incremental-build SKILL.md skillA
incremental-build 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/incremental-build@git:20261002.970e0dcPins git:20261002.970e0dc 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/incremental-build/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 9
- Latest version
- git:20261002.970e0dc, committed Oct 2, 2026
- First version recorded
- Mar 17, 2026
- Size
- 17,288 bytes
- Repository stars
- 5,836
- License
- MIT
Guide for optimizing MSBuild incremental builds. USE FOR: builds slower than expected on subsequent runs, 'nothing changed but it rebuilds anyway', diagnosing why targets re-execute unnecessarily, fixing broken no-op builds. Covers 8 common causes: missing Inputs/Outputs on custom targets, volatile properties in output paths (timestamps/GUIDs), file writes outside tracked Outputs, missing FileWrites registration, glob changes, Visual Studio Fast Up-to-Date Check (FUTDC) issues. Key diagnostic…
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
## Required diagnosis output For every diagnose or explain request, the final answer must explicitly cover all of these points, even when the immediate cause is simply missing `Inputs`/`Outputs`: - the target and exact root-cause evidence; - the actual input/output timestamp comparison; - missing, deleted, cleaned, or rewritten outputs; - complete inputs, including dynamic or volatile inputs; - evaluated input/output paths and one-to-one mapping when item lists are batched; - two identical no-change builds and the expected second-build skip/out-of-date evidence. Do not edit unless the user asks for a fix. If a check cannot be run, label it as an unverified check rather than omitting it or claiming success. When `Inputs` or `Outputs` are absent, report timestamp comparison or one-to-one mapping as **not applicable — the incremental mechanism is not engaged**, not as an unverified comparison. ## How MSBuild Incremental Build Works MSBuild's incremental build mechanism allows targets to be skipped when their outputs are already up to date, dramatically reducing build times on subsequent runs. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add dotnet/skills/incremental-build@sha256:3d8e230432df0507The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261002.970e0dc, 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_n5gou5rzrdzxbtok)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 9 versions of this file, between Mar 17, 2026 and Oct 2, 2026, about one every 25 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261002.970e0dc latest | 2026-10-02 | 970e0dc | 17,288 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261002.2a896b2 | 2026-10-02 | 2a896b2 | 16,795 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261001.e961b65 | 2026-10-01 | e961b65 | 16,282 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260930.ac46442 | 2026-09-30 | ac46442 | 14,690 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260624.67e2a47 | 2026-06-24 | 67e2a47 | 14,688 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260522.0724ccf | 2026-05-22 | 0724ccf | 14,875 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260522.1a6e78c | 2026-05-22 | 1a6e78c | 14,865 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260421.05aeb65 | 2026-04-21 | 05aeb65 | 13,990 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260317.7e7dabd | 2026-03-17 | 7e7dabd | 13,977 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 (17288 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_n5gou5rzrdzxbtok GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=dotnet/skills/incremental-build GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/3d8e230432df0507c646999e328bf38e271fb8343697647620457909d27f4351
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.