Maintain or migrate EF6-based applications with realistic guidance on what to keep, what to modernize, and when EF Core is or is not the right next step. USE FOR: EF6 codebases; runtime versus ORM migration decisions; EDMX, code-first, ObjectContext, and legacy data-access review. DO NOT USE FOR: unrelated stacks; generic tasks that do not need this specific guidance. INVOKES: inspect the repository context, edit targeted files, and run relevant build, test, lint, or validation commands when cha
SkillScore96Maintained
Automatic
◆Coding pack
Last verified 8/19/2026
What it changes
Passed 22 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 19 of 23 without it.
Without skill83%
With skill96%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Clarify that EF6 does not receive new innovation features.
Verify that dotnet ef migrations add executes successfully.
Recommend keeping EF6 when complex stored procedure mappings dominate.
and 1 more in the full report
3 fixed19 passed either way1 still failing0 broke
Pass-rate lift
+13 pp
Tokens
+17%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-18%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/19/2026v222 of 23 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md77 lines3 files
Entity Framework 6
Trigger On
working in an EF6 codebase on .NET Framework or modern .NET
deciding whether to keep EF6, move to modern .NET runtime, or port to EF Core
reviewing EDMX, code-first, or legacy ASP.NET/WPF/WinForms data access
planning a data layer migration strategy
Workflow
Audit current EF6 usage before planning any migration. Identify which features the codebase depends on:
// Common EF6-specific patterns to inventory:
// - EDMX designer models (check for *.edmx files)
// - ObjectContext vs DbContext usage
// - Lazy loading with virtual navigation properties
// - Database.SqlQuery<T>() for raw SQL
// - Stored procedure mappings in model
// - Spatial types (DbGeography, DbGeometry)
Decide runtime vs ORM migration separately:
Path
When to use
Keep EF6 on .NET Framework
Legacy app with no runtime pressure
EF6 on modern .NET
Runtime upgrade needed, ORM migration too risky
EF6 → EF Core
Clean data layer, no EDMX, minimal stored-procedure mapping
For maintenance work — keep EF6 stable:
use repository + unit of work patterns to isolate data access (see references/patterns.md)
prefer DbContext over ObjectContext for new code
use AsNoTracking() for read-only queries
configure concurrency tokens with [ConcurrencyCheck] or IsRowVersion()
For migration work — validate each slice:
map EF6 features to EF Core equivalents (see references/migration.md)
migrate one bounded context at a time, not the entire data layer
run integration tests against the real database provider, not InMemory
verify: dotnet ef migrations add succeeds, queries produce equivalent results, lazy loading behavior matches expectations
Do not promise EF Core features to EF6 codebases — EF6 is stable and supported but not on the innovation path. Keep expectations realistic.