# dotnet/msbuild

The Microsoft Build Engine (MSBuild) is the build platform for .NET and Visual Studio.

Repository: https://github.com/dotnet/msbuild
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/msbuild
Homepage: https://docs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild
Language: C#
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: build, msbuild, visual-studio, microsoft, hacktoberfest, help-wanted
Last push: 2026-08-26T18:42:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 97, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4193, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 22, "gap_med": 20.5, "n_releases_24m": 23}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 5547, forks 1447 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:22.292836+00:00)

## What it is
MSBuild is Microsoft's build engine for .NET and Visual Studio, providing an XML schema for project files that controls how software is compiled and built. It can run standalone via msbuild.exe or dotnet build, without requiring Visual Studio.

## Use cases
- build .NET projects from the command line
- customize build processes with XML project files
- build solutions in CI without Visual Studio installed
- extend or modify Visual Studio project build behavior
- orchestrate multi-project builds on Linux or macOS

## When to choose
- you build .NET or Visual Studio projects
- you need headless builds in CI/CD pipelines
- you want fine-grained control over build targets and tasks

## When to avoid
- you build non-.NET projects with different toolchains (e.g., Make, CMake)
- you need a lightweight scripting-based build system
- you only build simple projects where dotnet build suffices

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: stable
- function: build-tool, cli, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: windows, dotnet, cli
- tags: msbuild, build-engine, xml-project-files, visual-studio, dotnet, microsoft, devops, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- dotnet/msbuild (main) score 98

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.292836+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:55:40.531161+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/dotnet/msbuild (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:22.292836+00:00, sha 8fe2fe45b85f)
  - homepage: https://docs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:56.214119+00:00, sha fa01342371ea)
  - site_page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/internet-explorer-microsoft-edge (fetched 2026-08-29T08:50:56.217153+00:00, sha c363b2f43d4b)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.