Creating dotnet new templates with samples

In this post I will show the needed steps and samples to create dotnet new templates.

Introduction

Recently a friend asked me about the steps I follow to create dotnet new templates, while I was describing the steps to him I realized that information could be usefull to someone else or even to my future self.

Sometime ago I created some dotnet new templates for GeneticSharp: dotnet new templates for GeneticSharp and I will use that template as samples for the steps below.

Nuget pack / dotnet pack

Nowadays there are two main ways to build a dotnet new template: creating a .nuspec file or defining the package properties directly inside your .csproj.

To GeneticSharp templates I used a .nuspec.

Steps and samples

When I was trying to create the first templates I used this Microsoft documentation to learn about it: Custom templates for dotnet new.

Creating

• Create a Templates folder: sample
• Define the templates in the .csproj or create a .nuspec: sample
• Create a content folder inside the Templates folder: sample
• Create a subfolder inside content for each template and put your template project source code there: sample
• For each template folder, create a subfolder template.config then create a template.json file: sample

Building and testing

• Now you can create the .nupkg with the dotnet pack or nuget pack
• You can test your templates locally installing them directly from the .nupkg file: dotnet new -i your_templates_file.nupkg
• Install the template: dotnet new template_shortname -n new_project_namespace -o output_folder

Publishing

• If everything is right you can publish your .nupkg on http://nuget.org or to your private NuGet feed: sample

Conclusion

That’s it, with just 9 steps you can create your own dotnet new template and jumpstart your next project setup.