The dotnet CLI

What is the dotnet CLI?

The dotnet CLI (Command-Line Interface) is your primary tool for working with .NET. It's a cross-platform command-line tool that handles everything from creating projects to deploying applications.

Command Structure

All dotnet commands follow this pattern:

dotnet [command] [arguments] [options]

For example:

dotnet new console -n MyApp -o ./src/MyApp

• dotnet - The CLI tool
• new - Command (create new project)
• console - Argument (template name)
• -n MyApp - Option (name)
• -o ./src/MyApp - Option (output directory)

Essential Commands

Getting Help

# General help
dotnet --help
dotnet -h

# Help for specific command
dotnet new --help
dotnet build --help

# List all available commands
dotnet --list-sdks
dotnet --list-runtimes

Version Information

# Show .NET version
dotnet --version

# Show detailed .NET info
dotnet --info

Project Creation Commands

dotnet new - Create Projects

# List all available templates
dotnet new list

# Create console application
dotnet new console -n MyConsoleApp

# Create ASP.NET Core Web API
dotnet new webapi -n InvenTrack.Api

# Create class library
dotnet new classlib -n InvenTrack.Core

# Create solution file
dotnet new sln -n InvenTrack

# Create .gitignore
dotnet new gitignore

# Create with specific framework
dotnet new console -n MyApp -f net8.0

Common Templates

Template	Short Name	Description
Console Application	console	Command-line application
Class Library	classlib	Reusable library (DLL)
ASP.NET Core Web API	webapi	RESTful API
ASP.NET Core MVC	mvc	Model-View-Controller web app
Razor Pages	webapp	Page-focused web app
Blazor Server	blazorserver	Server-side Blazor app
Worker Service	worker	Background service
xUnit Test Project	xunit	Unit test project

Solution Management

dotnet sln - Manage Solutions

# Create new solution
dotnet new sln -n InvenTrack

# Add project to solution
dotnet sln add src/InvenTrack.Web/InvenTrack.Web.csproj
dotnet sln add src/InvenTrack.Core/InvenTrack.Core.csproj

# Add multiple projects
dotnet sln add src/**/*.csproj

# Remove project from solution
dotnet sln remove src/InvenTrack.Web/InvenTrack.Web.csproj

# List projects in solution
dotnet sln list

dotnet add reference - Project References

# Add project reference
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Web reference src/InvenTrack.Core

# Add multiple references
dotnet add reference ../InvenTrack.Core ../InvenTrack.Data

# Remove reference
dotnet remove reference ../InvenTrack.Core

Build and Run Commands

dotnet restore - Restore Dependencies

# Restore NuGet packages
dotnet restore

# Restore for specific project
dotnet restore src/InvenTrack.Web/InvenTrack.Web.csproj

# Force re-download of packages
dotnet restore --force

dotnet build - Compile Projects

# Build current project/solution
dotnet build

# Build specific project
dotnet build src/InvenTrack.Web/InvenTrack.Web.csproj

# Build in Release mode
dotnet build --configuration Release
dotnet build -c Release

# Build without restoring
dotnet build --no-restore

# Build with verbose output
dotnet build --verbosity detailed
dotnet build -v d

dotnet run - Build and Execute

# Run current project
dotnet run

# Run specific project
dotnet run --project src/InvenTrack.Web

# Run in Release mode
dotnet run --configuration Release

# Pass arguments to your app
dotnet run -- arg1 arg2

# Run without building (if already built)
dotnet run --no-build

dotnet watch - Hot Reload

# Run with hot reload (auto-restart on file changes)
dotnet watch run

# Watch and run tests
dotnet watch test

# Watch specific project
dotnet watch --project src/InvenTrack.Web run

dotnet clean - Remove Build Artifacts

# Clean build output (bin/ and obj/)
dotnet clean

# Clean specific configuration
dotnet clean --configuration Release

Testing Commands

dotnet test - Run Tests

# Run all tests
dotnet test

# Run tests in specific project
dotnet test tests/InvenTrack.Tests/InvenTrack.Tests.csproj

# Run tests with detailed output
dotnet test --verbosity normal

# Run tests and collect code coverage
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

# Run specific test
dotnet test --filter "FullyQualifiedName~InvenTrack.Tests.ProductTests"

# Run tests in parallel
dotnet test --parallel

Publishing and Deployment

dotnet publish - Prepare for Deployment

# Publish for deployment
dotnet publish

# Publish in Release mode
dotnet publish -c Release

# Publish to specific folder
dotnet publish -c Release -o ./publish

# Publish self-contained (includes .NET runtime)
dotnet publish -c Release --self-contained -r win-x64

# Publish framework-dependent (requires .NET runtime on server)
dotnet publish -c Release --no-self-contained

# Publish single file
dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained -p:PublishSingleFile=true

Runtime Identifiers (RID)

Platform	RID
Windows x64	win-x64
Windows ARM64	win-arm64
Linux x64	linux-x64
Linux ARM64	linux-arm64
macOS x64	osx-x64
macOS ARM64	osx-arm64

Package Management

dotnet add package - Add NuGet Packages

# Add latest version
dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json

# Add specific version
dotnet add package Serilog --version 3.1.1

# Add to specific project
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Web package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore

# Add prerelease version
dotnet add package SomePackage --prerelease

dotnet remove package - Remove Packages

# Remove package
dotnet remove package Newtonsoft.Json

# Remove from specific project
dotnet remove src/InvenTrack.Web package Serilog

dotnet list package - View Packages

# List all packages
dotnet list package

# Check for outdated packages
dotnet list package --outdated

# Check for vulnerable packages
dotnet list package --vulnerable

Tool Management

dotnet tool - Global and Local Tools

# Install global tool
dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

# Install local tool (project-specific)
dotnet tool install dotnet-ef

# List installed global tools
dotnet tool list --global

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

# Uninstall tool
dotnet tool uninstall --global dotnet-ef

Popular .NET Tools

Tool	Purpose
dotnet-ef	Entity Framework Core migrations
dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator	ASP.NET Core scaffolding
dotnet-format	Code formatter
dotnet-outdated	Check for outdated packages

Useful Flags and Options

Common Flags Across Commands

Flag	Description
-h, --help	Show help for command
-c, --configuration	Build configuration (Debug/Release)
-f, --framework	Target framework
-o, --output	Output directory
-v, --verbosity	Output verbosity (q/m/n/d/diag)
--no-restore	Skip package restore
--no-build	Skip build step

Real-World InvenTrack Workflow

Here's a complete workflow for setting up InvenTrack from scratch:

# 1. Create solution
dotnet new sln -n InvenTrack

# 2. Create projects
dotnet new webapi -n InvenTrack.Api -o src/InvenTrack.Api
dotnet new classlib -n InvenTrack.Core -o src/InvenTrack.Core
dotnet new classlib -n InvenTrack.Data -o src/InvenTrack.Data
dotnet new xunit -n InvenTrack.Tests -o tests/InvenTrack.Tests

# 3. Add projects to solution
dotnet sln add src/InvenTrack.Api
dotnet sln add src/InvenTrack.Core
dotnet sln add src/InvenTrack.Data
dotnet sln add tests/InvenTrack.Tests

# 4. Add project references
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Api reference src/InvenTrack.Core
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Core reference src/InvenTrack.Data
dotnet add tests/InvenTrack.Tests reference src/InvenTrack.Core

# 5. Add NuGet packages
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Data package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Data package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
dotnet add src/InvenTrack.Api package Serilog.AspNetCore

# 6. Build everything
dotnet build

# 7. Run the API
dotnet run --project src/InvenTrack.Api

# 8. Run tests
dotnet test

Productivity Tips

1. Use Aliases (PowerShell/Bash)

# Add to $PROFILE
function dr { dotnet run }
function db { dotnet build }
function dt { dotnet test }
function dw { dotnet watch run }

2. Tab Completion

The dotnet CLI supports tab completion. Type dotnet new and press Tab to cycle through available templates.

3. Combine Commands

# Clean, build, and run
dotnet clean && dotnet build && dotnet run

# Build and test
dotnet build && dotnet test

Key Takeaways

• The dotnet CLI is your primary tool for .NET development
• dotnet new creates projects from templates
• dotnet sln manages multi-project solutions
• dotnet build compiles your code
• dotnet run builds and executes your app
• dotnet watch run enables hot reload for rapid development
• dotnet test runs your unit tests
• dotnet publish prepares apps for deployment
• dotnet add package installs NuGet packages
• dotnet tool manages global and local tools
• Use --help on any command to see all options
• Commands are cross-platform and work identically everywhere