Extension Points

What it does

When your agent uses it

• : diagnosing and fixing MSBuild import and hook patterns
• Reviewing and fixing extension point anti-patterns in Directory.Build files
• Fixing missing Exists() guards on imports that break fresh clones
• Fixing NuGet package hooks being silently dropped instead of appended

Example prompts

• “/extension-points”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1.nuspec mappings — copy a single source file into multiple per-TFM targets
2. 2.csproj metadata on or items — same effect via SDK pack. Use one item per destination to keep the mapping unambiguous
3. 3SDK conventions — IncludeBuildOutput, BuildOutputTargetFolder, IncludeContentInPack automatically place built outputs under lib// or…

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

  No URLs in SKILL.md.

  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

Extension Points loads about 2.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 236 tokens; SKILL.md has 588 words of instructions outside code blocks.

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

~236

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

~2.6k

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). 588 words, ~2,645 tokens.

name

extension-points

description

Guide for MSBuild extensibility: CustomBefore/CustomAfter hooks, wildcard imports with alphabetic ordering, import gating with control properties, NuGet package build extension layout (build/buildTransitive), and the MicrosoftCommonPropsHasBeenImported guard. USE FOR: diagnosing and fixing MSBuild import and hook patterns, reviewing and fixing extension point anti-patterns in Directory.Build files, fixing missing Exists() guards on imports that break fresh clones, fixing NuGet package hooks being silently dropped instead of appended, making build targets extensible for other projects, injecting custom logic into the build pipeline, creating NuGet packages that extend the build, conditionally disabling imports. DO NOT USE FOR: target authoring patterns (use target-authoring), props vs targets placement (use directory-build-organization), general anti-patterns (use msbuild-antipatterns), non-MSBuild build systems.

license

MIT

<PropertyGroup>
  <CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets Condition="'$(CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets)' == ''">
    $(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\v$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Custom.Before.Microsoft.Common.targets
  </CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets>
</PropertyGroup>

<Import Project="$(CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets)"
    Condition="'$(CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets)' != '' and Exists('$(CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets)')"/>
<!-- ... core targets ... -->
<Import Project="$(CustomAfterMicrosoftCommonTargets)"
    Condition="'$(CustomAfterMicrosoftCommonTargets)' != '' and Exists('$(CustomAfterMicrosoftCommonTargets)')"/>

<PropertyGroup>
  <CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets>
    $(CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets);$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)MyExtension.targets
  </CustomBeforeMicrosoftCommonTargets>
</PropertyGroup>

<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Imports\Microsoft.Common.props\ImportBefore\*"
    Condition="'$(ImportByWildcardBeforeMicrosoftCommonProps)' == 'true'
               and Exists('$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\$(MSBuildToolsVersion)\Imports\Microsoft.Common.props\ImportBefore')" />

<PropertyGroup>
  <ImportByWildcardBeforeMicrosoftCommonProps
      Condition="'$(ImportByWildcardBeforeMicrosoftCommonProps)' == ''">true</ImportByWildcardBeforeMicrosoftCommonProps>
  <ImportDirectoryBuildProps
      Condition="'$(ImportDirectoryBuildProps)' == ''">true</ImportDirectoryBuildProps>
</PropertyGroup>

MyPackage/
  build/
    MyPackage.props      ← imported via *.props wildcard
    MyPackage.targets    ← imported via *.targets wildcard
  buildTransitive/
    MyPackage.props      ← imported by transitive consumers
    MyPackage.targets

<!-- In packed build/net462/MyAdapter.props -->
<Project>
  <Import Project="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\..\buildTransitive\net462\MyAdapter.props" />
</Project>

<!-- End of Microsoft.Common.props -->
<PropertyGroup>
  <MicrosoftCommonPropsHasBeenImported>true</MicrosoftCommonPropsHasBeenImported>
</PropertyGroup>

<!-- Top of Microsoft.Common.CurrentVersion.targets -->
<Import Project="Microsoft.Common.props"
    Condition="'$(MicrosoftCommonPropsHasBeenImported)' != 'true'" />

<_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath>
  $([MSBuild]::GetDirectoryNameOfFileAbove('$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)', 'Directory.Build.props'))
</_DirectoryBuildPropsBasePath>

<!-- src/Directory.Build.props -->
<PropertyGroup>
  <_ParentPropsPath>$([MSBuild]::GetPathOfFileAbove('Directory.Build.props', '$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)../'))</_ParentPropsPath>
</PropertyGroup>
<Import Project="$(_ParentPropsPath)" Condition="'$(_ParentPropsPath)' != ''" />

<!-- MySDK.targets -->
<Project>
  <Import Project="MySDK.props" Condition="'$(MySDKPropsImported)' != 'true'" />

  <PropertyGroup>
    <CustomBeforeMySDK Condition="'$(CustomBeforeMySDK)' == ''">$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\MySDK.Before.targets</CustomBeforeMySDK>
    <CustomAfterMySDK Condition="'$(CustomAfterMySDK)' == ''">$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)\MySDK.After.targets</CustomAfterMySDK>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <Import Project="$(CustomBeforeMySDK)" Condition="Exists('$(CustomBeforeMySDK)')" />

  <PropertyGroup>
    <MySDKBuildDependsOn>BeforeMySDKBuild;CoreMySDKBuild;AfterMySDKBuild</MySDKBuildDependsOn>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <Target Name="MySDKBuild" DependsOnTargets="$(MySDKBuildDependsOn)" />
  <Target Name="BeforeMySDKBuild" />
  <Target Name="AfterMySDKBuild" />
  <Target Name="CoreMySDKBuild">
    <!-- implementation -->
  </Target>

  <Import Project="$(CustomAfterMySDK)" Condition="Exists('$(CustomAfterMySDK)')" />
</Project>

© 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/extension-points of microsoft/testfx.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 44b9dcc