// Run dotnet.Tests incrementally without a full build.cmd rebuild. Use after modifying source code in SDK projects to quickly build only changed projects, deploy their outputs into the redist SDK layout, and run tests against them.
Author end-to-end Static Web Assets integration tests that exercise MSBuild targets through build, publish, or pack. USE FOR: writing new SWA integration tests, choosing a test asset and base class, dynamically modifying projects at runtime, selecting the right manifest to assert on, verifying the full asset pipeline (primary, compressed, endpoints). DO NOT USE FOR: unit tests of individual tasks (write those directly), baseline regeneration (use swa-baseline-regeneration), troubleshooting failures (use swa-troubleshooting).
Regenerate Static Web Assets test baselines. USE FOR: fixing "generated manifest should match the expected baseline" errors, updating baseline JSON files after legitimate build output changes, understanding the baseline comparison system.
Understand and fix Static Web Assets Pack tests. USE FOR: fixing Pack test assertion failures after nupkg content changes, tracing MSBuild conditions to expected nupkg content, updating test assertions for new or changed package layouts, understanding conditional pack logic in .targets files.
Diagnose and fix common Static Web Assets test and build failures. USE FOR: analyzing CI failures, identifying root cause categories from error messages, fixing metadata propagation bugs, timing/ordering issues in MSBuild targets, test assertion mismatches.
Use this skill when you are implementing a change on src\StaticWebAssetsSdk and want to test the behavior locally to validate it works as expected.
Generate .NET SDK release notes by comparing two git branches, investigating PRs for user-facing changes, and producing a structured markdown document with contributor acknowledgments. Use this when asked to create or draft release notes for a new .NET SDK release.
| name | incremental-test |
| description | Run dotnet.Tests incrementally without a full build.cmd rebuild. Use after modifying source code in SDK projects to quickly build only changed projects, deploy their outputs into the redist SDK layout, and run tests against them. |
build.cmd or build.sh) so that the redist SDK layout exists at artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\<version>\..dotnet SDK must match the version expected by the test projects. If the runtime or SDK version is out of date (e.g., test build fails with a missing framework error), run .\restore.cmd (or ./restore.sh on macOS/Linux) to download the correct SDK into .dotnet.cp instead of Copy-Item.Determine which projects have been modified. Use context from:
git status/git diff to find changed .cs files and map them to their .csproj projects.Build each modified project individually using the repo-local dotnet:
.\.dotnet\dotnet build <path-to-project.csproj> -c Debug
For example:
.\.dotnet\dotnet build src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.csproj -c Debug
If the dotnet CLI project itself was modified, build it:
.\.dotnet\dotnet build src\Cli\dotnet\dotnet.csproj -c Debug
Discover the SDK version directory name:
$sdkVersion = (Get-ChildItem artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk -Directory | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1).Name
For each modified project, copy its output DLL (and any satellite assemblies) from the project's build output to the redist SDK directory:
Source: artifacts\bin\<ProjectName>\Debug\net10.0\<AssemblyName>.dll
Target: artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\<version>\
For example:
Copy-Item artifacts\bin\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools\Debug\net10.0\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\
Copy-Item artifacts\bin\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Debug\net10.0\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\
The dotnet project is special — it builds into artifacts\bin\dotnet\Debug\net10.0\ and its dotnet.dll must be copied to the SDK directory:
Copy-Item artifacts\bin\dotnet\Debug\net10.0\dotnet.dll artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet\sdk\$sdkVersion\
Important notes:
build.cmd/build.sh to update the layout correctly.net10.0 and net472). Always use the net10.0 output.cs\, de\, etc.), copy those too.The test project test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj outputs directly to artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\ (via TestHostFolder), so just build it:
.\.dotnet\dotnet build test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj
Run specific tests:
.\.dotnet\dotnet exec artifacts\bin\redist\Debug\dotnet.Tests.dll -method "*TestMethodName*"
Or run filtered tests via dotnet test:
.\.dotnet\dotnet test test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj --no-build --filter "Name~TestMethodName"
| Assembly | Project Path |
|---|---|
dotnet.dll | src\Cli\dotnet\dotnet.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.dll | src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions.dll | src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Definitions.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils.dll | src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils\Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.CoreUtils.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer.dll | src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer\Microsoft.DotNet.Configurer.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.dll | src\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools\Microsoft.DotNet.ProjectTools.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper.dll | src\Resolvers\Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper\Microsoft.DotNet.NativeWrapper.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator.dll | src\Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator\Microsoft.DotNet.TemplateLocator.csproj |
Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions.dll | src\Cli\Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions\Microsoft.DotNet.InternalAbstractions.csproj |
dotnet.Tests.dll | test\dotnet.Tests\dotnet.Tests.csproj |