Including Generated Files

What it does

When your agent uses it

• : generated source files not compiling (CS0246 for a type that should exist)
• Custom build tasks that create files but they are invisible to subsequent targets
• Globs not capturing build-generated files because they expand at evaluation time before execution creates them
• Ensuring generated files are cleaned by the Clean target

Example prompts

• “/including-generated-files”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 44b9dcc. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are xml).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

  • docs.microsoft.com
  • github.com
  • learn.microsoft.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Including Generated Files loads about 1.8k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 207 tokens; SKILL.md has 581 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~207

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~1.8k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from microsoft/testfx at commit 44b9dcc, republished under its MIT licence (© microsoft). 581 words, ~1,815 tokens.

name

including-generated-files

description

Fix MSBuild targets that generate files during the build but those files are missing from compilation or output. USE FOR: generated source files not compiling (CS0246 for a type that should exist), custom build tasks that create files but they are invisible to subsequent targets, globs not capturing build-generated files because they expand at evaluation time before execution creates them, ensuring generated files are cleaned by the Clean target. Covers correct BeforeTargets timing (CoreCompile, BeforeBuild, AssignTargetPaths), adding to Compile/FileWrites item groups, using $(IntermediateOutputPath) instead of hardcoded obj/ paths. DO NOT USE FOR: C# source generators that already work via the Roslyn pipeline, T4 design-time generation that runs in Visual Studio, non-MSBuild build systems.

license

MIT

  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="$(GeneratedFilePath)" />
    <FileWrites Include="$(GeneratedFilePath)" />
  </ItemGroup>

<ItemGroup>
  <FileWrites Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)my-generated-file.xyz" />
</ItemGroup>

<Target Name="IncludeGeneratedFiles" BeforeTargets="BeforeBuild">
  
  <!-- Your logic that generates files goes here -->

  <ItemGroup>
    <None Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)my-generated-file.xyz" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest"/>
    
    <!-- Capture all files of a certain type with a glob -->
    <None Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)generated\*.xyz" CopyToOutputDirectory="PreserveNewest"/>

    <!-- Register generated files for proper cleanup -->
    <FileWrites Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)my-generated-file.xyz" />
    <FileWrites Include="$(IntermediateOutputPath)generated\*.xyz" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

<Target Name="IncludeGeneratedSourceFiles" BeforeTargets="CoreCompile;BeforeCompile">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <GeneratedCodeDir>$(IntermediateOutputPath)Generated\</GeneratedCodeDir>
    <GeneratedFilePath>$(GeneratedCodeDir)MyGeneratedFile.cs</GeneratedFilePath>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <MakeDir Directories="$(GeneratedCodeDir)" />

  <!-- Your logic that generates the .cs file goes here -->

  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="$(GeneratedFilePath)" />
    <FileWrites Include="$(GeneratedFilePath)" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Target>

© microsoft, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/including-generated-files of microsoft/testfx.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 44b9dcc

Used in 2 other repositories

We found 3 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 2 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in microsoft/testfx, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

• dotnet/skillsplugins/dotnet-msbuild/skills/including-generated-files
• managedcode/dotnet-skillscatalog/Tools/Official-DotNet-MSBuild/skills/including-generated-filesexternal-sources/upstreams/dotnet-skills/plugins/dotnet-msbuild/skills/including-generated-files