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copy-to-output-directoryby .NETOfficialDevelopmentGitHub stars: 5.7k

Copy To Output Directory skill: what it does and how to install it

Explains how to choose MSBuild file-copy modes for build and publish output, including incremental copying and handling files changed between builds.

Summary generated from the skill's documentation.

Install

$ npx skills add dotnet/skills --skill copy-to-output-directory

Run it in a terminal. If your agent is already running, start a new session so it picks the skill up.

About this skill

What it does. Explains MSBuild's CopyToOutputDirectory and CopyToPublishDirectory modes, comparing Never, PreserveNewest, Always and IfDifferent. It covers version requirements and shows how to configure individual items or soften legacy Always behaviour with a repository-wide property.

When to use it. For MSBuild projects where output files need copying, especially when builds are slowed by Always or runtime and test activity mutates destination files. Not for general incremental-build diagnosis or non-MSBuild systems.

History

Repo stars

5.7kAbout +573 since 30 Jul 2026

Before 1 Oct 2026 the curve is estimated from public event data.

Stars are counted for the whole repository, which holds 82 skills.

Show as a table
Repo stars by day
DateRepo stars
26 Oct 20265,732
25 Oct 20265,724
24 Oct 20265,717
23 Oct 20265,708
22 Oct 20265,697
21 Oct 20265,693
20 Oct 20265,682
19 Oct 20265,673
18 Oct 20265,661
17 Oct 20265,656
16 Oct 20265,652
15 Oct 20265,642
14 Oct 20265,625
13 Oct 20265,617
12 Oct 20265,607
11 Oct 20265,600
10 Oct 20265,593
9 Oct 20265,590
8 Oct 20265,578
7 Oct 20265,569
6 Oct 20265,562
5 Oct 20265,557
4 Oct 20265,551
3 Oct 20265,543
2 Oct 20265,540
1 Oct 20265,531
24 Sept 2026 (estimated)5,519
17 Sept 2026 (estimated)5,494
10 Sept 2026 (estimated)5,419
3 Sept 2026 (estimated)5,258
27 Aug 2026 (estimated)5,233
20 Aug 2026 (estimated)5,221
13 Aug 2026 (estimated)5,221
6 Aug 2026 (estimated)5,171
30 Jul 2026 (estimated)5,159

Installs

2.8k

Tracking since . A chart appears once there are 7 days of data.

Installs via skills.sh

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