dotnet-nuget-why - Man Page
Shows the dependency graph for a particular package.
dotnet nuget why
This article applies to: ✔️ .NET 8.0.4xx SDK and later versions
Synopsis
dotnet nuget why <PROJECT|SOLUTION> <PACKAGE> [-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>] dotnet nuget why -h|--help
Description
The dotnet nuget why command shows the dependency graph for a particular package for a given project or solution.
Starting with version 9.0.200, the command introduces support for runtime identifier (RID) specific packages by generating separate dependency trees for each RID and framework combination. For example, if a project targets net9.0 with the win-x64 RID, the command generates trees for net9.0/win-x64 and net9.0.
Older project format
To use the command with projects that can’t be restored with the .NET SDK, you can pass a NuGet assets file in place of the project file (starting with the .NET 9 SDK):
- First, restore the project in Visual Studio or using
msbuild.exe. By default, the assets file is in the project’sobj\directory, but you can find the location withmsbuild.exe path\to\project.proj -getProperty:ProjectAssetsFile. - Run
dotnet nuget why path\to\project.assets.json SomePackage.
Arguments
PROJECT|SOLUTION
The project or solution file to operate on. If a directory is specified, the command searches the directory for a project or solution file. If more than one project or solution is found, an error is thrown.
PACKAGE
The package name to look up in the dependency graph.
Options
-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>
The target framework(s) for which dependency graphs are shown. You can pass multiple
--frameworkoptions to see graphs for more than one framework.-?|-h|--help
Prints out a description of how to use the command.
Examples
Show the dependency graph for the package “System.Text.Json” for a given solution:
dotnet nuget why .\DotnetNuGetWhyPackage.sln System.Text.Json
[IMAGE: Example: Solution with multiple projects]
Show the dependency graph for the package “System.Text.Json” for a single project:
dotnet nuget why .\DotnetNuGetWhyPackage.csproj System.Text.Json
Show the dependency graph for a specific target framework:
dotnet nuget why .\DotnetNuGetWhyPackage.csproj System.Text.Json --framework net6.0