AspNetCore.Docs/aspnetcore/mvc/razor-pages/sdk.md

title	author	description	manager	monikerRange	ms.author	ms.date	ms.prod	ms.technology	ms.topic	uid
ASP.NET Core Razor SDK	Rick-Anderson	Learn how Razor Pages in ASP.NET Core makes coding page-focused scenarios easier and more productive than using MVC.	wpickett	>= aspnetcore-2.1	riande	4/12/2018	asp.net-core	aspnet	content	mvc/razor-pages/sdk

ASP.NET Core Razor SDK

By Rick Anderson

[!INCLUDE]

The [!INCLUDE] includes the Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor MSBuild SDK (Razor SDK). The Razor SDK:

• Standardizes the experience around building, packaging, and publishing projects containing Razor files for ASP.NET Core MVC-based projects.
• Includes a set of predefined targets, properties, and items that allow customizing the compilation of Razor files.

Prerequisites

[!INCLUDE]

Using the Razor SDK

Most web apps don't need to expressly reference the Razor SDK.

To use the Razor SDK to build class libraries containing Razor views or Razor Pages:

• Use Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor instead of Microsoft.NET.Sdk:

<Project SDK="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor">
  ...
</Project>

• Typically a package reference to Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc is required to bring in additional dependencies required to build and compile Razor Pages and Razor views. At minimum, your project needs to add package references to:

  • Microsoft.AspNetCore.Razor.Design
  • Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Razor.Extensions

The preceding packages are included in Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc. The following markup shows a basic .csproj file that uses the Razor SDK to build Razor files for an ASP.NET Core Razor Pages app:

[!code-xmlMain]

Properties

The following properties control the Razor's SDK behavior as part of a project build:

• RazorCompileOnBuild : When true, compiles and emits the Razor assembly as part of building the project. Defaults to true.
• RazorCompileOnPublish : When true, compiles and emits the Razor assembly as part of publishing the project. Defaults to true.

The following properties and items are used to configure inputs and output to the Razor SDK:

Items	Description
RazorGenerate	Item elements (.cshtml files) that are inputs to code generation targets.
RazorCompile	Item elements (.cs files) that are inputs to Razor compilation targets. Use this ItemGroup to specify additional files to be compiled in to the Razor assembly.
RazorTargetAssemblyAttribute	Item elements used to code generate attributes for the Razor assembly. For example: <RazorAssemblyAttribute Include="System.Reflection.AssemblyMetadataAttribute" _Parameter1="BuildSource" _Parameter2="https://docs.asp.net/">
RazorEmbeddedResource	Item elements added as embedded resources to the generated Razor assembly

Property	Description
RazorTargetName	File name (without extension) of the assembly produced by Razor.
RazorOutputPath	The Razor output directory.
RazorCompileToolset	Used to determine the toolset used to build the Razor assembly. Valid values are Implicit, , and PrecompilationTool.
EnableDefaultContentItems	When true, includes certain file types, such as .cshtml files, as content in the project. When referenced via Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web, also includes all files under wwwroot, and config files.
EnableDefaultRazorGenerateItems	When true, includes .cshtml files from Content items in RazorGenerate items.
GenerateRazorTargetAssemblyInfo	When true, generates a .cs file containing attributes specified by RazorAssemblyAttribute and includes it in the compile output.
EnableDefaultRazorTargetAssemblyInfoAttributes	When true, adds a default set of assembly attributes to RazorAssemblyAttribute.
CopyRazorGenerateFilesToPublishDirectory	When true, copies RazorGenerate items (.cshtml) files to the publish directory. Typically Razor files are not needed for a published application if they participate in compilation at build-time or publish-time. Defaults to false.
CopyRefAssembliesToPublishDirectory	When true, copy reference assembly items to the publish directory. Typically reference assemblies are not needed for a published application if Razor compilation occurs at build-time or publish-time. Set to true, if your published application requires runtime compilation, for example, modifies cshtml files at runtime, or uses embedded views. Defaults to false.
IncludeRazorContentInPack	When true, all Razor content items (.cshtml files) will be marked for inclusion in the generated NuGet package. Defaults to false.
EmbedRazorGenerateSources	When true, adds RazorGenerate (.cshtml) items as embedded files to the generated Razor assembly. Defaults to false.
UseRazorBuildServer	When true, uses a persistent build server process to offload code generation work. Defaults to the value of UseSharedCompilation.

Targets

The Razor SDK defines two primary targets:

• RazorGenerate - Code generates .cs files from RazorGenerate item elements. Use RazorGenerateDependsOn property to specify additional targets that can run before or after this target.
• RazorCompile - Compiles generated .cs files in to a Razor assembly. Use RazorCompileDependsOn to specify additional targets that can run before or after this target.