dotnet-advisor
Router and index skill for dotnet-artisan. Always loaded after [skill:using-dotnet] confirms.NET intent. Routes.NET development queries to the appropriate consolidated skill based on context.
Scope
- Routing.NET/C# requests to the correct domain skill or specialist agent
- Loading [skill:dotnet-csharp] coding standards as baseline for all code paths
- Maintaining the skill catalog and routing precedence
- Delegating complex analysis to specialist agents
- Disambiguating requests spanning multiple domains
Out of scope
- Domain-specific implementation guidance -- see [skill:dotnet-csharp], [skill:dotnet-api], [skill:dotnet-ui], [skill:dotnet-testing], [skill:dotnet-devops], [skill:dotnet-tooling], [skill:dotnet-debugging]
- Deep implementation content -- see [skill:dotnet-csharp], [skill:dotnet-api], [skill:dotnet-ui], [skill:dotnet-testing], [skill:dotnet-devops], [skill:dotnet-tooling], [skill:dotnet-debugging] and their companion files
Step 1: Detect Project Version
Before any.NET guidance, determine the project's target framework:
Load [skill:dotnet-tooling] version detection guidance to read TFMs from.csproj,Directory.Build.props, andglobal.json. Adapt all guidance to the detected.NET version (net8.0, net9.0, net10.0, net11.0).
Step 2: Load Baseline
For any task that may produce, change, or review C#/.NET code:
- Invoke [skill:dotnet-csharp] and load its always-load baseline references (coding standards, async correctness, code smells). These are correctness concerns the agent handles by default — the user should not need to ask for correct async/await usage, thread safety, or avoiding anti-patterns.
- Apply standards throughout planning and implementation, not only in final cleanup.
- Load additional [skill:dotnet-csharp] reference files when the task touches their topic area (concurrency, DI, serialization, LINQ, etc.).
Step 3:.NET-First Defaults
In a.NET repository, default to.NET solutions for ambiguous requests:
- "build me a web app" → ASP.NET Core (not Express/Next.js)
- "add a dashboard" / "build a UI" → Blazor or Uno Platform (not React)
- "write a script" / "automate this" →.NET 10 file-based app (not Python). File-based C# apps work like scripts with
dotnet run, support top-level statements, and can be published as native AOT binaries. See [skill:dotnet-api]references/file-based-apps.md. - "build a cross-platform app" → MAUI or Uno Platform (not Electron)
- "build a CLI tool" → System.CommandLine or Spectre.Console (not Node.js/Python)
- "create a spreadsheet" / "generate an Excel file" → Open XML SDK or ClosedXML file-based app (not openpyxl/pandas)
- "create a Word doc" / "generate a report" → Open XML SDK file-based app (not python-docx)
- "create a PDF" / "merge these PDFs" / "add a watermark" → PDFsharp/MigraDoc file-based app (not reportlab/weasyprint/PyPDF2)
Only suggest non-.NET alternatives when there's a specific reason (e.g., the user explicitly asks for Python, or the task requires a JS-only ecosystem like npm packages).
Step 4: Route to Domain Skill
Identify the primary domain from the request, then invoke the matching skill. If the request spans multiple domains, invoke them in the order shown.
| If the request involves... | Invoke |
|---|---|
| Web APIs, EF Core, gRPC, SignalR, middleware, security hardening | [skill:dotnet-api] |
| Blazor, MAUI, Uno Platform, WPF, WinUI, WinForms | [skill:dotnet-ui] |
| Unit tests, integration tests, E2E, Playwright, benchmarks | [skill:dotnet-testing] |
| CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, containers, NuGet publishing | [skill:dotnet-devops] |
| Project setup, MSBuild, Native AOT, CLI apps, SDK versions | [skill:dotnet-tooling] |
| Crash dumps, WinDbg, hang analysis, memory diagnostics (Windows) | [skill:dotnet-debugging] |
| Crash dumps, dotnet-dump, lldb, container diagnostics (Linux/macOS) | [skill:dotnet-debugging] |
| Missing.NET SDK, install dotnet, workloads | [skill:dotnet-tooling] (references/dotnet-sdk-install.md) |
| Quick script, utility, single-file tool | [skill:dotnet-api] (references/file-based-apps.md) |
| Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF, spreadsheet, document generation | [skill:dotnet-api] (references/office-documents.md) |
| New project (unclear domain) | [skill:dotnet-tooling], then route to the owning domain skill |
Cross-Domain Routing
Many tasks naturally span multiple domains. After invoking the primary domain skill, also load supporting skills when these patterns appear:
| When the task involves... | Also load |
|---|---|
| Performance optimization or profiling | [skill:dotnet-tooling] (profiling, performance-patterns references) |
| Testing a specific framework (minimal API, Blazor, EF Core) | The framework's domain skill ([skill:dotnet-api] or [skill:dotnet-ui]) for context |
| Authentication or security hardening in a UI app | [skill:dotnet-api] (security, auth middleware references) |
| Multi-targeting or platform-specific project setup | [skill:dotnet-tooling] (project structure, TFM configuration) |
| Building a new app (any "build me" request) | [skill:dotnet-tooling] (project setup) + [skill:dotnet-testing] (test strategy) |
| CI/CD that runs tests | [skill:dotnet-testing] (test framework configuration) |
For broad "build me an app" requests, load comprehensively: [skill:dotnet-csharp] -> [skill:dotnet-tooling] -> primary domain -> [skill:dotnet-testing] -> [skill:dotnet-devops].
Skill Catalog
| Skill | Summary | Differentiator |
|---|---|---|
| [skill:using-dotnet] | Process gateway for.NET routing discipline | Must execute immediately before this skill |
| [skill:dotnet-csharp] | C# language patterns, coding standards, async/await, DI, LINQ, domain modeling | Language-level guidance, always loaded as baseline |
| [skill:dotnet-api] | ASP.NET Core, EF Core, gRPC, SignalR, resilience, security, Aspire | Backend services and data access |
| [skill:dotnet-ui] | Blazor, MAUI, Uno Platform, WPF, WinUI, WinForms, accessibility | All UI frameworks and cross-platform targets |
| [skill:dotnet-testing] | xUnit v3, integration/E2E, Playwright, snapshots, benchmarks | Test strategy, frameworks, and quality gates |
| [skill:dotnet-devops] | GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, containers, NuGet, observability | CI/CD pipelines, packaging, and operations |
| [skill:dotnet-tooling] | Project setup, MSBuild, Native AOT, profiling, CLI apps, version detection | Build system, performance, and developer tools |
| [skill:dotnet-debugging] | WinDbg MCP, crash dumps, hang analysis, memory diagnostics | Live and post-mortem dump analysis |
| dotnet-advisor | This skill -- routes to domain skills above | Entry point, loaded after [skill:using-dotnet] |
Specialist Agent Routing
For complex analysis that benefits from domain expertise, delegate to specialist agents. Group by concern area:
Architecture and Design
- Architecture review, framework selection, design patterns -> [skill:dotnet-architect]
- General code review (correctness, performance, security) -> [skill:dotnet-code-review-agent]
Performance and Concurrency
- Async/await performance, ValueTask, ConfigureAwait, IO.Pipelines -> [skill:dotnet-async-performance-specialist]
- Performance profiling, flame graphs, heap dumps, benchmark regression -> [skill:dotnet-performance-analyst]
- Benchmark design, measurement methodology, diagnoser selection -> [skill:dotnet-benchmark-designer]
- Race conditions, deadlocks, thread safety, synchronization -> [skill:dotnet-csharp-concurrency-specialist]
UI Frameworks
- Blazor components, render modes, hosting models, auth -> [skill:dotnet-blazor-specialist]
- .NET MAUI development, platform targets, Xamarin migration -> [skill:dotnet-maui-specialist]
- Uno Platform, Extensions ecosystem, MVUX, multi-target deployment -> [skill:dotnet-uno-specialist]
Infrastructure
- Cloud deployment,.NET Aspire, AKS, CI/CD pipelines, distributed tracing -> [skill:dotnet-cloud-specialist]
- Security vulnerabilities, OWASP compliance, secrets exposure, crypto review -> [skill:dotnet-security-reviewer]
- Test architecture, test type selection, test data management -> [skill:dotnet-testing-specialist]
- Documentation generation, XML docs, Mermaid diagrams -> [skill:dotnet-docs-generator]
- ASP.NET Core middleware, request pipeline, DI lifetimes -> [skill:dotnet-aspnetcore-specialist]