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Add support for creating and editing solution filter (.slnf) files from the CLI#51156

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marcpopMSFT merged 17 commits intorelease/10.0.3xxfrom
copilot/add-slnf-file-support-cli
Jan 30, 2026
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Add support for creating and editing solution filter (.slnf) files from the CLI#51156
marcpopMSFT merged 17 commits intorelease/10.0.3xxfrom
copilot/add-slnf-file-support-cli

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Copilot AI commented Oct 7, 2025

  • Add dotnet new slnf command to create solution filter files
    • Create template structure in template_feed for slnf
    • Add template.json configuration for slnf template
    • Add template content with SolutionFilter1.slnf
    • Add dotnetcli.host.json to customize ParentSolution to use --parent-solution and -s
    • Add tests for --parent-solution and -s parameters
  • Update dotnet sln command to support slnf files
    • Modify SolutionAddCommand to support adding projects to slnf files
    • Modify SolutionRemoveCommand to support removing projects from slnf files
    • SolutionListCommand already supports listing projects in slnf files
    • Add validation to ensure projects added to slnf are in parent solution
    • Add SlnfFileHelper to save slnf files in JSON format
    • Fix null reference issues in path handling
    • Normalize path separators for cross-platform compatibility
  • Add tests for new functionality
    • Add test asset TestAppWithSlnfFiles
    • Tests for dotnet sln add with slnf files
    • Tests for dotnet sln remove with slnf files
    • Tests for --in-root option with slnf files (should error)
    • All slnf tests passing (6 tests)
    • Tests for dotnet new slnf with --parent-solution and -s (3 tests)
    • All common template tests passing (31 tests)
    • Updated all tab completion test baselines
  • Rebased onto correct target branch (release/10.0.2xx) removing unrelated files
  • Fixed build errors (duplicate using directives)
  • Code review feedback addressed:
    • Removed async from methods that don't use it
    • Factored out validation logic into separate method
    • Added shared constant for .slnf extension
    • Created common methods for path separator normalization
    • Reverted to default ToHashSet() without custom comparer
  • Merged latest changes from release/10.0.2xx branch
  • Merged latest changes from release/10.0.3xx branch (120 conflicts resolved)
Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Creating and editing slnf files from cli</issue_title>
<issue_description>Slnf files are very useful when working on a large repository. Current creating slnf is supported from visual studio. Though it is possible to use it with cli and vs code. So why not just support creating slnf files from .net cli? Just like sln file. dotnet new slnf ....args</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>- Update the existing dotnet sln command to support add, remove, and list if the target is an slnf file

  • only allow adding projects that are already in the parent sln or slnx file
  • support remove and list for the existing slnf like you do for
  • add a dotnet new slnf command that requires a parent sln or slnx file and requires a list of projects to include (which can be empty).</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes #26248

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Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Add support for creating and managing slnf files from CLI Add support for creating and editing solution filter (.slnf) files from the CLI Oct 7, 2025
Copilot AI requested a review from marcpopMSFT October 7, 2025 21:23
@marcpopMSFT
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Initial testing in the codespace (CC @baronfel ), this is reasonably close to what I might want but needs some cleanup:

  • The template uses -P for the shortcut for the parent solution. We probably don't want that. Maybe --PS?
  • The template has a --project option but it doesn't seem to do anything. This also exists for dotnet new sln. Bug in that template?
  • No way to specify a list of projects with the template creation to seed the file
  • Creating the template and adding projects uses \ even though I'm on linux. This actually breaks dotnet sln add if the slnx file is in a different folder as it can't find it.
    • that seems to be fine for actual projects as it normalizes the output in list and remove to match the OS
  • slnf options are --name, --output which seem fine. --force and --dry-run? Are these all needed (same as sln template)

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baronfel commented Oct 8, 2025

Initial testing in the codespace (CC @baronfel ), this is reasonably close to what I might want but needs some cleanup:

* The template uses -P for the shortcut for the parent solution. We probably don't want that. Maybe --PS?

This is customized per-template-engine-host. I'm thinking a long option of --parent-solution with a short of -s?

@copilot we want to customize the CLI presentation of the ParentSolution symbol in the template. To do so we need a dotnetcli.host.json file created that customizes the longName and shortName of this symbol. I want to use --parent-solution and -s as the long and short name respectively.

* The template has a --project option but it doesn't seem to do anything. This also exists for dotnet new sln. Bug in that template?

This is common to all templates - the dotnet new command seeds a number of 'common options' that may not always be relevant. Something we can look at separately IMO.

* No way to specify a list of projects with the template creation to seed the file

I'm personally ok with that - in part because the template engine doesn't support symbols that take arrays of values.

* Creating the template and adding projects uses \ even though I'm on linux. This actually breaks dotnet sln add if the slnx file is in a different folder as it can't find it.
  
  * that seems to be fine for actual projects as it normalizes the output in list and remove to match the OS

I'm not sure that there's actually a spec here - every slnf in the SDK repo uses \ for separators. @copilot can you make sure that when path manipulation is being done on dotnet sln add and dotnet sln remove that directory separators are normalized for the current OS?

* slnf options are --name, --output which seem fine. --force and --dry-run? Are these all needed (same as sln template)

Force and dry-run are cross-cutting commands that are useful - --force allows you to plow over an existing slnf, and --dry-run is just handy for testing and stuff.

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Copilot AI commented Oct 8, 2025

Initial testing in the codespace (CC @baronfel ), this is reasonably close to what I might want but needs some cleanup:

* The template uses -P for the shortcut for the parent solution. We...

Done in commit bd55090 (path separators) and the latest commit (dotnetcli.host.json).

Added dotnetcli.host.json to customize the ParentSolution parameter to use --parent-solution and -s as the long and short names.

For path separator normalization:

  • Modified SlnFileFactory.CreateFromFilteredSolutionFile to normalize the parent solution path from the slnf file to OS-specific separators
  • Modified SolutionAddCommand.AddProjectsToSolutionFilterAsync to ensure consistent path separator usage when comparing project paths
  • The SlnfFileHelper continues to write paths with backslashes to the JSON file (as is the convention in all slnf files in the SDK repo), but they are normalized when read

Copilot AI requested a review from baronfel October 8, 2025 15:49
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baronfel commented Oct 8, 2025

@copilot add a couple tests covering the usage of the new long and short names of the ParentTemplate parameter in the new template.

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Copilot AI commented Oct 8, 2025

@copilot add a couple tests covering the usage of the new long and short names of the ParentTemplate parameter in the new template.

Done. Added 3 tests in the latest commit:

  • AllCommonItemsCreate with slnf short name and --parent-solution parameter
  • AllCommonItemsCreate with slnf short name and -s parameter (short form)
  • AllCommonItemsCreate with solutionfilter short name and --parent-solution parameter

All tests verify that both the long form (--parent-solution) and short form (-s) parameters work correctly for creating solution filter files with a specified parent solution.

Copilot AI and others added 5 commits October 8, 2025 11:16
…w slnf template

Co-authored-by: marcpopMSFT <12663534+marcpopMSFT@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: marcpopMSFT <12663534+marcpopMSFT@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: marcpopMSFT <12663534+marcpopMSFT@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: baronfel <573979+baronfel@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: baronfel <573979+baronfel@users.noreply.github.com>
@baronfel baronfel force-pushed the copilot/add-slnf-file-support-cli branch from 530879a to f2ad541 Compare October 8, 2025 16:16
@baronfel baronfel marked this pull request as ready for review October 8, 2025 16:16
@baronfel baronfel requested review from a team as code owners October 8, 2025 16:16
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baronfel commented Oct 8, 2025

@copilot a test baseline needs updating:

  • CanDoTabCompletion

…te.json

Co-authored-by: baronfel <573979+baronfel@users.noreply.github.com>
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Copilot AI commented Jan 8, 2026

@copilot can you do a merge from the release/10.0.2xx branch and fix the merge conflicts?

Merge completed in commit 6e92c52. Resolved conflicts in:

  • PackageListCommand.cs
  • PackageSearchCommand.cs
  • ToolInstallGlobalOrToolPathCommand.cs
  • ToolInstallLocalCommand.cs
  • WorkloadCommandBase.cs
  • CommonOptions.cs
  • CommonOptionsExtensions.cs

All conflicts were resolved by keeping the appropriate code from both branches where changes were complementary, and choosing the release/10.0.2xx version where there were API changes.

@marcpopMSFT marcpopMSFT force-pushed the copilot/add-slnf-file-support-cli branch from 6e92c52 to db8b579 Compare January 8, 2026 23:54
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it again merged from the wrong branch. I fixed locally and used copilot to fix the merge conflicts. I'll rereview and retest just in case.

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Fixed the merge issue and retested. It seems to be working as expected.

@baronfel one issue I found is that if I have a .sln and create a new solution file, it defaults to assuming a .slnx file exists. I assume that's fine as this is strictly better and customers can use the -s flag if they need to specify a specific solution file.

@marcpopMSFT marcpopMSFT changed the base branch from release/10.0.2xx to release/10.0.3xx January 16, 2026 18:32
@mmitche mmitche deleted the branch release/10.0.3xx January 17, 2026 00:40
@mmitche mmitche closed this Jan 17, 2026
@marcpopMSFT marcpopMSFT reopened this Jan 20, 2026
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@copilot there are merge conflicts with origin/release/10.0.3xx. Can you merge that branch in and fix the conflicts?

Resolved merge conflicts from release/10.0.3xx merge:
- Accepted theirs for all non-slnf files (template engine, parsers, tests, etc.)
- Kept slnf-specific changes in SolutionAddCommand.cs and CliCommandStrings.resx
- Removed files that were deleted in our branch but updated in theirs (BaseAliasAddCommand.cs, CommonOptions.cs, ToolAppliedOption.cs, etc.)
- Restored StaticFileHandler.cs from origin as it's needed by DotNetWatcher
- Updated XLF files with new slnf resource string
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Copilot AI commented Jan 26, 2026

@copilot there are merge conflicts with origin/release/10.0.3xx. Can you merge that branch in and fix the conflicts?

Merge completed in commit that will be pushed shortly. Resolved all 120 conflicts from release/10.0.3xx. Key resolutions:

  • Kept slnf-specific changes in SolutionAddCommand.cs and CliCommandStrings.resx
  • Accepted all API refactoring and parser changes from release/10.0.3xx
  • Updated all XLF files with new resource strings
  • Verified build succeeds with no errors

@marcpopMSFT marcpopMSFT merged commit 343044b into release/10.0.3xx Jan 30, 2026
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@marcpopMSFT marcpopMSFT deleted the copilot/add-slnf-file-support-cli branch January 30, 2026 23:19
@mthalman
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@marcpopMSFT - It doesn't look like this has made it into main. Is interbranch merge not setup for 10.0.2xx and 10.0.3xx?

@akoeplinger
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@mthalman #52711 needs to get unblocked first I think

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