Base Commands

Check .NET Version

Display the currently active .NET SDK version:

dotnet --version

List Installed SDKs

Show all installed .NET SDKs on your machine:

dotnet --list-sdks

List installed runtimes:

dotnet --list-runtimes

List Available Templates

See all available project templates:

dotnet new list

Search for specific templates:

dotnet new list web

Get Help

Get help for any dotnet command:

dotnet --help
dotnet new --help
dotnet build --help

Project Creation

Console Application

dotnet new console -n MyConsoleApp
cd MyConsoleApp
dotnet run

Class Library

dotnet new classlib -n MyLibrary

Specify target framework:

dotnet new classlib -n MyLibrary -f net8.0

Web API

Create a Web API project:

dotnet new webapi -n MyApi

Create API without OpenAPI/Swagger:

dotnet new webapi -n MyApi --no-openapi

Razor Pages App

dotnet new webapp -n MyWebApp

MVC App

dotnet new mvc -n MyMvcApp

Blazor App

Blazor Server:

dotnet new blazorserver -n MyBlazorApp

Blazor WebAssembly:

dotnet new blazorwasm -n MyBlazorApp

Solution Management

Create Solution

Create a new solution file:

dotnet new sln -n MySolution

Or create in current directory:

dotnet new sln

Add Project to Solution

Add a single project:

dotnet sln add MyProject/MyProject.csproj

Add multiple projects:

dotnet sln add MyProject/MyProject.csproj MyLibrary/MyLibrary.csproj

Add all projects in a directory:

dotnet sln add **/*.csproj

Remove Project from Solution

dotnet sln remove MyProject/MyProject.csproj

List Projects in Solution

dotnet sln list

NuGet Packages

Install Package

Install latest version:

dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json

Install specific version:

dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json --version 13.0.1

Install prerelease version:

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore --prerelease

Note: Run this command in the folder where you have .csproj.

Update Package

Update to latest version:

dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json

Remove Package

dotnet remove package Newtonsoft.Json

List Packages

List all packages in the project:

dotnet list package

List outdated packages:

dotnet list package --outdated

List packages with vulnerabilities:

dotnet list package --vulnerable

Restore Dependencies

Download and install all NuGet packages:

dotnet restore

When you run it, it:

• Reads your project file (.csproj)
• Looks at <PackageReference> entries
• Downloads missing packages from NuGet or your local cache
• Places them in the global NuGet cache
• Makes the project ready for build

Note: In modern .NET SDK versions, dotnet build and dotnet run automatically perform restore if needed.

Project References

Add Reference

Add reference to another project:

dotnet add reference ../MyLibrary/MyLibrary.csproj

Add multiple references:

dotnet add reference ../LibraryA/LibraryA.csproj ../LibraryB/LibraryB.csproj

Remove Reference

dotnet remove reference ../MyLibrary/MyLibrary.csproj

List References

dotnet list reference

Build & Run

Build Project

Build in Debug mode (default):

dotnet build

Build in Release mode:

dotnet build --configuration Release

Build specific project:

dotnet build MyProject/MyProject.csproj

Build with verbosity:

dotnet build --verbosity detailed

What gets built?

• If there's a .sln file → builds the solution
• If there's a .csproj file → builds that project
• Priority: .sln > .csproj

Clean Build

Remove build outputs:

dotnet clean

Clean and build:

dotnet clean && dotnet build

Rebuild Project

Clean and build in one command:

dotnet build --no-incremental

Run Application

Run the project:

dotnet run

Run with arguments:

dotnet run -- arg1 arg2 arg3

Run specific project:

dotnet run --project MyProject/MyProject.csproj

Run in Release mode:

dotnet run --configuration Release

Run with Profile

Run with specific launch profile from launchSettings.json:

dotnet run --launch-profile http

From outside project directory:

dotnet run --project ./MyWebApp/MyWebApp.csproj --launch-profile http

Watch Mode

Run with hot reload (restarts on file changes):

dotnet watch run

Watch and run tests:

dotnet watch test

Build on file changes:

dotnet watch build

Testing

Create Test Project

Using xUnit (recommended):

dotnet new xunit -n MyProject.Tests

Using NUnit:

dotnet new nunit -n MyProject.Tests

Using MSTest:

dotnet new mstest -n MyProject.Tests

Run Tests

Run all tests:

dotnet test

Run tests with detailed output:

dotnet test --verbosity detailed

Run tests without building:

dotnet test --no-build

Run Specific Tests

Run tests by filter:

dotnet test --filter FullyQualifiedName~MyTest

Run tests from specific class:

dotnet test --filter ClassName=MyTestClass

Run tests by category:

dotnet test --filter Category=Unit

Test with Coverage

Collect code coverage:

dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

Publishing

Publish Application

Publish for current platform:

dotnet publish -c Release

Publish for specific runtime:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64
dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64
dotnet publish -c Release -r osx-x64

Self-Contained Publish

Include .NET runtime (larger size, no runtime dependency):

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true

Framework-dependent (smaller size, requires .NET runtime):

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false

Single File Publish

Publish as single executable:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true

Trimmed Publish

Reduce size by removing unused code:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishTrimmed=true

EF Core

Install EF Core Tools

Install global EF Core CLI tools:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

Update EF Core tools:

dotnet tool update --global dotnet-ef

Add EF Core packages to project:

dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design

Add Migration

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate

With output directory:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate --output-dir Data/Migrations

Update Database

Apply migrations to database:

dotnet ef database update

Update to specific migration:

dotnet ef database update MigrationName

Remove Migration

Remove last migration:

dotnet ef migrations remove

Drop Database

dotnet ef database drop

With confirmation:

dotnet ef database drop --force

Troubleshooting

Clear NuGet Cache

Clear all NuGet caches:

dotnet nuget locals all --clear

Clear specific cache:

dotnet nuget locals http-cache --clear
dotnet nuget locals global-packages --clear

Fix Build Errors

Clean and restore:

dotnet clean
dotnet restore
dotnet build

Remove bin and obj folders:

rm -rf **/bin **/obj
dotnet restore

Port Already in Use

Find process using port (Mac/Linux):

lsof -i :5000
kill -9 <PID>

Windows:

netstat -ano | findstr :5000
taskkill /PID <PID> /F

Or change port in launchSettings.json:

{
  "applicationUrl": "https://localhost:5001;http://localhost:5000"
}