.net-core – How to install Nuget .NET Core packages using VS Code?

Question:

I'm using VS Code to develop a .NET Core project and I would like to know how to install Nuget packages on it.

In Visual Studio, there is a specific terminal for this, the Package Manager Console . In it you have to use the Add-Package command to install something.

For example, to install Entity Framework one can use this command

PM> Add-Package EntityFramework

How can I install a package using Visual Studio Code?

Answer:

Using the .NET Core CLI dotnet add command

You can do this using the .NET Core CLI with the dotnet add command, the package option, and the package name right after it.

For example, to add the latest version of Entity Framework.

$ dotnet add package EntityFramework

To specify a version, you can use the --version argument.

$ dotnet add package EntityFramework --version=6.0

To specify the project where the dependency should be added, you need to use the csproj file path of the project right after the add .

For example to add the Entity Framework in the ProjetoModels project

$ dotnet add ProjetoModels.csproj package EntityFramework

This will verify that the package version is compatible with the project and, if compatible, will add the dependency in the project files and also download it using the dotnet restore command.

Tip : to open a terminal inside VS Code, in the project folder use the key combination Ctrl + '

Add dependency manually in XML

It is also possible to manually add the reference in the project file. To do this, just open the .csproj file, look for the ItemGroup section and add a PackageReference item.

For example, to add Entity Framework version 6.2.0 .

<ItemGroup>
  <PackageReference Include="EntityFramework" Version="6.2.0" />
</ItemGroup>

After that, you need to run the dotnet restore command so that the files are downloaded.

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