msbuild-antipatterns SKILL.md skillA
msbuild-antipatterns from dotnet/skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add dotnet/skills/msbuild-antipatterns@git:20261002.c75e165Pins git:20261002.c75e165 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- dotnet/skills
- Path
plugins/dotnet-msbuild/skills/msbuild-antipatterns/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 10
- Latest version
- git:20261002.c75e165, committed Oct 2, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jun 16, 2026
- Size
- 19,370 bytes
- Repository stars
- 5,836
- License
- MIT
DO NOT INVOKE when the primary request explicitly asks to convert, migrate, modernize, or rewrite a legacy/old-style project to SDK style; use msbuild-modernization. Migration prompts often mention ToolsVersion, explicit Compile/Reference entries, packages.config, or Microsoft.CSharp.targets, but merely reviewing or auditing a file that contains those patterns remains in scope here. USE FOR broad review, audit, lint, or maintainability/correctness checks of project/build files, including…
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# MSBuild Anti-Pattern Catalog A numbered catalog of common MSBuild anti-patterns. Each entry follows the format: - **Smell**: What to look for - **Why it's bad**: Impact on builds, maintainability, or correctness - **Fix**: Concrete transformation Use this catalog when scanning project files for improvements. ## Review output contract For review, audit, maintainability, or correctness-risk requests: 1. Do not edit files unless the user explicitly asks for fixes. 2. Return prioritized findings grounded in the supplied file, with impact and a targeted recommendation. 3. Separate confirmed defects from conditional risks and already-correct patterns. 4. Keep the final answer as the review; do not replace it with a terse summary of changes. --- ## AP-01: `<Exec>` for Operations That Have Built-in Tasks **Smell**: `<Exec Command="mkdir ..." />`, `<Exec Command="copy ..." />`, `<Exec Command="del ..." />` **Why it's bad**: Built-in tasks are cross-platform, support incremental build, emit structured logging, and handle errors consistently. `<Exec>` is opaque to MSBuild. ```xml <!-- BAD --> <Target Name="PrepareOutput"> <Exec Command="mkdir $(OutputPath)logs" /> …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add dotnet/skills/msbuild-antipatterns@sha256:9bd1780bd671c5ceThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261002.c75e165, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_j5cnjyh2jb6wlwmf)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 10 versions of this file, between Jun 16, 2026 and Oct 2, 2026, about one every 12 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261002.c75e165 latest | 2026-10-02 | c75e165 | 19,370 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261002.2a896b2 | 2026-10-02 | 2a896b2 | 19,241 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.2b5f5a4 | 2026-09-30 | 2b5f5a4 | 18,692 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.83662c4 | 2026-09-30 | 83662c4 | 18,725 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.ac46442 | 2026-09-30 | ac46442 | 18,699 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260717.1b99afa | 2026-07-17 | 1b99afa | 18,586 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260716.b83443a | 2026-07-16 | b83443a | 18,553 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260629.8a52700 | 2026-06-29 | 8a52700 | 18,553 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260624.67e2a47 | 2026-06-24 | 67e2a47 | 18,124 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260616.8a437b1 | 2026-06-16 | 8a437b1 | 18,169 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (19370 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
dotnet/skills · 5,836 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-06 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_j5cnjyh2jb6wlwmf GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dotnet/skills/msbuild-antipatterns GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/9bd1780bd671c5ce3774d3857cb6323ef61ca1e99faae9d2579552bf130ad230
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.