Razor views are compiled at runtime when the view is invoked. ASP.NET Core 1.1.0 and higher can optionally compile Razor views and deploy them with the app—a process known as precompilation. The ASP.NET Core 2.x project templates enable precompilation by default.
> Razor view precompilation is currently unavailable when performing a [self-contained deployment (SCD)](/dotnet/core/deploying/#self-contained-deployments-scd) in ASP.NET Core 2.0. The feature will be available for SCDs when 2.1 releases. For more information, see [View compilation fails when cross-compiling for Linux on Windows](https://github.com/aspnet/MvcPrecompilation/issues/102).
If your project targets .NET Framework, include a package reference to [Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.ViewCompilation](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.ViewCompilation/):
The ASP.NET Core 2.x project templates implicitly set `MvcRazorCompileOnPublish` to `true` by default, which means this node can be safely removed from the *.csproj* file. If you prefer to be explicit, there's no harm in setting the `MvcRazorCompileOnPublish` property to `true`. The following *.csproj* sample highlights this setting:
Set `MvcRazorCompileOnPublish` to `true` and include a package reference to `Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.ViewCompilation`. The following *.csproj* sample highlights these settings:
Prepare the app for a [framework-dependent deployment](/dotnet/core/deploying/#framework-dependent-deployments-fdd) with the [.NET Core CLI publish command](/dotnet/core/tools/dotnet-publish). For example, execute the following command at the project root:
A *<project_name>.PrecompiledViews.dll* file, containing the compiled Razor views, is produced when precompilation succeeds. For example, the screenshot below depicts the contents of *Index.cshtml* inside of *WebApplication1.PrecompiledViews.dll*:
