Central Package Management in .NET 📊

Problem

If you have a solution that contains many libraries, then at some point in time there will be a problem with mismatched versions of NuGet libraries.
Something like:

Solution.sln
src/
-- Project1.csproj
-- Project2.csproj
-- ProjectN.csproj

Solution

Use Central Package Management

1. Place Directory.Packages.props file in the root of your solution

    Directory.packages.props
    Solution.sln
    src/
    -- Project1.csproj
    -- Project2.csproj
    -- ProjectN.csproj
   

2. With content

    <Project>
        <PropertyGroup>
            <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
        </PropertyGroup>
        <ItemGroup>
            <PackageVersion Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.1" />
            ...rest of your packages
        </ItemGroup>
    </Project>
   

3. In related .csproj leave only PackageReference without version specified like

    <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
        <PropertyGroup>
            <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
        </PropertyGroup>
        <ItemGroup>
            <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" />
        </ItemGroup>
    </Project>
   

4. Now you have a central place to manage your NuGet versions (also this is supported via Rider/Visual Studio)

Tips & Tricks

• To migrate packages in existing solutions you can use https://github.com/Vannevelj/directory-packages-props-converter or official dotnet upgrade assistant tool https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/upgrade-assistant