.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

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Setting Up Local Tools

Initialize the Manifest

# Create .config/dotnet-tools.json
dotnet new tool-manifest

This creates:

.config/
└── dotnet-tools.json

Install Tools Locally

# Install a tool locally
dotnet tool install docfx

# Install specific version
dotnet tool install docfx --version 2.78.3

# Install from a specific source
dotnet tool install MyTool --add-source https://mycompany.pkgs.visualstudio.com/_packaging/feed/nuget/v3/index.json

Restore Tools

# Restore all tools from manifest
dotnet tool restore

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dotnet-tools.json Format