Increment nuget PackageVersion using just MS Build schema in .NET Core csproj file

Question

For years, I used a PowerShell script to increment the PackageVersion for my nuget library builds in Visual Studio. I found that annoying, so I began a quest to find a way to increment the version just using a Target/Task in the .NET Core *.csproj project file.

Answer 1

After some time I eventually came across XmlPoke (thanks StackOverflow...) and so combined with using a MSBuild property function and a Target task - we can rock the version automagically

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    <GeneratePackageOnBuild>True</GeneratePackageOnBuild>
    <PackageId>MyAwesomePackage</PackageId>
    <AssemblyName>MyAwesomePackage</AssemblyName>
    <PackageVersion>1.0.1.1-Debug</PackageVersion>
    <VersionPrefix>1.0.1</VersionPrefix>
    <VersionSuffix>1</VersionSuffix>
    <VersionSuffixBuild>$([MSBuild]::Add($(VersionSuffix),1))</VersionSuffixBuild>
    <Authors>Me</Authors>
    <Company>My Awesome Company</Company>
    <Product>My Awesome Product</Product>
    <Description>My Awesome Product Library</Description>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="System.Text.Json" Version="9.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>
  <Target Name="UpdateVersion" AfterTargets="BeforeBuild">
    <PropertyGroup>
      <PackageVersion Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Debug">$(VersionPrefix).$(VersionSuffixBuild)-Debug</PackageVersion>
      <PackageVersion Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Release">$(VersionPrefix).$(VersionSuffixBuild)</PackageVersion>
    </PropertyGroup>
    <Exec Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Debug" Command="del /F &quot;$(ProjectDir)bin\Debug\*.nupkg&quot;" IgnoreExitCode="true" />
    <Exec Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Release" Command="del /F &quot;$(ProjectDir)bin\Release\*.nupkg&quot;" IgnoreExitCode="true" />
  </Target>
  <Target Name="PostBuild" AfterTargets="Pack">
    <Exec Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Debug" Command="nuget init &quot;$(ProjectDir)\bin\Debug&quot; &quot;$(SolutionDir)..\packages\debug&quot;" />
    <Exec Condition="$(ConfigurationName) == Release" Command="nuget init &quot;$(ProjectDir)\bin\Release&quot; &quot;$(SolutionDir)..\packages\release&quot;" />
    <XmlPoke XmlInputPath="$(MSBuildProjectFullPath)" Value="$(VersionSuffixBuild)" Query="/Project/PropertyGroup/VersionSuffix" />
    <XmlPoke XmlInputPath="$(MSBuildProjectFullPath)" Value="$(PackageVersion)" Query="/Project/PropertyGroup/PackageVersion" />
  </Target>
</Project>