是否可以编写依赖于 NuGet 包的嵌入式 C# 自定义 msbuild 任务？

Question

I do not want to package my msbuild task in a dll. Instead, I would like to provide its C# code in a standalone source file and define like this:

<UsingTask TaskName="MyTask" TaskFactory="RoslynCodeTaskFactory" AssemblyFile="$(MSBuildToolsPath)\Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Core.dll">
  <Task>
    <Code Source="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)\MyTask.cs" Language="cs" />
  </Task>
</UsingTask>

The reason - I do not want to commit my task as a DLL in the version control, because if I change it devs may not be able to pull the changed DLL if the original one is loaded by some msbuild node. That would cause all kind of friction I prefer to avoid.

But then the question is - what if my task must depend on a 3rd party DLL? I can probably commit it, because I am not going to change it, but then what?

So my question - is there a way for a custom msbuild task that is distributed as a C# source file to reference a 3rd party DLL, like a NuGet package for example?

Answer 1

The type of task you are creating is called an 'inline task' in the MSBuild documentation. It makes sense to use inline tasks to remove dependencies in the build script.

Unfortunately inline tasks don't support NuGet. There is no PackageReference for inline tasks. You could have a NuGet step that restores a given package and you could add a Reference in your inline task to a known location for the package but that starts getting messy and creates some of the dependency and chicken/egg issues that I think you are trying to avoid.

If you can't avoid the NuGet package dependency and you have a private and/or internal NuGet server, you might consider moving the custom task into its own DLL with its own build and NuGet package.