Agent skill · software engineering · aaronontheweb
dotnet-local-tools
Managing local .NET tools with dotnet-tools.json for consistent tooling across development environments and CI/CD pipelines.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific commands and configurations for managing local .NET tools that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires dotnet installed locally. About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-07-03. 1,095 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
.NET Local Tools When to Use This Skill Use this skill when: Setting up consistent tooling across a development team Ensuring CI/CD pipelines use the same tool versions as local development Managing project-specific CLI tools (docfx, incrementalist, dotnet-ef, etc.) Avoiding global tool version conflicts between projects What Are Local Tools? Local tools are .NET CLI tools that are installed and versioned per-repository rather than globally. They're defined in .config/dotnet-tools.json and restored with dotnet tool restore. Local vs Global Tools Aspect Global Tools Local Tools -------- -------------- ------------- Installation dotnet tool install -g dotnet tool restore Scope Machine-wide Per-repository Version control Manual In .config/dotnet-tools.json CI/CD Must install each tool Single restore command Conflicts Can have version conflicts Isolated per project --- Setting Up Local Tools Initialize the Manifest This creates: Install Tools Locally Restore Tools --- dotnet-tools.json Format Fields Field Description ------- ------------- version Manifest schema version (always 1) isRoot Marks this as the root manifest (prevents searching parent directories) tools Dictionary of tool configurations tools.<name>.version Exact version to install tools.<name>.commands CLI commands the tool provides tools.<name>.rollForward Allow newer versions (usually false for reproducibility) --- Common Tools Documentation Usage: Entity Framework Core Usage: Code Coverage Usage: Incremental Builds Usage: Code Formatting Usage: Code Analysis --- CI/CD Integration GitHub Actions Azure Pipelines --- Managing Tool Versions Update a Tool List Installed Tools Remove a Tool --- Best Practices 1. Always Set isRoot: true Prevents MSBuild from searching parent directories for tool manifests: 2. Pin Exact Versions Use "rollForward": false for reproducible builds: 3. Restore in CI Before Use Always run dotnet tool restore before using any local tool: 4. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aaronontheweb/local-tools