dotnet-add-reference(1) .NET Documentation dotnet-add-reference(1)

This article applies to: ✔️ .NET Core 3.1 SDK and later versions

dotnet-add-reference - Adds project-to-project (P2P) references.

dotnet add [<PROJECT>] reference [-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>]
     [--interactive] <PROJECT_REFERENCES>
dotnet add reference -h|--help

The dotnet add reference command provides a convenient option to add project references to a project. After running the command, the <ProjectReference> elements are added to the project file.

<ItemGroup>
  <ProjectReference Include="app.csproj" />
  <ProjectReference Include="..\lib2\lib2.csproj" />
  <ProjectReference Include="..\lib1\lib1.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>

There’s no CLI command to add a reference to an assembly that isn’t in a project or a package. But you can do that by editing your .csproj file and adding markup similar to the following example:

<ItemGroup>
  <Reference Include="MyAssembly">
    <HintPath>".\MyDLLFolder\MyAssembly.dll</HintPath>
  </Reference>
</ItemGroup>

•
PROJECT

Specifies the project file. If not specified, the command searches the current directory for one.

•
PROJECT_REFERENCES

Project-to-project (P2P) references to add. Specify one or more projects. Glob patterns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming)) are supported on Unix/Linux-based systems.

•
-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>

Adds project references only when targeting a specific framework using the TFM format.

•
-?|-h|--help

Prints out a description of how to use the command.

•
--interactive

Allows the command to stop and wait for user input or action. For example, to complete authentication. Available since .NET Core 3.0 SDK.

•
Add a project reference:
dotnet add app/app.csproj reference lib/lib.csproj
•
Add multiple project references to the project in the current directory:
dotnet add reference lib1/lib1.csproj lib2/lib2.csproj
•
Add multiple project references using a globbing pattern on Linux/Unix:
dotnet add app/app.csproj reference **/*.csproj
2023-10-25