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MSBuild Server for CLI Caching · dotnet | DecimalAI

devopsby dotnet

MSBuild Server for CLI Caching

dotnet/msbuild-server

Source dotnet/skills ↗License MIT

Guide for using MSBuild Server to improve CLI build performance.

SkillScore100Maintained

Automatic

DevOps & SRE pack

Last verified 8/9/2026

What it changes

Passed 22 of 22 test cases with the skill, and 12 of 22 without it.

Without skill55%

With skill100%

Checks it passed that the model alone missed

Recommends setting MSBUILDUSESERVER=1.
Recommends $env:MSBUILDUSESERVER = "1".
Instructs running two sequential builds.

and 8 more in the full report

10 fixed12 passed either way0 still failing0 broke

Pass-rate lift: +45 pp
Tokens: -33%
Agent turns: 0%
Response time: -43%

Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/9/2026v122 of 22 cases passed with skill

Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.

Use this skill

Save it into your project's skills folder. Claude Code picks it up in its next session.

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o .claude/skills/dotnet-msbuild-server/SKILL.md https://app.decimal.ai/s/dotnet-msbuild-server/SKILL.md

Want it pinned and updatable? pip install "decimalai>=0.15", then decimalai skills add dotnet-msbuild-server, and start Claude Code with claude --plugin-dir "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.agents"

1 · One-time — install the CLI (docs ↗)

pip install "decimalai>=0.15"

2 · Get the skill — writes .agents/skills/dotnet-msbuild-server/ and pins it in .decimal/skills.lock

decimalai skills add dotnet-msbuild-server

No CLI? Get the same file — curl · raw file

curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o .claude/skills/dotnet-msbuild-server/SKILL.md https://app.decimal.ai/s/dotnet-msbuild-server/SKILL.md

Raw file: /s/dotnet-msbuild-server/SKILL.md ↗ · machine-readable summary at /s/dotnet-msbuild-server.json ↗

Safety checks: 3 of 3 passed

Code scan CleanIntent PassedContent Clean

See it in action

One of 10 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.

1 of 10

Prompt

I work in PowerShell 7 on macOS. What exact PowerShell line should I place in my profile script to turn on MSBuild evaluation caching?

What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked	Without skill	With skill
Recommends $env:MSBUILDUSESERVER = "1".	Missed	Passed

case-14 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/9/2026 · answers are capped and redacted

What's inside

The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.

SKILL.md63 linessingle file

MSBuild Server for CLI Caching

Use the MSBuild Server to cache evaluation results across CLI builds, matching the performance advantage Visual Studio gets from its long-lived MSBuild process.

When to Use

Small incremental builds from CLI (dotnet build) are slower than expected
Developers notice that VS builds are faster than CLI builds for the same project
CI agents run many sequential builds of the same repo

When Not to Use

IDE-based builds (Visual Studio already uses a long-lived MSBuild process)
One-off builds where cold-start overhead is acceptable
Build correctness issues are suspected (disable the server to isolate the problem)

Inputs

Input	Required	Description
Shell context	No	The shell where the environment variable will be set (bash, PowerShell, or Windows persistent)

Workflow

Step 1: Confirm CLI context

Verify the developer is building from the command line (dotnet build), not from Visual Studio or another IDE. The MSBuild Server provides no benefit inside an IDE.

Step 2: Set the environment variable

# Bash / CI
export MSBUILDUSESERVER=1

# PowerShell
$env:MSBUILDUSESERVER = "1"

# Windows (persistent)
setx MSBUILDUSESERVER 1

Track record

Benchmark

22 / 22

test cases passed, vs 12 / 22 without

Adoption

Users: 0
Times used: 0

Safety and source details

SkillSafety

✓ 3 of 3 passed

Code scan15 of 15 checks clean

0 critical · 0 warning · 0 info — scanner v4 — 8/3/2026

View 15 scanner checks

live_secretremote_code_executionreverse_shelldata_exfiltrationssrf_metadataagent_snoopinganti_refusaldestructive_commandsobfuscated_unicodeunicode_homoglyphopaque_blobsuspicious_urltool_overreachtrigger_abuseprompt_injection_phrasing

IntentSafe

LLM judge · does the skill do what it claims

ContentClean

LLM judge · policy & harmful-content review

Source

Imported

dotnet / skills

plugins/dotnet-msbuild/skills/msbuild-server/SKILL.md

View on GitHub ↗

License MITImported 8/3/2026Version v1

More skills from the same source and nearby in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.

Ready to supercharge your AI agents?

See it in action

What's inside

MSBuild Server for CLI Caching

When to Use

When Not to Use

Inputs

Workflow

Step 1: Confirm CLI context

Step 2: Set the environment variable

Track record

Benchmark

Adoption

SkillSafety

Source

Related skills