aspnetcore/docs/ReferenceAssemblies.md

Reference assemblies

Most projects in this repo have a ref directory next to their src that contains the project and source code for a reference assembly. Reference assemblies contain the public API surface of libraries and are used for ASP.NET Core targeting pack generation.

When changing public API

Run dotnet msbuild /t:GenerateReferenceSource in that project's src directory

When adding a new project

Run .\eng\scripts\GenerateProjectList.ps1 from the repository root and dotnet msbuild /t:GenerateReferenceSource in that project's src directory

To set project properties in a reference assembly project

ref.csproj is automaticaly generated and shouldn't be edited. To set project properties on a reference assembly project place a Directory.Build.props next to it and add the properties there.

My project doesn't need a reference assembly

Set <HasReferenceAssembly>false</HasReferenceAssembly> in the implementation (src) project and re-run .\eng\scripts\GenerateProjectList.ps1.

Regenerate reference assemblies for all projects

Run .\eng\scripts\GenerateReferenceAssemblies.ps1 from repository root.