NuGet

NuGet is the package manager for the Microsoft development platform, providing tools for creating, publishing, and consuming packages in .NET applications.

Installation

# Using Chocolatey (Windows)
choco install nuget.commandline

# Using apt (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt-get install nuget

# Download directly
# https://www.nuget.org/nuget.exe

# Via .NET CLI
dotnet tool install -g nuget

Basic Commands

# Add package to project
dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json

# Remove package
dotnet remove package Newtonsoft.Json

# Update package
dotnet package update Newtonsoft.Json

# List packages
dotnet list package

# List outdated packages
dotnet list package --outdated

# Clear NuGet cache
dotnet nuget locals all --clear

Project File (.csproj)

Basic Package Reference

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.3" />
    <PackageReference Include="Serilog" Version="3.0.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Entity Framework" Version="6.4.4" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

Package Management

# Restore NuGet packages
dotnet restore

# Build project (includes restore)
dotnet build

# Install package
nuget install Newtonsoft.Json

# Update all packages
nuget update

# Update specific package
dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json -v 13.0.3

# Install from specific source
dotnet add package Newtonsoft.Json --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

Version Constraints

|Pattern|Example|Meaning| |---------|-------------| |Exact|1.0.0|Exact version only| |Floating Min|[1.0]|1.0.0 and above| |Range|[1.0, 2.0)|Between 1.0 and 2.0 (exclusive)| |Prerelease|1.0.0-beta|Beta version|

NuGet Configuration

nuget.config

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />
    <add key="my-feed" value="https://mycompany.pkgs.visualstudio.com/_packaging/MyFeed/nuget/v3/index.json" />
  </packageSources>

  <packageSourceCredentials>
    <my-feed>
      <add key="Username" value="myusername" />
      <add key="ClearTextPassword" value="mytoken" />
    </my-feed>
  </packageSourceCredentials>

  <config>
    <add key="repositoryPath" value="./packages" />
  </config>
</configuration>

Creating Packages

.nuspec File

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<package>
  <metadata>
    <id>MyPackage</id>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
    <title>My Package</title>
    <authors>Author Name</authors>
    <description>Package description</description>
    <projectUrl>https://github.com/user/repo</projectUrl>
    <license type="expression">MIT</license>
    <releaseNotes>Initial release</releaseNotes>
    <dependencies>
      <dependency id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="13.0.3" />
    </dependencies>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="bin/Release/net7.0/MyPackage.dll" target="lib/net7.0" />
  </files>
</package>

Create Package

# Pack from .csproj
dotnet pack

# Pack with options
dotnet pack -c Release -o ./nupkg

# Pack from .nuspec
nuget pack MyPackage.nuspec

# Specify version
nuget pack MyPackage.nuspec -Version 1.0.0

Publishing Packages

# Push to NuGet.org
dotnet nuget push ./bin/Release/MyPackage.1.0.0.nupkg --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

# Push to private feed
nuget push MyPackage.1.0.0.nupkg -Source https://mycompany.pkgs.visualstudio.com/_packaging/MyFeed/nuget/v3/index.json -ApiKey AzureArtifacts

# List package
nuget list

# Delete package
nuget delete MyPackage 1.0.0 -Source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

Dependency Management

# Show dependency tree
dotnet list package --format json

# Check for vulnerabilities
dotnet list package --vulnerable

# Outdated packages
dotnet list package --outdated --include-prerelease

# Transitive dependencies
dotnet list package --include-transitive

Troubleshooting

# Clear NuGet cache
dotnet nuget locals all --clear

# Rebuild solution
dotnet clean
dotnet build

# Force update packages
dotnet package update --force

# Check package source
dotnet nuget list source

# Add package source
dotnet nuget add source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json -n nuget.org

# Remove package source
dotnet nuget remove source nuget.org

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

name: Publish NuGet
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v1
        with:
          dotnet-version: '7.0.x'
      - run: dotnet restore
      - run: dotnet build -c Release
      - run: dotnet pack -c Release -o ./nupkg
      - run: dotnet nuget push ./nupkg/*.nupkg -k ${{ secrets.NUGET_API_KEY }}

Best Practices

Pin exact versions for stability
Review package updates regularly
Check for security vulnerabilities
Use semantic versioning for packages
Document package dependencies
Test updates before deployment
Maintain private NuGet feeds for internal packages
Keep package metadata updated

Resources

Last updated: 2025-07-06|Edit on GitHub