When creating a .NET Standard Class Library in VS 2017 RC, how should I keep package references as private implementation details?

Question

For example, here's my .csproj right now:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk" ToolsVersion="15.0">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFrameworks>netstandard1.3;net451</TargetFrameworks>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="**\*.cs" />
    <EmbeddedResource Include="**\*.resx" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Dapper" Version="1.50.2" />
    <PackageReference Include="NETStandard.Library" Version="1.6.1" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Nothing from Dapper will be exposed in the public API, so it seems like I should keep it as a private implementation detail. But when creating a test .nupkg and referencing it from a .NET Framework Console App, the app gains a reference to Dapper.

Answer 1

Try setting the PrivateAssets flag:

<PackageReference Include="Dapper">
  <Version>1.50.2</Version>
  <PrivateAssets>Runtime</PrivateAssets>
</PackageReference>

From the docs (which could probably use some clarification):

... these can include any of the following values:

• Compile – are the contents of the lib folder available to compile against
• Runtime – are the contents of the runtime folder distributed
• ContentFiles – are the contents of the contentfiles folder used
• Build – do the props/targets in the build folder get used
• Native - are the contents from native assets copied to the output folder for runtime
• Analyzers – do the analyzers get used

Or, instead:

• None – none of those things get used
• All – all of those things get used.