Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source code by Copilot · Pull Request #37865 · dotnet/efcore

Copilot · 2026-03-06T01:53:23Z

Hardcoded TFMs in shipping .props files and source code require manual updates whenever Arcade bumps TargetFrameworkDefault properties. This eliminates all such hardcodes.

Retarget to $(NetMinimum): EFCore.Abstractions (was $(DefaultNetCoreTargetFramework)) and EFCore.Tasks (was $(NetCurrent)) now target $(NetMinimum), consistent with ef, dotnet-ef, and EFCore.Tools.
Stable net / netframework directory names everywhere: All NuGet package layouts now use net and netframework as stable directory prefixes that never need updating, replacing TFM-versioned paths (e.g. net10.0). This applies to:
- Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tasks.props — uses net and netframework as _TaskTargetFramework values (plain .props file, no templating needed).
- EFCore.Tasks.csproj — packs to tasks/net/, tasks/netframework/, tools/net/ with IncludeBuildOutput=false.
- EFCore.Tools.csproj — packs ef.dll to tools/net/ instead of tools/$(TargetFramework)/any/.
- dotnet-ef.csproj — packs ef.dll to tools/$(TargetFramework)/any/tools/net/ instead of tools/$(TargetFramework)/any/tools/$(TargetFramework)/any/.
Simplified OperationTaskBase.cs: Replaced the #if NET472 / #elif guard and dynamic directory discovery with a simple hardcoded "net" path segment.
Simplified EntityFrameworkCore.psm1: Replaced dynamic Get-ChildItem directory discovery with Join-Path $PSScriptRoot 'net\ef.dll'.
Simplified dotnet-ef/RootCommand.cs: Replaced the #if !NET10_0 / #error guard and hardcoded "net10.0" path with Path.Combine(toolsPath, "net", "ef.dll").

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source-code</issue_title>
<issue_description>https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Adotnet%2Fefcore%20net8.0&type=code

efcore/src/EFCore.Tasks/buildTransitive/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tasks.props

Line 5 in e771c0f

<_TaskTargetFramework Condition="'$(MSBuildRuntimeType)' == 'Core'">net10.0</_TaskTargetFramework>

These hardcodes make it harder to update the TFM centrally (i.e. when updating the TargetFrameworkDefault properties in Arcade).

All the hardcoded TFMs in shipping .props / .targets files can be avoided by changing the "tools//" package paths to "tools/net/" and "tools/netframework/". The TFM version doesn't provide value there. We already do this in arcade, sourcelink and will likely soon in sdk as well.

This is in reaction to dotnet/dotnet@985a8fe which we had to do in the VMR when updated the TFM properties.</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Also, .Abstractions and .Tasks projects should target NetMinimum</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)
@AndriySvyryd Also, `.Abstractions` and `.Tasks` should target `NetMinimum`

Fixes Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source-code #37473

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…templatize props, fix psm1 and OperationTaskBase Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

src/EFCore.Tasks/buildTransitive/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tasks.props

… of templating Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

src/EFCore.Tasks/Tasks/Internal/OperationTaskBase.cs

src/EFCore.Tools/tools/EntityFrameworkCore.psm1

…, psm1, dotnet-ef Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR removes hardcoded Target Framework Monikers (TFMs) from shipped .props files and tool/task path discovery, so Arcade TFM bumps don’t require source/package layout updates across EF Core tooling.

Changes:

Standardizes NuGet package layouts to use stable net/ and netframework/ directory prefixes (instead of TFM-versioned directories).
Retargets EFCore.Abstractions and EFCore.Tasks to $(NetMinimum) for consistency with other tooling projects.
Simplifies runtime path resolution in dotnet-ef, EFCore.Tasks, and PMC tooling to load ef.dll from stable net/ paths.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 8 out of 8 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/dotnet-ef/dotnet-ef.csproj	Packs `ef.dll` under a stable `tools/.../tools/net` folder inside the dotnet tool layout.
src/dotnet-ef/RootCommand.cs	Loads `ef.dll` from `tools/net/ef.dll` instead of a hardcoded TFM directory.
src/EFCore.Tools/tools/EntityFrameworkCore.psm1	Updates PMC tooling to execute `ef.dll` from `tools\net\ef.dll`.
src/EFCore.Tools/EFCore.Tools.csproj	Packs `ef.dll` into `tools/net/` to match the updated PMC script lookup.
src/EFCore.Tasks/buildTransitive/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tasks.props	Uses stable `net`/`netframework` folder names when locating task assemblies.
src/EFCore.Tasks/Tasks/Internal/OperationTaskBase.cs	Simplifies ef.dll resolution to `tools/net/ef.dll` based on package root.
src/EFCore.Tasks/EFCore.Tasks.csproj	Retargets to `$(NetMinimum)` and updates packing to stable `tasks/net`, `tasks/netframework`, and `tools/net`.
src/EFCore.Abstractions/EFCore.Abstractions.csproj	Retargets to `$(NetMinimum)` to avoid hardcoding default framework properties.

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ViktorHofer · 2026-03-06T12:01:15Z

src/EFCore.Tasks/EFCore.Tasks.csproj

    <CodeAnalysisRuleSet>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\rulesets\EFCore.noxmldocs.ruleset</CodeAnalysisRuleSet>
    <TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage>$(TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage);AddPackContent</TargetsForTfmSpecificContentInPackage>
-    <BuildOutputTargetFolder>tasks</BuildOutputTargetFolder>
+    <IncludeBuildOutput>false</IncludeBuildOutput>


I understand the reason for this change but this will cause the pdb to be omitted from the symbols package. We should chat with NuGet on how to correctly include the symbols in that scenario.

https://github.com/NuGet/NuGet.Client/blob/8deb76a20811f7b78531b66a1024cfe9e650cc69/src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Build.Tasks/NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack.targets#L382-L384

@zivkan are you the right contact for NuGet Pack questions? We are using TfmSpecificDebugSymbolsFile in L86 to include a pdb into the symbols package. That works well but now this PR changes the IncludeBuildOutput flag to false which makes the item not getting respected anymore (see link above). Can you please share guidance on how to do this "the right way"?

Unfortunately, Pack hasn't had much investment since I joined the team, so I've never had the opportunity to learn the breadth of features or common problems and solution. I'm also confident that the only "friendly" helper is pack as tool for .NET tools, but we need to make improvements for packing msbuild task packages, as well as roslyn analyzers. It's a gap.

Down on line 76, I see a pdb is being added via TfmSpecificPackageFile. I would have hoped that NuGet's existing logic to split the symbols package would make this work automatically. Can we check the CI build artifacts? If it doesn't work, there's another target that includes TfmSpecificDebugSymbolsFile: https://github.com/NuGet/NuGet.Client/blob/8deb76a20811f7b78531b66a1024cfe9e650cc69/src/NuGet.Core/NuGet.Build.Tasks/NuGet.Build.Tasks.Pack.targets#L471

Filed dotnet/sdk#53313

Initial plan

1945ba4

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and AndriySvyryd Mar 6, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 01:53 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits March 6, 2026 02:27

Avoid hardcoded TFMs: retarget Abstractions and Tasks to NetMinimum, …

222075e

…templatize props, fix psm1 and OperationTaskBase Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Address code review: add null checks and more specific pattern matching

f6d78d0

Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source code~~ Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source code Mar 6, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 02:35

AndriySvyryd reviewed Mar 6, 2026

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src/EFCore.Tasks/buildTransitive/Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tasks.props Show resolved Hide resolved

Copilot started work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 04:51 View session

Simplify: use stable 'net' and 'netframework' directory names instead…

71abbf2

… of templating Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 05:00

AndriySvyryd approved these changes Mar 6, 2026

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src/EFCore.Tasks/Tasks/Internal/OperationTaskBase.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

src/EFCore.Tools/tools/EntityFrameworkCore.psm1 Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Copilot started work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 05:12 View session

Use stable 'net' directory names in all tool paths: OperationTaskBase…

a89504f

…, psm1, dotnet-ef Co-authored-by: AndriySvyryd <6539701+AndriySvyryd@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 05:19

AndriySvyryd requested a review from Copilot March 6, 2026 05:22

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of AndriySvyryd March 6, 2026 05:23 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 6, 2026

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AndriySvyryd marked this pull request as ready for review March 6, 2026 05:27

AndriySvyryd requested a review from a team as a code owner March 6, 2026 05:27

AndriySvyryd assigned roji and unassigned AndriySvyryd and Copilot Mar 6, 2026

AndriySvyryd requested a review from ViktorHofer March 6, 2026 05:34

roji approved these changes Mar 6, 2026

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roji assigned AndriySvyryd and unassigned roji Mar 6, 2026

ViktorHofer reviewed Mar 6, 2026

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Don't remove pdbs

3284c66

AndriySvyryd mentioned this pull request Mar 7, 2026

TfmSpecificDebugSymbolsFile is not used when IncludeBuildOutput is set to false dotnet/sdk#53313

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Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source code#37865

Avoid hardcoded TFMs in source code#37865
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