.NET Scaffolder by NotableBit

April 13, 2026 · View on GitHub

Scaffold .NET projects with ease! An intuitive VS Code extension featuring tree view templates, interactive configuration, and hybrid Git integration.

Create Console apps, Web APIs, Blazor applications, class libraries, and test projects with ease! No more command-line gymnastics—just point, click, and code.

✨ Features

Core Capabilities

🎯 Visual Project Selection - Browse .NET project templates in an organized tree view
🚀 One-Click Creation - Create projects with minimal clicks, maximum productivity
⚙️ Interactive Configuration - Configure project settings through a user-friendly webview
📂 Browse Button - Easy folder picker for selecting project location
📊 Real-time Progress Tracking - Watch your project come to life with live updates
🔄 Cross-Platform - Works seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Advanced Features

📦 Solution Support - Automatically create and configure solution files with proper structure
🌿 Hybrid Git Integration - Four Git options to fit any workflow:
- Local-only repositories
- GitHub CLI integration (create & push)
- Custom remote URLs
- No Git (for those who prefer otherwise)
🎨 12+ Templates - Covering Console, Web, Blazor, Libraries, and Test projects
🎯 Framework Flexibility - Support for .NET 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0
🔒 Privacy-First Telemetry - Anonymous usage analytics (respects VS Code settings)

📦 Installation

From VS Code

Open Visual Studio Code
Press Ctrl+P (or Cmd+P on macOS) to open Quick Open
Type ext install notablebit.dotnet-project-creator
Press Enter

From the Marketplace

Install directly from the VS Code Marketplace

From Source

git clone https://github.com/bdonaldharris/dotnet-project-creator.git
cd dotnet-project-creator
npm install
npm run compile

🚀 Quick Start

Method 1: Tree View (Recommended)

Open the Explorer sidebar in VS Code
Locate the .NET Scaffolder panel
Browse template categories (Console, Web, Libraries, Tests)
Click any template to open the configuration panel
Fill in your project details:
- Project name
- Target path
- Framework version (.NET 6.0 - 10.0)
- Git integration option
Click Create Project and watch the magic happen! ✨

Method 2: Command Palette

Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P
Type .NET Scaffolder: Create Project
Select your template from the quick pick
Configure and create

⚙️ Configuration Options

When creating a project, customize these settings:

Option	Description	Options
Project Name	Your project's identifier	Any valid .NET project name
Project Path	Where to create the project	Any writable directory
Target Framework	.NET version to target	6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0
Create Solution	Generate a solution file	Yes / No
Git Integration	Repository initialization	Local, GitHub, Remote, None
GitHub Visibility	Public or private repo	Public / Private (if using GitHub)
Remote URL	Custom Git remote	Any valid Git URL (if using Remote)

🌿 Git Integration

Choose the Git workflow that fits your needs:

🏠 Local Only

Initialize a Git repository with .gitignore and initial commit. No remote setup.

Perfect for: Personal projects, experiments, offline work

🐙 GitHub CLI

Create a GitHub repository and push automatically using the gh CLI.

Perfect for: Open source projects, team collaboration

Requirements:

GitHub CLI installed (brew install gh / Download)
Authenticated (gh auth login)

🔗 Custom Remote

Initialize locally and push to your custom Git remote (GitLab, Bitbucket, self-hosted).

Perfect for: Enterprise, custom Git servers, non-GitHub workflows

🚫 No Git

Skip Git initialization entirely.

Perfect for: Quick prototypes, learning, environments without Git

📖 More details: See GIT_INTEGRATION.md for comprehensive documentation.

📚 Supported Templates

Console Applications

Template	Description	Use Case
Console App	Command-line application	CLI tools, scripts, utilities
Worker Service	Background service	Long-running services, processors

Web Applications

Template	Description	Use Case
Web API	RESTful API	Backend services, microservices
MVC Web App	Model-View-Controller	Traditional web apps
Web App (Razor Pages)	Page-based web app	Content-driven sites
Blazor Server	Server-side Blazor	Interactive web apps
Blazor WebAssembly	Client-side Blazor	SPAs, PWAs

Libraries

Template	Description	Use Case
Class Library	Reusable code library	Shared logic, utilities
Razor Class Library	Reusable Razor components	Blazor component libraries

Test Projects

Template	Description	Framework
xUnit Test Project	Unit testing	xUnit
NUnit Test Project	Unit testing	NUnit
MSTest Test Project	Unit testing	MSTest

💻 Requirements

Essential

.NET SDK - Version 6.0 or higher
- 📥 Download .NET SDK
Visual Studio Code - Version 1.74.0 or higher
- 📥 Download VS Code

Optional

Git - For repository initialization
- 📥 Download Git
GitHub CLI - For GitHub integration
- 📥 Download GitHub CLI

⚙️ Extension Settings

Customize the extension behavior via VS Code settings:

{
  "dotnetCreator.defaultProjectPath": "",
  "dotnetCreator.gitAutoInit": true,
  "dotnetCreator.openAfterCreate": true
}

Setting	Type	Default	Description
`defaultProjectPath`	string	`""`	Default location for new projects
`gitAutoInit`	boolean	`true`	Auto-initialize Git repositories
`openAfterCreate`	boolean	`true`	Open project in new window after creation

📝 Commands

Access these commands via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

Command	Description
`.NET Scaffolder: Create Project`	Create a new .NET project
`.NET Scaffolder: Refresh Tree`	Refresh the templates tree view
`.NET Scaffolder: Configure Project`	Open configuration for a template

🔧 Troubleshooting

.NET SDK Not Found

Problem: Extension shows ".NET SDK is not installed"

Solution:

Download and install the .NET SDK from dotnet.microsoft.com
Restart Visual Studio Code
Verify installation:
```
dotnet --version
```
If still not working, check your PATH environment variable

Project Creation Fails

Problem: Project creation fails with errors

Common causes & solutions:

Issue	Solution
Permission denied	Check write permissions in target directory
Directory exists	Choose a different name or delete existing directory
Path too long	Use a shorter path (Windows limitation)
Invalid project name	Use only letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens

Still stuck? Check the VS Code Output panel (View → Output → .NET Project Creator) for detailed error messages.

Git Integration Issues

GitHub CLI not authenticated:

gh auth login

Git push fails:

Check your Git credentials
Verify remote URL is correct
Ensure you have push permissions

More details: See GIT_INTEGRATION.md

Getting Help

Check existing GitHub Issues
Review the CHANGELOG for known issues
Create a new issue with:
- VS Code version
- .NET SDK version
- Operating system
- Error messages/logs

🔒 Privacy & Telemetry

This extension collects anonymous usage telemetry to improve user experience.

What We Collect

✅ Template usage patterns (anonymized)
✅ Success/failure rates
✅ Error types (no personal data)
✅ Feature usage statistics

What We DON'T Collect

❌ File paths or project names
❌ Source code
❌ Personal information
❌ Credentials or tokens

Privacy Features

🔒 Respects VS Code's built-in telemetry settings
🔒 No external services (console logging only)
🔒 Custom templates anonymized
🔒 Fully transparent (see TELEMETRY.md)

Disable Telemetry

To disable:

Open VS Code Settings (Cmd/Ctrl + ,)
Search for "telemetry"
Set telemetry.telemetryLevel to off

No additional configuration needed - the extension automatically respects your choice.

📖 Full documentation: TELEMETRY.md

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here's how you can help:

Ways to Contribute

🐛 Report bugs
💡 Suggest features
📝 Improve documentation
🔧 Submit pull requests

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bdonaldharris/dotnet-project-creator.git
cd dotnet-project-creator

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile TypeScript
npm run compile

# Watch mode for development
npm run watch

# Run tests
npm test

Pull Request Guidelines

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This extension is licensed under the MIT License.

📝 Release Notes

v1.5.0 (Latest)

🔧 .NET 10.0 support

v1.4.0

🗂️ Simplified solution layout when "Create solution" is selected:
- //.sln at the solution root
- ///.csproj nested under a same-named folder
- Removed the previous extra 'src' nesting level