Migrate manifest-handling tasks to TaskEnvironment API by JanProvaznik · Pull Request #13177 · dotnet/msbuild

JanProvaznik · 2026-02-02T13:22:29Z

Migrate manifest-handling tasks to TaskEnvironment API

Summary

This PR migrates manifest-handling MSBuild tasks to support multithreaded execution (-mt mode) by implementing the IMultiThreadableTask interface and using TaskEnvironment for thread-safe file operations.

Fixes #13172

Changes

Tasks Migrated

Task	Changes
GenerateManifestBase	Base class - added `TaskEnvironment`, replaced `Directory.GetCurrentDirectory()` with `TaskEnvironment.ProjectDirectory`, absolutized `InputManifest` and `OutputManifest` paths
GenerateApplicationManifest	Absolutized `TrustInfoFile` path in `GetRequestedExecutionLevel()`
GenerateDeploymentManifest	Inherits from `GenerateManifestBase` - no additional changes needed
ResolveManifestFiles	Added attribute + interface, replaced `Path.GetFullPath()` calls with `TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath()`
AddToWin32Manifest	Added attribute + interface, absolutized `ApplicationManifest` and output paths
UpdateManifest	Added attribute + interface to both .NET Framework and .NET implementations
CreateManifestResourceName	Base class - added `TaskEnvironment`, absolutized paths before `FileExists` and `FileStream` operations
CreateCSharpManifestResourceName	Added `[MSBuildMultiThreadableTask]` attribute
CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName	Added `[MSBuildMultiThreadableTask]` attribute

Test Updates

Updated unit tests to initialize TaskEnvironment:

AddToWin32Manifest_Tests.cs
CreateCSharpManifestResourceName_Tests.cs (13 test methods)
CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName_Tests.cs (6 test methods)

Testing

Unit Tests

All 148 manifest-related unit tests pass:

dotnet test src/Tasks.UnitTests/Microsoft.Build.Tasks.UnitTests.csproj --filter "FullyQualifiedName~Manifest"

E2E Tests

Created 5 end-to-end test projects validating behavior in -m -mt mode:

Demo	Description	Result
1	CreateCSharpManifestResourceName - C# resources	✅ Matches VS MSBuild
2	CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName - VB resources	✅ Matches VS MSBuild
3	AddToWin32Manifest - PreferNativeArm64	✅ Matches VS MSBuild
4	Non-resx resources (JSON, XML, binary, text)	✅ Matches VS MSBuild
5	DependentUpon convention with subfolders	✅ Matches VS MSBuild

E2E test package attached: manifest-e2e-tests.zip
manifest-e2e-tests.zip

To run:

# Extract and run
Expand-Archive manifest-e2e-tests.zip -DestinationPath e2e-tests
cd e2e-tests
.\run-tests.ps1  # Full comparison with VS MSBuild
.\run-tests.ps1 -SkipVSComparison  # Quick test with dev MSBuild only

Implementation Notes

manifest-e2e-tests.zip

Pattern Used

[MSBuildMultiThreadableTask]
public class MyTask : Task, IMultiThreadableTask
{
    public TaskEnvironment TaskEnvironment { get; set; }
    
    public override bool Execute()
    {
        // Absolutize paths before file operations
        AbsolutePath absolutePath = TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath(inputPath);
        if (File.Exists(absolutePath))
        {
            // Safe to use in multithreaded context
        }
    }
}

Key Replacements

Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() → TaskEnvironment.ProjectDirectory
Path.GetFullPath(path) → TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath(path)
All file I/O operations now receive absolute paths

Checklist

Tasks annotated with [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] attribute
Tasks implement IMultiThreadableTask where TaskEnvironment is used
All file paths absolutized before I/O operations
No use of Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() or Environment.CurrentDirectory
Unit tests updated with TaskEnvironment = TaskEnvironmentHelper.CreateForTest()
E2E tests verify behavior matches VS MSBuild in -m -mt mode

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR migrates manifest-handling MSBuild tasks to support multithreaded execution (-mt mode) by implementing the IMultiThreadableTask interface and using TaskEnvironment for thread-safe file operations.

Changes:

Added [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] attribute and IMultiThreadableTask interface to 9 manifest-handling tasks
Replaced Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() with TaskEnvironment.ProjectDirectory and Path.GetFullPath() with TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath()
Updated 20 unit test methods to initialize TaskEnvironment using TaskEnvironmentHelper.CreateForTest()

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 11 out of 11 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
UpdateManifest.cs	Added attribute/interface, absolutized paths for both .NET and .NET Framework implementations
ResolveManifestFiles.cs	Added attribute/interface, replaced Path.GetFullPath() with TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath()
GenerateManifestBase.cs	Base class - added TaskEnvironment, replaced Directory.GetCurrentDirectory(), absolutized manifest paths
GenerateApplicationManifest.cs	Absolutized TrustInfoFile and InputManifest paths using TaskEnvironment
CreateManifestResourceName.cs	Base class - added attribute/interface, absolutized paths before file operations
CreateCSharpManifestResourceName.cs	Added [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] attribute
CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName.cs	Added [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] attribute
AddToWin32Manifest.cs	Added attribute/interface, absolutized ApplicationManifest and output paths
CreateCSharpManifestResourceName_Tests.cs	Updated 13 test methods with TaskEnvironment initialization
CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName_Tests.cs	Updated 6 test methods with TaskEnvironment initialization
AddToWin32Manifest_Tests.cs	Updated 1 test method with TaskEnvironment initialization

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs

src/Tasks/GenerateApplicationManifest.cs

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs

Migrate the following tasks to support multithreaded execution (-mt mode): - GenerateManifestBase (base class for manifest generation) - GenerateApplicationManifest - GenerateDeploymentManifest (inherits from GenerateManifestBase) - ResolveManifestFiles - AddToWin32Manifest - UpdateManifest - CreateManifestResourceName (base class for resource naming) - CreateCSharpManifestResourceName - CreateVisualBasicManifestResourceName Changes: - Add [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] attribute to all tasks - Implement IMultiThreadableTask interface where TaskEnvironment is used - Replace Directory.GetCurrentDirectory() with TaskEnvironment.ProjectDirectory - Absolutize all paths before file I/O operations using TaskEnvironment.GetAbsolutePath() - Update unit tests to set TaskEnvironment = TaskEnvironmentHelper.CreateForTest() Fixes dotnet#13172

- Fix ResolveManifestFiles to canonicalize paths for dictionary key matching (GetAbsolutePath doesn't canonicalize, so wrap with Path.GetFullPath) - Add 8 focused tests for TaskEnvironment migration: - Empty ItemSpec handling - Path with .. segments (canonicalization) - Forward/mixed slashes normalization - Batch processing error handling - Deep nesting and spaces in paths

…nd output - AddToWin32Manifest: Use original ApplicationManifest.ItemSpec in error messages instead of absolutized path (manifestDisplayPath) - AddToWin32Manifest: ManifestPath output preserves original Path.Combine(OutputDirectory, name) form instead of always being absolute - CreateManifestResourceName: Remove unnecessary ?? string.Empty from Path.GetDirectoryName to preserve pre-migration exception behavior for root-level resources - GenerateManifestBase: Pass absolutized path to LockCheck.GetLockedFileMessage so it checks the correct file on write failure

src/Tasks/UpdateManifest.cs

src/Tasks/ResolveManifestFiles.cs

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs

…d IMultiThreadableTask - AddToWin32Manifest: refactor manifestPath to AbsolutePath?, use OriginalValue for display - ResolveManifestFiles: use GetCanonicalForm() instead of Path.GetFullPath() wrapper - UpdateManifest (.NET): remove IMultiThreadableTask — TaskEnvironment not used in stub - Merge compatibility red-team playbook into multithreaded-task-migration skill

…nt examples (550→209 lines)

…kill Merge adversarial compatibility review guidance into the existing migration skill, based on real bugs found during manifest task migrations (PR dotnet/msbuild#13177): - 6 Deadly Compatibility Sins with detect/fix patterns - Red-team audit protocol with edge-case analysis tables - Compatibility test generation matrix - Unified sign-off checklist covering migration + compatibility - Deduplicated: merged canonicalization sins, unified checklists, trimmed redundant examples

…kill (#3) Merge adversarial compatibility review guidance into the existing migration skill, based on real bugs found during manifest task migrations (PR dotnet/msbuild#13177): - 6 Deadly Compatibility Sins with detect/fix patterns - Red-team audit protocol with edge-case analysis tables - Compatibility test generation matrix - Unified sign-off checklist covering migration + compatibility - Deduplicated: merged canonicalization sins, unified checklists, trimmed redundant examples

…gration

Add using alias for Constants in GenerateDeploymentManifest.cs to disambiguate between Microsoft.Build.Tasks.Deployment.ManifestUtilities.Constants and the newly-moved Microsoft.Build.Framework.Constants. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

AR-May · 2026-02-18T17:05:57Z

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs

+                return absolutePath;
            }

            string? defaultManifestPath = ToolLocationHelper.GetPathToDotNetFrameworkFile(DefaultManifestName, TargetDotNetFrameworkVersion.Version46);


This might be not safe call.

src/Tasks/CreateManifestResourceName.cs

src/Tasks/GenerateManifestBase.cs

AR-May · 2026-02-18T17:53:08Z

src/Tasks/ResolveManifestFiles.cs

    /// </comment>
-    public sealed class ResolveManifestFiles : TaskExtension
+    [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask]
+    public sealed class ResolveManifestFiles : TaskExtension, IMultiThreadableTask


This class also dependent on ToolLocationHelper through AssemblyIdentity.IsInFramework - is this pose a risk?

AR-May · 2026-02-18T17:55:30Z

src/Tasks/GenerateManifestBase.cs

    /// </summary>
-    public abstract class GenerateManifestBase : Task
+    [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask]
+    public abstract class GenerateManifestBase : Task, IMultiThreadableTask


this class seems to call ToolLocationHelper functions when validating the manifests in ApplicationManifest.ValidateReferencesForClickOnceApplication()

…false makes them no-ops)

…nonicalization Util.RemoveDuplicateItems used Path.GetFullPath (CWD-dependent) for dictionary keys when deduplicating non-strong-name items. In multithreaded mode, CWD is meaningless and shared across threads. Fix: migrate SortItems to accept TaskEnvironment, use GetAbsolutePath().GetCanonicalForm() instead of Path.GetFullPath(). Move sort calls from property setters to Execute() where TaskEnvironment is available. All 9 callers are in the two migrated tasks — no overload needed.

Eliminates the last direct analyzer violation (MSBuildTask0001) by making the delegate signature attest that paths are absolute at the type level.

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 2, 2026 13:22

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of JanProvaznik February 2, 2026 13:22 View session

JanProvaznik marked this pull request as draft February 2, 2026 13:25

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 2, 2026

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src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Tasks/GenerateApplicationManifest.cs Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

JanProvaznik force-pushed the resource-manifests-migration branch from 23f07ef to c947264 Compare February 2, 2026 13:34

JanProvaznik self-assigned this Feb 2, 2026

JanProvaznik force-pushed the resource-manifests-migration branch from c947264 to e5763fd Compare February 2, 2026 16:19

JanProvaznik added 3 commits February 4, 2026 17:21

Merge branch 'main' into resource-manifests-migration

5d24c3b

JanProvaznik commented Feb 10, 2026

View reviewed changes

src/Tasks/UpdateManifest.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Tasks/ResolveManifestFiles.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Tasks/AddToWin32Manifest.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

JanProvaznik added 2 commits February 10, 2026 15:54

Deduplicate skill file: merge Sin 5+7, unify checklists, trim redunda…

6d3a74b

…nt examples (550→209 lines)

JanProvaznik marked this pull request as ready for review February 10, 2026 15:54

JanProvaznik requested a review from a team as a code owner February 10, 2026 15:54

Remove skill file changes (extracted to separate PR)

86f7785

JanProvaznik mentioned this pull request Feb 10, 2026

Add compatibility red-team playbook to multithreaded-task-migration skill ViktorHofer/dotnet-skills#3

Merged

JanProvaznik force-pushed the resource-manifests-migration branch from 41e492b to 86f7785 Compare February 17, 2026 13:46

JanProvaznik and others added 2 commits February 17, 2026 15:13

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into resource-manifests-mi…

ccbec40

…gration

AR-May reviewed Feb 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

JanProvaznik added 3 commits February 19, 2026 16:26

Remove [MSBuildMultiThreadableTask] from abstract classes (Inherited=…

d92d315

…false makes them no-ops)

Change CreateFileStream delegate to take AbsolutePath instead of string

651ea49

Eliminates the last direct analyzer violation (MSBuildTask0001) by making the delegate signature attest that paths are absolute at the type level.

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Migrate manifest-handling tasks to TaskEnvironment API#13177

Migrate manifest-handling tasks to TaskEnvironment API#13177
JanProvaznik wants to merge 12 commits intodotnet:mainfrom
JanProvaznik:resource-manifests-migration

JanProvaznik commented Feb 2, 2026 •

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Migrate manifest-handling tasks to TaskEnvironment API

Summary

Changes

Tasks Migrated

Test Updates

Testing

Unit Tests

E2E Tests

Implementation Notes

Pattern Used

Key Replacements

Checklist

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Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

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JanProvaznik commented Feb 2, 2026 •

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