revit-addin-publishing

name	revit-addin-publishing
description	Configure an Autodesk Revit add-in project to copy the add-in, .addin manifest to the local Revit or a `bin/publish` folder, using the Nice3point.Revit.Sdk publish targets. USE FOR: setting up a project for publishing, bundling extra content into the output, and relying on per-version manifest patching. DO NOT USE FOR: launching and debugging the add-in from the IDE (use revit-addin-debugging), dependency isolation or repacking (use revit-dependency-isolation), or packaging a versioned App Store bundle (use revit-addin-bundle).
license	MIT

Revit Add-in Publishing

The Nice3point.Revit.Sdk targets copy the built add-in and its .addin manifest to one of two destinations and patch the manifest per Revit version. DeployAddin copies into the local Revit add-ins folder (%AppData%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\<version>); the running Revit loads the add-in on its next start. PublishAddin copies into bin\publish (like dotnet publish) for distribution or the installer. Enable them only in the project that owns the .addin manifest.

When to use

• Setting up a project to copy its add-in to the local Revit for testing, or to bin/publish for distribution.
• Bundling extra content (families, resources) into the add-in output.

Workflow

Step 1: Deploy or publish

<DeployAddin>true</DeployAddin> <!-- to %AppData%\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\<version> -->
<PublishAddin>true</PublishAddin> <!-- to bin\publish for distribution -->

DeployAddin implies publishing. Override the targets with AddinDeployDir / AddinPublishDir.

Step 2: Include extra content

<Content Include="Families\**" PublishDirectory="Families" CopyToPublishDirectory="PreserveNewest"/>

Step 3: Rely on manifest patching

The SDK removes the ManifestSettings node for Revit versions older than 2027 during publish to support legacy Revit versions.

Step 4: Verify

Build, and confirm the add-in and manifest land in the deploy or publish folder and that Revit loads the add-in.

Validation

• Deploy/publish is enabled only in the project holding the .addin manifest.
• Extra content is declared with PublishDirectory / CopyToPublishDirectory.
• The manifest works across supported years via SDK patching.

Common Pitfalls

Pitfall	Correct approach
Enabling deploy in a class-library project with no .addin	Enable it only in the manifest-owning project.
Copying families with a raw <None> item	Use <Content … PublishDirectory=… CopyToPublishDirectory=…/>.
Hand-editing the manifest per Revit version	Let the SDK patch ManifestSettings on publish.