covers the full spectrum from classic ML through modern LLM orchestration to local inference. Use when adding classification, regression, clustering, anomaly detection, recommendation, LLM integration (text generation, summarization, reasoning), RAG pipelines with vector search, agentic workflows with tool calling, Copilot extensions, or custom model inference via ONNX Runtime to a .NET project. DO NOT USE FOR projects targeting .NET Framework (requires .NET 8+), the task is pure data engineering or ETL with no ML/AI component, or the project needs a custom deep learning training loop (use Python with PyTorch/TensorFlow, then export to ONNX for .NET inference).
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-legacy-aspnet
Maintain classic ASP.NET applications on .NET Framework, including Web Forms, older MVC, and legacy hosting patterns, while planning realistic modernization boundaries.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-aot-compat
Make .NET projects compatible with Native AOT and trimming by systematically resolving IL trim/AOT analyzer warnings. USE FOR: making projects AOT-compatible, fixing trimming warnings, resolving IL warnings (IL2026, IL2070, IL2067, IL2072, IL3050), adding DynamicallyAccessedMembers annotations, enabling IsAotCompatible. DO NOT USE FOR: publishing native AOT binaries, optimizing binary size, replacing reflection-heavy libraries with alternatives. INVOKES: no tools — pure knowledge skill.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-mcaf
Adopt MCAF governance in a .NET repository with the right AGENTS.md layout, repo-native docs, skill installation, verification rules, and non-trivial task workflow. Use when bootstrapping or updating MCAF alongside the dotnet-skills catalog.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-pinvoke
Correctly call native (C/C++) libraries from .NET using P/Invoke and LibraryImport. Covers function signatures, string marshalling, memory lifetime, SafeHandle, and cross-platform patterns. USE FOR: writing new P/Invoke or LibraryImport declarations, reviewing or debugging existing native interop code, wrapping a C or C++ library for use in .NET, diagnosing crashes, memory leaks, or corruption at the managed/native boundary. DO NOT USE FOR: COM interop, C++/CLI mixed-mode assemblies, or pure managed code with no native dependencies.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302
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dotnet-mcaf-source-control
Apply MCAF source-control guidance for repository structure, branch naming, merge strategy, commit hygiene, and secrets-in-git discipline. Use when bootstrapping a repo, tightening PR flow, or documenting branch and release policy.
managedcode/dotnet-skills 302