dotnet-upgrade
Provides strategic prompts to analyze and execute .NET framework upgrades.
Install
mkdir -p .claude/skills/dotnet-upgrade && curl -L -o skill.zip "https://agentskills.codes/api/skills/download/16439" && unzip -o skill.zip -d .claude/skills/dotnet-upgrade && rm skill.zipInstalls to .claude/skills/dotnet-upgrade
Activation
This is the description your AI agent reads to decide when to run this skill — the better it matches your request, the more reliably it fires.
Ready-to-use prompts for comprehensive .NET framework upgrade analysis and executionKey capabilities
- →Identify projects by type and TargetFramework
- →Review external and internal dependencies for compatibility
- →Identify legacy `packages.config` projects for migration
- →Recommend project upgrade order
- →Propose incremental upgrade strategies with rollback checkpoints
- →Identify code patterns needing modernization
How it works
The skill analyzes project files and dependencies to classify projects, assess compatibility, and generate recommendations for upgrade order, code modernization, and CI/CD pipeline updates.
Inputs & outputs
When to use dotnet-upgrade
- →Assessing upgrade complexity
- →Migrating from packages.config
- →Planning incremental upgrades
- →Updating target frameworks
About this skill
Project Discovery & Assessment
-
name: "Project Classification Analysis" prompt: "Identify all projects in the solution and classify them by type (
.NET Framework,.NET Core,.NET Standard). Analyze each.csprojfor its currentTargetFrameworkand SDK usage." -
name: "Dependency Compatibility Review" prompt: "Review external and internal dependencies for framework compatibility. Determine the upgrade complexity based on dependency graph depth."
-
name: "Legacy Package Detection" prompt: "Identify legacy
packages.configprojects needing migration toPackageReferenceformat."
Upgrade Strategy & Sequencing
-
name: "Project Upgrade Ordering" prompt: "Recommend a project upgrade order from least to most dependent components. Suggest how to isolate class library upgrades before API or Azure Function migrations."
-
name: "Incremental Strategy Planning" prompt: "Propose an incremental upgrade strategy with rollback checkpoints. Evaluate the use of Upgrade Assistant or manual upgrades based on project structure."
-
name: "Progress Tracking Setup" prompt: "Generate an upgrade checklist for tracking build, test, and deployment readiness across all projects."
Framework Targeting & Code Adjustments
-
name: "Target Framework Selection" prompt: "Suggest the correct
TargetFrameworkfor each project (e.g.,net8.0). Review and update deprecated SDK or build configurations." -
name: "Code Modernization Analysis" prompt: "Identify code patterns needing modernization (e.g.,
WebHostBuilder→HostBuilder). Suggest replacements for deprecated .NET APIs and third-party libraries." -
name: "Async Pattern Conversion" prompt: "Recommend conversion of synchronous calls to async where appropriate for improved performance and scalability."
NuGet & Dependency Management
-
name: "Package Compatibility Analysis" prompt: "Analyze outdated or incompatible NuGet packages and suggest compatible versions. Identify third-party libraries that lack .NET 8 support and provide migration paths."
-
name: "Shared Dependency Strategy" prompt: "Recommend strategies for handling shared dependency upgrades across projects. Evaluate usage of legacy packages and suggest alternatives in Microsoft-supported namespaces."
-
name: "Transitive Dependency Review" prompt: "Review transitive dependencies and potential version conflicts after upgrade. Suggest resolution strategies for dependency conflicts."
CI/CD & Build Pipeline Updates
-
name: "Pipeline Configuration Analysis" prompt: "Analyze YAML build definitions for SDK version pinning and recommend updates. Suggest modifications for
UseDotNet@2andNuGetToolInstallertasks." -
name: "Build Pipeline Modernization" prompt: "Generate updated build pipeline snippets for .NET 8 migration. Recommend validation builds on feature branches before merging to main."
-
name: "CI Automation Enhancement" prompt: "Identify opportunities to automate test and build verification in CI pipelines. Suggest strategies for continuous integration validation."
Testing & Validation
-
name: "Build Validation Strategy" prompt: "Propose validation checks to ensure the upgraded solution builds and runs successfully. Recommend automated test execution for unit and integration suites post-upgrade."
-
name: "Service Integration Verification" prompt: "Generate validation steps to verify logging, telemetry, and service connectivity. Suggest strategies for verifying backward compatibility and runtime behavior."
-
name: "Deployment Readiness Check" prompt: "Recommend UAT deployment verification steps before production rollout. Create comprehensive testing scenarios for upgraded components."
Breaking Change Analysis
-
name: "API Deprecation Detection" prompt: "Identify deprecated APIs or removed namespaces between target versions. Suggest automated scanning using
.NET Upgrade Assistantand API Analyzer." -
name: "API Replacement Strategy" prompt: "Recommend replacement APIs or libraries for known breaking areas. Review configuration changes such as
Startup.cs→Program.csrefactoring." -
name: "Regression Testing Focus" prompt: "Suggest regression testing scenarios focused on upgraded API endpoints or services. Create test plans for critical functionality validation."
Version Control & Commit Strategy
-
name: "Branching Strategy Planning" prompt: "Recommend branching strategy for safe upgrade with rollback capability. Generate commit templates for partial and complete project upgrades."
-
name: "PR Structure Optimization" prompt: "Suggest best practices for creating structured PRs (
Upgrade to .NET [Version]). Identify tagging strategies for PRs involving breaking changes." -
name: "Code Review Guidelines" prompt: "Recommend peer review focus areas (build, test, and dependency validation). Create checklists for effective upgrade reviews."
Documentation & Communication
-
name: "Upgrade Documentation Strategy" prompt: "Suggest how to document each project's framework change in the PR. Propose automated release note generation summarizing upgrades and test results."
-
name: "Stakeholder Communication" prompt: "Recommend communicating version upgrades and migration timelines to consumers. Generate documentation templates for dependency updates and validation results."
-
name: "Progress Tracking Systems" prompt: "Suggest maintaining an upgrade summary dashboard or markdown checklist. Create templates for tracking upgrade progress across multiple projects."
Tools & Automation
-
name: "Upgrade Tool Selection" prompt: "Recommend when and how to use:
.NET Upgrade Assistant,dotnet list package --outdated,dotnet migrate, andgraph.jsondependency visualization." -
name: "Analysis Script Generation" prompt: "Generate scripts or prompts for analyzing dependency graphs before upgrading. Propose AI-assisted prompts for Copilot to identify upgrade issues automatically."
-
name: "Multi-Repository Validation" prompt: "Suggest how to validate automation output across multiple repositories. Create standardized validation workflows for enterprise-scale upgrades."
Final Validation & Delivery
-
name: "Final Solution Validation" prompt: "Generate validation steps to confirm the final upgraded solution passes all validation checks. Suggest production deployment verification steps post-upgrade."
-
name: "Deployment Readiness Confirmation" prompt: "Recommend generating final test results and build artifacts. Create a checklist summarizing completion across projects (builds/tests/deployment)."
-
name: "Release Documentation" prompt: "Generate a release note summarizing framework changes and CI/CD updates. Create comprehensive upgrade summary documentation."
When not to use it
- →When ignoring deprecated SDK or build configurations
- →When skipping automated test execution post-upgrade
- →When neglecting to document framework changes in PRs
Limitations
- →It focuses on analysis and recommendations, not direct code modification.
- →It requires manual execution of recommended steps.
- →It does not automatically resolve all dependency conflicts.
How it compares
This workflow provides ready-to-use prompts for a complete and systematic .NET framework upgrade, covering analysis, strategy, and execution, unlike an ad-hoc upgrade process.
Compared to similar skills
dotnet-upgrade side by side with the closest alternatives in the catalog.
| Skill | Installs | Updated | Safety | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dotnet-upgrade (this skill) | 0 | 4mo | No flags | Intermediate |
| update-roslyn-version | 2 | 3mo | Review | Advanced |
| bunit-test-migration | 1 | 6mo | No flags | Beginner |
| dependency-update | 1 | 2mo | Review | Intermediate |
Try saying
Example prompts that trigger this skill in your AI assistant.
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