.NET Dependencies

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• Find outdated or vulnerable packages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dotnet list package --outdated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dotnet outdated

(Third-party) Check outdated packages

dotnet outdated -u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:

• Recursive approach: Run dotnet list reference on each referenced project

• 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