How do I install the Resolve Project References skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add steffencarlsen/resolve-project-references in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Resolve Project References safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Resolve Project References?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Resolve Project References free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Resolve Project References?

SteffenCarlsen (@steffencarlsen) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Resolve Project References by steffencarlsen

Name: Resolve Project References
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: SteffenCarlsen

Resolve Project References

Guide for interpreting ResolveProjectReferences time in MSBuild performance summaries. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Activate when ResolveProjectReferences appears as the most expensive target and developers are trying to optimize it directly. Explains that the reported time includes wait time for dependent project builds and is misleading. Guides users to focus on task self-time instead. Do not activate for general build performance -- use build-perf-diagnostics instead.

File contents

Misleading ResolveProjectReferences Time

Prevent misguided optimization of ResolveProjectReferences by explaining that its reported time is wall-clock wait time, not CPU work.

When to Use

ResolveProjectReferences appears as the most expensive target in the Target Performance Summary
A developer is trying to optimize ResolveProjectReferences directly
Build performance analysis shows a single target consuming 50-80% of total build time

When Not to Use

General build performance optimization (use build-perf-diagnostics instead)
The bottleneck is clearly a different target (e.g., Csc, ResolveAssemblyReference)
The user has not yet captured a binlog or performance summary

Inputs

Input	Required	Description
Build log or binlog	Yes	A diagnostic build log or binlog containing the Target Performance Summary

Workflow

Step 1: Confirm the misleading symptom

Verify that ResolveProjectReferences appears as the top target in the Target Performance Summary. This is the misleading metric.

Step 2: Explain why it is misleading

The reported time includes waiting for dependent projects to build while the MSBuild node is yielded (see dotnet/msbuild#3135). During this wait, the node may be doing useful work on other projects. The target itself does very little work.

Step 3: Redirect to task self-time

Use the Task Performance Summary to identify the real bottleneck.

Primary: binlog MCP (preferred)

Use the binlog MCP server expensive_tasks tool to get task self-time rankings directly from the binlog.

Fallback: text-log replay (when MCP is unavailable)

dotnet msbuild build.binlog -noconlog -fl "-flp:v=diag;logfile=full.log;performancesummary"
grep "Task Performance Summary" -A 50 full.log

Focus on self-time of actual tasks:

Csc: see build-perf-diagnostics skill (Section 2: Roslyn Analyzers)
ResolveAssemblyReference: see build-perf-diagnostics skill (Section 1: RAR)
Copy: see build-perf-diagnostics skill (Section 4: File I/O)
Serialization bottlenecks: see build-parallelism skill

Validation

Task Performance Summary was used instead of Target Performance Summary
ResolveProjectReferences was not set as the optimization target
A concrete task (e.g., Csc, Copy, ResolveAssemblyReference) was identified as the true bottleneck

---name: resolve-project-referencesdescription: Guide for interpreting ResolveProjectReferences time in MSBuild performance summaries. Only activate in MSBuild/.NET build context. Activate when ResolveProjectReferences appears as the most expensive target and developers are trying to optimize it directly. Explains that the reported time includes wait time for dependent project builds and is misleading. Guides users to focus on task self-time instead. Do not activate for general build performance -- use build-perf-diagnostics instead.license: MIT---# Misleading ResolveProjectReferences TimePrevent misguided optimization of `ResolveProjectReferences` by explaining that its reported time is wall-clock wait time, not CPU work.## When to Use- `ResolveProjectReferences` appears as the most expensive target in the Target Performance Summary- A developer is trying to optimize `ResolveProjectReferences` directly- Build performance analysis shows a single target consuming 50-80% of total build time## When Not to Use- General build performance optimization (use `build-perf-diagnostics` instead)- The bottleneck is clearly a different target (e.g., `Csc`, `ResolveAssemblyReference`)- The user has not yet captured a binlog or performance summary## Inputs| Input | Required | Description ||-------|----------|-------------|| Build log or binlog | Yes | A diagnostic build log or binlog containing the Target Performance Summary |## Workflow### Step 1: Confirm the misleading symptomVerify that `ResolveProjectReferences` appears as the top target in the **Target** Performance Summary. This is the misleading metric.### Step 2: Explain why it is misleadingThe reported time includes **waiting for dependent projects to build** while the MSBuild node is yielded (see dotnet/msbuild#3135). During this wait, the node may be doing useful work on other projects. The target itself does very little work.### Step 3: Redirect to task self-timeUse the **Task** Performance Summary to identify the real bottleneck.#### Primary: binlog MCP (preferred)Use the **binlog MCP server** expensive_tasks tool to get task self-time rankings directly from the binlog.#### Fallback: text-log replay (when MCP is unavailable)```bashdotnet msbuild build.binlog -noconlog -fl "-flp:v=diag;logfile=full.log;performancesummary"grep "Task Performance Summary" -A 50 full.log```Focus on self-time of actual tasks:- **Csc**: see `build-perf-diagnostics` skill (Section 2: Roslyn Analyzers)- **ResolveAssemblyReference**: see `build-perf-diagnostics` skill (Section 1: RAR)- **Copy**: see `build-perf-diagnostics` skill (Section 4: File I/O)- **Serialization bottlenecks**: see `build-parallelism` skill## Validation- [ ] Task Performance Summary was used instead of Target Performance Summary- [ ] `ResolveProjectReferences` was not set as the optimization target- [ ] A concrete task (e.g., `Csc`, `Copy`, `ResolveAssemblyReference`) was identified as the true bottleneck

Frequently asked questions