dotnet-dependency

Investigate and manage .NET project dependencies using built-in dotnet CLI commands.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when the user needs to:

• Search for NuGet packages or find latest versions
• Add, update, or remove package references
• Understand why a specific NuGet package is included
• List all project dependencies (NuGet packages or project references)
• Find outdated or vulnerable packages
• Trace transitive dependencies
• Manage dotnet tools (search, install, update)

Quick Reference

| Command | Purpose | | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | dotnet package search <term> | Search NuGet for packages | | dotnet package search <name> --exact-match| List all versions of a package | | dotnet add package <id> | Add/update package to latest version | | dotnet add package <id> -v <ver> | Add/update package to specific version | | dotnet remove package <id> | Remove package reference | | dotnet nuget why <package> | Show dependency graph for a package | | dotnet list package | List NuGet packages | | dotnet list package --include-transitive | Include transitive dependencies | | dotnet list reference --project <project> | List project-to-project references | | dotnet list package --outdated | Find packages with newer versions | | dotnet list package --vulnerable | Find packages with security issues | | dotnet outdated | (Third-party) Check outdated packages | | dotnet outdated -u | (Third-party) Auto-update packages | | dotnet tool search <term> | Search for dotnet tools | | dotnet tool update <id> | Update local tool to latest | | dotnet tool update --all | Update all local tools |

Search NuGet Packages

Find packages and check latest versions directly from CLI:

# Search for packages by keyword
dotnet package search Serilog --take 5

# Find latest version of a specific package
dotnet package search Aspire.Hosting.AppHost --take 1

# Include prerelease versions
dotnet package search ModelContextProtocol --prerelease --take 3

# List ALL available versions of a package (version history)
dotnet package search Newtonsoft.Json --exact-match

# JSON output for scripting
dotnet package search Serilog --format json --take 3

Add and Update Packages

# Add package (installs latest stable version)
dotnet add package Serilog

# Add specific version
dotnet add package Serilog -v 4.0.0

# Add prerelease version
dotnet add package ModelContextProtocol --prerelease

# Add to specific project
dotnet add src/MyProject/MyProject.csproj package Serilog

# Update existing package to latest (same command as add)
dotnet add package Serilog

# Remove package
dotnet remove package Serilog

Note: dotnet add package both adds new packages and updates existing ones to the specified (or latest) version.

Manage Dotnet Tools

# Search for tools
dotnet tool search dotnet-outdated --take 3

# Update a local tool (from manifest)
dotnet tool update cake.tool

# Update with prerelease
dotnet tool update aspire.cli --prerelease

# Update all local tools
dotnet tool update --all

# Update global tool
dotnet tool update -g dotnet-ef

Investigate Package Dependencies

To understand why a package is included in your project:

# Why is this package included?
dotnet nuget why Newtonsoft.Json

# For a specific project
dotnet nuget why path/to/Project.csproj Newtonsoft.Json

# For a specific framework
dotnet nuget why Newtonsoft.Json --framework net8.0

Output shows the complete dependency chain from your project to the package.

List NuGet Packages

# Direct dependencies only
dotnet list package

# Include transitive (indirect) dependencies
dotnet list package --include-transitive

# For a specific project
dotnet list package --project path/to/Project.csproj

# JSON output for scripting
dotnet list package --format json

List Project References

# List project-to-project references
dotnet list reference --project path/to/Project.csproj

Transitive Project References

No built-in command shows transitive project dependencies. To find if Project A depends on Project B transitively:

1. Recursive approach: Run dotnet list reference on each referenced project
2. Parse .csproj files: Search for <ProjectReference> elements recursively:

# Find all ProjectReference elements
grep -r "ProjectReference" --include="*.csproj" .

Update Dependencies

Using dotnet outdated (Third-party)

If installed (dotnet tool install -g dotnet-outdated-tool):

# Check for outdated packages
dotnet outdated

# Auto-update to latest versions
dotnet outdated -u

# Update only specific packages
dotnet outdated -u -inc PackageName

Using built-in commands

# Check for outdated packages
dotnet list package --outdated

# Include prerelease versions
dotnet list package --outdated --include-prerelease

Progressive Disclosure

For security auditing (vulnerable, deprecated, outdated packages), load references/security-audit.md.

References

• dotnet package search
• dotnet add package
• dotnet remove package
• dotnet nuget why
• dotnet list reference
• dotnet list package
• dotnet tool