Simplify local development and streamline repository infrastructure by 0x5bfa · Pull Request #1858 · microsoft/CsWin32

Tera (0x5bfa) · 2026-10-17T15:41:57Z

Context

I understand that the repository's original author created Library.Template to make repository setup easier and more consistent. That is a useful goal, and this is not a criticism of the template or of using it across repositories.

By "focused" here, I mean the day-to-day contributor workflow: CsWin32 is a source generator with build/package integration and a substantial test matrix. Those parts have real complexity, but contributors should be able to work with the repository through Visual Studio or the standard .NET CLI without first understanding a general-purpose bootstrap and template-update layer. For this repository, the maintenance and setup overhead of that layer appears to outweigh its benefits.

Changes

Migrate Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.sln to Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.slnx and update the related documentation and build configuration.
Replace the local init.cmd / init.ps1 bootstrap flow with the SDK specified in global.json and standard dotnet commands.
Update GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines to install SDKs and authenticate to feeds through their native setup tasks, then invoke dotnet directly.
Separate local package sources from the official Azure Pipelines feed configuration. Local builds use NuGet.org, with explicit source mapping for test packages available only from Microsoft's public feed.
Scope MicroBuild and SBOM configuration to official or explicitly enabled MicroBuild builds.
Remove the Library.Template update automation and associated unused helpers, along with obsolete pipeline definitions, an unreferenced GitHub Action, and unused editor/tool configuration.

The documented local workflow is:

dotnet build
dotnet test --filter "TestCategory!=HighMemory&TestCategory!=RequiresHardware"
dotnet pack -c Release

Official build and release infrastructure

The official Azure Pipelines path retains 1ESPT/MicroBuild integration, signing, SBOM generation, artifact publishing, and release/insertion workflows. It continues to use the Microsoft feed configuration and existing MicroBuild tasks.

Validation

Release build and Visual Studio MSBuild build of the SLNX solution.
dotnet pack and dotnet pack --no-build.
1,881 tests passed; package-consumer tests and DocFX validation with warnings treated as errors also passed.
Azure/GitHub workflow YAML validation and GitHub Actions linting passed.
Restore with the official feed and MicroBuild configuration succeeded.

The official 1ESPT pipeline, production signing, and end-to-end artifact delivery were not run as part of this change.

If this cleanup is not a direction the maintainers want, or an unsolicited infrastructure change is not welcome, please let me know. I’m happy to close the PR or narrow its scope.

Copilot

🔵 Needs a closer look

The broad infrastructure changes require maintainer validation of official signing, SBOM generation, and end-to-end artifact delivery.

No open issues 🎉

What changed in this PR

Simplifies CsWin32’s contributor workflow around standard .NET commands while separating local development from official build infrastructure.

Changes:

Migrates to SLNX and adjusts build ordering and packaging.
Replaces bootstrap scripts with native CI setup and separates package feeds.
Removes template automation, obsolete pipelines, and unused tooling.

File	Description
tools/variables/ProfilingInputsDropName.ps1	Removes profiling-drop variable helper.
tools/variables/BusinessGroupName.ps1	Removes archival metadata helper.
tools/Set-EnvVars.ps1	Removes bootstrap environment helper.
tools/MergeFrom-Template.ps1	Removes template merging script.
tools/Install-NuGetPackage.ps1	Removes package-install helper.
tools/Install-NuGetCredProvider.ps1	Removes custom credential-provider installer.
tools/Install-DotNetSdk.ps1	Removes custom SDK installer.
tools/Get-ProcDump.ps1	Adds explicit feed configuration and failure handling.
tools/Get-LibTemplateBasis.ps1	Removes template ancestry lookup.
tools/Convert-PDB.ps1	Uses official package-feed configuration.
tools/Check-DotNetSdk.ps1	Removes SDK detection helper.
tools/Check-DotNetRuntime.ps1	Removes runtime detection helper.
tools/artifacts/VSInsertion.ps1	Removes OptProf artifact collection.
test/Restore.Tests.ps1	Removes bootstrap retry tests.
test/Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.Tests/MyReferenceAssemblies.cs	Selects feeds by build environment.
test/Directory.Build.targets	Adds generation-tool build dependencies.
test/Directory.Build.props	Makes MicroBuild dependency conditional.
SUPPORT.md	Removes standalone support guidance.
src/VSInsertionMetadata/VSInsertionMetadata.targets	Removes profiling metadata targets.
src/VSInsertionMetadata/ProfilingInputs.props	Removes profiling input placeholder.
src/VSInsertionMetadata/Library.VSInsertionMetadata.proj	Removes template metadata project.
src/OptProf.targets	Removes profiling configuration.
src/Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32/Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.targets	Prevents reference rebuilds during no-build packing.
README.md	Adds standard build instructions.
nuget.config	Separates local sources using package mapping.
Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.slnx	Adds XML solution definition.
Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.sln	Removes replaced solution format.
init.ps1	Removes PowerShell bootstrap.
init.cmd	Removes command-shell bootstrap.
Directory.Solution.targets	Builds solution before packing when required.
Directory.Packages.props	Gates MicroBuild package inclusion.
Directory.Build.props	Separates local and MicroBuild configuration.
COPYRIGHT	Removes standalone copyright notice.
CONTRIBUTING.md	Documents revised development and official workflows.
CodeQL.yml	Removes legacy classification configuration.
azure-pipelines/vs-validation.yml	Removes optional insertion-validation pipeline.
azure-pipelines/unofficial.yml	Removes obsolete exclusions and OptProf comments.
azure-pipelines/PostPRMessage.ps1	Removes validation comment helper.
azure-pipelines/OptProf.yml	Removes profiling pipeline.
azure-pipelines/OptProf_part2.yml	Removes profiling continuation pipeline.
azure-pipelines/official.yml	Removes commented OptProf options.
azure-pipelines/NuGetSbom.props	Houses official-build output settings.
azure-pipelines/nuget.config	Adds dedicated official feed configuration.
azure-pipelines/microbuild.before.yml	Removes OptProf-specific setup.
azure-pipelines/microbuild.after.yml	Removes profiling artifact publishing.
azure-pipelines/libtemplate-update.yml	Removes Azure template-update automation.
azure-pipelines/integration-test.yml	Installs SDKs through native task.
azure-pipelines/install-dependencies.yml	Replaces bootstrap with native setup and restores.
azure-pipelines/Get-InsertionPRId.ps1	Removes validation insertion lookup.
azure-pipelines/dotnet.yml	Removes profiling-only execution branch.
azure-pipelines/build.yml	Simplifies jobs and updates dependency setup.
azure-pipelines/archive-sourcecode.yml	Removes source archival pipeline.
azure-pipelines/Archive-SourceCode.ps1	Removes archival request helper.
azure-pipelines.yml	Removes obsolete editor-path exclusion.
.vscode/tasks.json	Removes workspace build task.
.vscode/settings.json	Removes workspace editor settings.
.vscode/launch.json	Removes debugger attachment configuration.
.vscode/extensions.json	Removes extension recommendations.
.prettierrc.yaml	Removes unused formatter configuration.
.github/workflows/libtemplate-update.yml	Removes GitHub template-update automation.
.github/workflows/docs.yml	Uses native SDK setup and tool restore.
.github/workflows/docs_validate.yml	Updates runner and documentation setup.
.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml	Uses native SDK setup and package restore.
.github/workflows/build.yml	Separates build, pack, and test setup.
.github/actions/publish-artifacts/action.yaml	Removes unused publishing action.
.editorconfig	Defines SLNX indentation.
.config/dotnet-tools.json	Removes unused CLI tools.

_{Review effort: Balanced}

Jevan Saks (jevansaks) · 2026-10-19T17:53:41Z

Hi Tera (@0x5bfa)! Thanks for the contribution. I think you've identified a bunch of good cleanup here but also a bunch of the pipelines stuff is in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" territory for me.

I'm curious if you had specific problems or challenges working in the codebase that you're trying to fix? Taking some of the .slnx cleanup is righteous but also isn't a problem day-to-day for me...

Perhaps if we separate this out into smaller PRs it'll be easier to work through.

Also would like Andrew Arnott (@AArnott)'s feedback on the pipeline / template changes since he had been keeping those in sync and I haven't been clear on which parts of the repo we try to take as copies of that.

I don't necessarily mind forking as long as we understand what we're giving up by maintaining our own infra pieces.

Tera (0x5bfa) · 2026-10-21T14:12:37Z

Thanks for the reply, this was kinda demo PR to demonstrate how we can simplify the codebase (approx. 2800 loc deletion). Here we have multiple changes in one PR:

Simplification of building the app
Simplification of the CD pipeline
Removal of Library.Template, thus simplification of project configuration

Particularly, 1st and 3rd should be easier to do, and I agree I shouldn't touch the CD pipeline as it is heavily associated to the closed Azure DevOps Pipelines dashboard. I also understand it may be wise to keep things not broken as is but the pipeline is incredibly entangled and nearly to the point we as humans never can maintain. It's really nice if we can discuss this.

If you have some ideas, please share, I will contribute!

Jevan Saks (jevansaks) · 2026-10-23T02:29:10Z

I'm open to the simplification of the building the app (slnx and other cleanup). I'd want to wait to hear from Andrew Arnott (@AArnott) for feedback on the other cleanup. Right now the pipelines are working fine for us so I don't see a need to change them and renovate bot is doing fine to keep dependencies up to date but if anything needs to change (e.g. there's a potential I need to move the pipelines to a different ADO instance), then this could be cleanup worth taking.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott)

You've definitely found a lot of crap that can be ripped out. Overall I think this is a Good Change.
In Library.Template's defense, some of the improvements you've made (e.g. sln->slnx) are also in library.template but this repo hasn't taken an update in a long time.
And some changes I feel are backward (e.g. deleting the init scripts). And some are there for compliance and legal stuff and should probably remain.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:12:04Z

  </config>
  <packageSources>
    <clear />
+    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />


Microsoft policy forbids us from pulling directly from nuget.org. This change must be reverted.
Or perhaps our own builds use the new nuget.config file you created under azure-pipelines/. I couldn't find where in the changes you cause our build to reference that file. But that might be an acceptable way to make it easier for 3rd parties to pull packages from nuget.org while our official builds only pull them from our azure artifacts feed.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:12:55Z


-* Use Windows PowerShell or [PowerShell Core][pwsh] (including on Linux/OSX) to run .ps1 scripts.
-  Some scripts set environment variables to help you, but they are only retained if you use PowerShell as your shell.
+Install the [.NET SDK](https://get.dot.net/) specified in `global.json` (or a newer patch in the same SDK feature band). On Windows, open `Microsoft.Windows.CsWin32.slnx` in a Visual Studio version that supports that SDK and C# 14, then build the solution. No initialization script, CLI tool restore, or custom shell environment is required.


Getting the right SDK version is several steps for a human. You removed init.ps1 which automated this. That seems like a step backwards.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:14:06Z

      ],
      "rollForward": false
-    },
-    "nerdbank.dotnetrepotools": {


This is a convenient CLI tool that I use in all my repos. I don't actively work in CsWin32 at this point, so I'd leave it to Jevan Saks (@jevansaks) to decide whether he wants to keep it. Leaving it here for folks that want it doesn't seem harmful though, IMHO.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:14:47Z

  "version": 1,
  "isRoot": true,
  "tools": {
-    "powershell": {


This is helpful for non-Windows users to easily acquire and use powershell via dotnet pwsh. It's not required but it's very handy for some users.
Now, for this repo in particular how many users are on non-Windows machines? Not many, perhaps.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:18:46Z

 ##### but we use parameters because they support rich types and defaults.
 ##### Feel free to adjust their default value as needed.

-# Whether this repo uses OptProf to optimize the built binaries.


I'm both confused and amazed at your changes to this directory. I don't know who you are but your github profile suggests you're not affiliated with Microsoft. Yet your changes to builds that I expect you don't have visibility into is both confident and.... at least mostly accurate, at least insofar as a code review can tell.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:20:15Z

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


I don't think you should be removing our copyright notice.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:21:00Z

@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-path_classifiers:


I don't know why you're removing our CodeQL config file. I think it should stay unless Jevan Saks (@jevansaks) knows we don't need it.

Andrew Arnott (AArnott) · 2026-10-24T21:21:34Z

@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-# Support


I don't think you should be removing our SUPPORT disclosure file.

Tera (0x5bfa) added 5 commits October 13, 2026 01:20

Init

e56affe

Delete init.ps1

2ccb80f

Delete unused files

2eb0cff

Remove obsolete Azure pipeline workflows

909b465

Remove unused repo tooling and VS Code settings

774d0e5

Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings October 17, 2026 15:41

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Tera (0x5bfa) October 17, 2026 15:42

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Copilot AI reviewed Oct 17, 2026

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Andrew Arnott (AArnott) reviewed Oct 24, 2026

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		@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
		Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Tera (0x5bfa) commented Oct 17, 2026

Context

Changes

Official build and release infrastructure

Validation

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Tera (0x5bfa) commented Oct 21, 2026 •

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