NuGet Package Scaffold

"The best libraries are those that disappear into the code that uses them." -- Krzysztof Cwalina, Framework Design Guidelines

Core Philosophy

This skill scaffolds production-ready NuGet packages with proper metadata, testing, CI/CD pipelines, and publish workflows. Every package must meet a quality bar before it reaches any feed.

Non-negotiable constraints:

1. No publish without tests -- a package without a passing test suite is not a package, it is a liability
2. Semantic versioning is law -- every version bump must communicate intent: breaking, feature, or fix
3. Metadata is not optional -- description, license, authors, repository URL, and README are required before first publish
4. Multi-target when possible -- support the broadest reasonable set of target frameworks for your consumers
5. Deterministic builds -- the same source must produce the same binary, every time

The full domain principles, knowledge-base lookup protocol, AI discipline rules, anti-patterns, and error-recovery procedures live in references/conventions.md.

Workflow

Six-step pipeline: Scaffold → Configure → Test → Pack → Publish (with iterate back if needed).

Step 1: Scaffold

Create the solution structure:

PackageName/
├── src/
│   └── PackageName/
│       ├── PackageName.csproj
│       └── Class1.cs
├── tests/
│   └── PackageName.Tests/
│       ├── PackageName.Tests.csproj
│       └── Class1Tests.cs
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       ├── ci.yml
│       └── publish.yml
├── PackageName.sln
├── Directory.Build.props
├── README.md
├── LICENSE
└── .editorconfig

Step 2: Configure .csproj Metadata

Required metadata properties checklist:

• PackageId -- unique identifier on the feed
• Version -- SemVer-compliant version string
• Authors -- comma-separated author names
• Description -- concise summary of what the package does
• PackageLicenseExpression -- SPDX license identifier (e.g., MIT, Apache-2.0)
• PackageProjectUrl -- link to the project repository
• RepositoryUrl -- source repository URL
• RepositoryType -- typically git
• PackageReadmeFile -- path to the README to embed in the package
• PackageTags -- space-separated discovery tags
• TargetFrameworks -- semicolon-separated TFMs

Multi-target decision: TargetFrameworks: netstandard2.0;net10.0 when pre-.NET 10 consumers need support; TargetFrameworks: net10.0 otherwise. Full property reference: references/csproj-metadata.md.

Step 3: Test

dotnet test --configuration Release

Verify all unit tests pass on every target framework, public API surface is tested, edge cases and error paths are covered.

Step 4: Pack and Verify

dotnet pack --configuration Release --output ./artifacts
dotnet nuget verify ./artifacts/PackageName.1.0.0.nupkg
unzip -l ./artifacts/PackageName.1.0.0.nupkg

Step 5: Publish

# To nuget.org
dotnet nuget push ./artifacts/PackageName.1.0.0.nupkg \
  --api-key $NUGET_API_KEY \
  --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

# To a private feed
dotnet nuget push ./artifacts/PackageName.1.0.0.nupkg \
  --api-key $FEED_API_KEY \
  --source https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/org/project/_packaging/feed/nuget/v3/index.json

State Block

<nuget-scaffold-state>
step: [scaffold | configure | test | pack | publish]
package_name: [name]
target_frameworks: [frameworks]
version: [version]
publish_target: [nuget.org | private feed | local]
last_action: [what was done]
next_action: [what's next]
blockers: [issues]
</nuget-scaffold-state>

Output Template

Full templates: references/cicd-templates.md.

Discipline, Anti-Patterns & Recovery

AI discipline rules (never publish without tests, validate metadata, multi-target verification, API-surface review), the anti-pattern catalog, and step-by-step error recovery all live in references/conventions.md.

Integration with Other Skills

• dotnet-vertical-slice -- use to structure the internal architecture, then use this skill to wrap it as a distributable NuGet package
• TDD skills (tdd-loop, tdd-agent) -- develop the package internals using TDD workflows before progressing to the Pack step; the test project created by this scaffold integrates directly with TDD phase management
• mcp-server-scaffold (in the edge-ai-robotics-automation-toolkit supplement) -- when building an MCP server that ships as a dotnet tool NuGet package, use this skill for the packaging and mcp-server-scaffold for the server implementation

Reference Files

• .csproj Metadata Reference -- Complete property reference for package metadata
• CI/CD Pipeline Templates -- GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps pipeline templates
• Conventions, Discipline & Recovery -- Domain principles, KB lookups, discipline rules, anti-patterns, error recovery