| name | credfeto-dotnet-publish |
| description | Enable trimming and AOT publishing on .NET executable projects in the correct staged order. Use when working on a .NET project that produces a publishable executable (OutputType=Exe or WinExe), or when asked to enable PublishTrimmed, PublishAot, or fix IL2xxx/IL3xxx warnings. |
.NET Publishing: Trimming and AOT
When working on a .NET project that produces a publishable executable (OutputType=Exe or OutputType=WinExe), follow these steps in order.
1. Enable Trimming First
Add <PublishTrimmed>true</PublishTrimmed> to the project file and verify the project builds without trim warnings or errors.
- Fix all
IL2xxx trim-analysis warnings before committing.
- Replace reflection-based patterns with source-generated equivalents — for example, replace
JsonSerializer usage with a JsonSerializerContext annotated with [JsonSerializable].
- Apply
[DynamicallyAccessedMembers] only where reflection is genuinely unavoidable and cannot be replaced with a source generator.
- Do not suppress trim warnings — treat them as blocking, consistent with
<TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>.
2. Enable AOT Only After Trimming Is Clean
Once <PublishTrimmed>true</PublishTrimmed> builds without warnings, replace it with <PublishAot>true</PublishAot> (AOT implies trimming; both properties do not need to be set simultaneously).
- Fix all
IL3xxx AOT-compatibility warnings.
- Remove any runtime code generation:
Emit, DynamicMethod, Expression.Compile, CSharpCodeProvider, etc.
- Verify that every third-party package used by the executable has AOT-compatible code paths. Check for
IsAotCompatible=true in the package metadata or a corresponding [RequiresUnreferencedCode] annotation indicating the incompatibility.
- Do not suppress AOT warnings — treat them as blocking.
3. If Blocked by an Incompatible Third-Party Dependency
Raise a GitHub issue in the current repository describing the incompatibility (package name, version, and the specific warning or error), then stop. Do not work around the incompatibility by suppressing warnings or downgrading the property.
General Warning Rules
- Every project must build with
<TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>.
- Never use
#pragma warning disable <ID>, <NoWarn>, <WarningsNotAsErrors>, or [SuppressMessage] without explicit written permission from the repo owner.
- If a warning fires, fix the root cause. If the fix is non-obvious, raise a GitHub issue rather than suppressing the warning.
