dotnet-skills
Tool Templates & Scaffolding v0.1.0

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.

Workflow

Step 1: Resolve template and parameters

If the user provides a natural-language description, map it to a template short name (see the keyword table in the template-discovery skill). If they provide a template name, proceed directly.

Use dotnet new <template> --help to review available parameters, defaults, and types for any parameters the user did not specify.

Step 2: Analyze the workspace

Check the existing solution structure before creating:

  • Is Central Package Management (CPM) enabled? Look for Directory.Packages.props
  • What target frameworks are in use? Check existing .csproj files
  • Is there a global.json pinning the SDK?

This ensures the new project is consistent with the workspace.

Step 3: Preview the creation

Use dotnet new <template> --dry-run to show the user what files would be created. Confirm before proceeding.

dotnet new webapi --name MyApi --framework net10.0 --dry-run

Step 4: Create the project

Use dotnet new with the template name and all parameters:

dotnet new webapi --name MyApi --output ./src/MyApi --framework net10.0 --auth Individual

#### Common parameter combinations

| Template | Parameters | Example | |----------|-----------|---------| | webapi | --auth (None, Individual, SingleOrg, Windows), --aot (native AOT) | dotnet new webapi -n MyApi --auth Individual --aot | | webapi | --use-controllers (use controllers vs minimal APIs) | dotnet new webapi -n MyApi --use-controllers | | blazor | --interactivity (None, Server, WebAssembly, Auto), --auth | dotnet new blazor -n MyApp --interactivity Server | | grpc | --aot (native AOT) | dotnet new grpc -n MyService --aot | | worker | --aot (native AOT) | dotnet new worker -n MyWorker --aot |

Note: Use dotnet new <template> --help to see all available parameters for any template.

After creation, if the workspace uses CPM:

  1. Check .csproj for inline <PackageReference> versions
  2. Move version attributes to Directory.Packages.props as <PackageVersion> entries
  3. Remove Version attributes from the .csproj

Step 5: Multi-project composition (optional)

For complex structures, create each project sequentially and wire them together:

dotnet new webapi --name MyApi --output ./src/MyApi
dotnet new xunit --name MyApi.Tests --output ./tests/MyApi.Tests
dotnet add ./tests/MyApi.Tests reference ./src/MyApi
dotnet sln add ./src/MyApi ./tests/MyApi.Tests

Step 6: Template package management

Install or uninstall template packages:

dotnet new install Microsoft.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates.10.0
dotnet new uninstall Microsoft.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates.10.0

Step 7: Post-creation verification

  1. Verify the project builds: dotnet build
  2. If added to a solution, verify dotnet build at the solution level
  3. If CPM was adapted, verify Directory.Packages.props has the new entries

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