MSBuild Weekly Report — 2026-03-10

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MSBuild Weekly Activity Report

Period: February 24 - March 10, 2026 (14 days)
Repository: dotnet/msbuild

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Section 1: New Unassigned Issues (6 issues)

#	Title	Category	Age (days)	Labels	Author
#13347	Introduce agentic workflows to automate mundane tasks in dotnet/msbuild	Feature Request	1	Area: Tasks	ViktorHofer
#13334	Node reuse is non-functional on macOS — three bugs cause orphaned node accumulation	Bug	3	-	JakeRadMSFT
#13329	AutoGenerateBindingRedirects doesn't propagate from dependencies and ReferenceCopyLocalPaths copies wrong assembly versions	Bug	6	-	etomm
#13328	MSBuild Property $(CurrentTopLevelTargetFramework) to capture top-level consuming project's TargetFramework	Feature Request	6	-	jzabroski
#13323	TransactionalModePreservesAllData test is flaky	Bug	7	flaky-test	rainersigwald
#13307	Get Microsoft.NET.Build.Extensions from a package for bootstrap assembly	Bug	11	Area: Our Own Build	rainersigwald

Analysis

Feature Request Issues:

• #13347: Proposes introducing AI-powered agentic workflows to automate routine tasks in the MSBuild repository. This appears to be related to repository automation and workflow improvements.
• #13328: Requests a new MSBuild property $(CurrentTopLevelTargetFramework) to capture the top-level consuming project's target framework. This is driven by WCF packaging issues where packages need to detect if they're being consumed by supported runtimes.

Bug Issues:

• #13334: Critical macOS-specific bug where node reuse is completely non-functional. Three interacting bugs cause orphaned MSBuild worker nodes to accumulate indefinitely: 50ms handshake timeout too short, SessionId mismatch prevents cross-terminal reuse, and failed probes keep nodes alive past idle timeout. Comprehensive analysis with suggested fixes provided.
• #13329: Long-standing .NET Framework issue where binding redirects from class library dependencies don't propagate to executable projects, and wrong assembly versions are copied to output directories. User has implemented a pure MSBuild workaround and requests it be incorporated into built-in targets.
• #13323: Flaky test failure in WriteLinesToFile_Tests.TransactionalModePreservesAllData - file already exists error during concurrent test execution.
• #13307: Build infrastructure issue where Microsoft.NET.Build.Extensions is pulled from the MSBuild environment instead of a package, causing .NET Framework output to fail when building the repo with .NET SDK.

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Section 2: Older Issues with Recent Activity (5 issues)

#	Title	Category	Age (days)	Recent Activity Summary
#12833	PublishProfileFullPath doesn't support relative paths	Bug	106	Latest comment (Mar 10): Nirmal4G questioned whether the property name "PublishProfileFullPath" implies it expects a full path by design. Earlier discussion (Nov 25-28) explored workarounds using _PublishProfileRootFolder undocumented property, with baronfel suggesting DamianEdwards' planned launch profile extensibility work might provide a solution pattern.
#13221	The Runtime="NET" crashing	Bug	31	Latest comment (Feb 9): YuliiaKovalova suspects the crash is due to stale MSBuild version 18.1.1-preview. Issue occurs in WASM targets with SDK-style projects using Runtime="NET" feature. Waiting for image update to see if issue persists.
#11834	Migrate Tasks in the MSBuild repo to the new Task type	Other	302	Latest comment (Mar 6, via checklist update): Ongoing epic to migrate all tasks to new task type with multithreading support. AR-May working on FindUnderPath, AssignTargetPath, WriteCodeFragment, XamlDataDrivenToolTask, XmlPeek, XmlPoke. Major tasks remaining: ResolveAssemblyReference, MSBuild (public), GenerateBindingRedirects, and many tooling-related tasks.
#12944	error MSB4166: Child node "3" exited prematurely	Regression	85	Latest comments (Mar 5): sec reported issue reproduces on FreeBSD 15 when building from VMR. Simpler repro: building MSBuild itself triggers "Child node exited prematurely" errors intermittently. Original report was after upgrading from .NET 9 to .NET 10 while building EF bundle. MichalPavlik assigned to GangWang01 for investigation.
#11784	Confusing and inconsistent behavior around AfterTargets="Build" in referenced projects	Bug	312	Latest comment (Mar 2): AR-May clarified that previously linked PR was unrelated (typo in issue number) and this issue is still active. Bug causes AfterTargets targets in dependency projects to sometimes not complete before depending projects continue, but only in parallel builds when dependency is on scheduler node. Root cause of dotnet/sdk#48785.

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Section 3: Active Pull Requests (Top 15 by Recent Activity)

#	Title	State	Author	Updated	Action Needed
#13290	Localized file check-in by OneLocBuild Task	🟢 Open	dotnet-bot	Mar 10	Team (review/merge)
#13058	Fix ASP.NET WebSite projects to copy netstandard.dll facade when required	🟢 Open	JanProvaznik	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13351	Fix ToolTask hang when grandchild processes inherit pipe handles	🟢 Open	YuliiaKovalova	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13345	Fix RequestCores/ReleaseCores fallback in OOP TaskHost	✅ Closed	JanProvaznik	Mar 10	None (merged)
#13350	Stage 3: Forward BuildProjectFile* callbacks from OOP TaskHost to worker node	🟢 Open	JanProvaznik	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13357	Reduce node handshake read timeout from 60s to 5s	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13356	Reduce default node idle timeout from 15 minutes to 30 seconds	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13354	Fix Unix SessionId in handshake to enable cross-terminal node reuse	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13337	Hash-based pipe naming for fast node discovery on Unix	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13352	Build Coordinator: system-wide MSBuild node management	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13338	Build coordinator for system-wide MSBuild node management	✅ Closed	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	None (closed)
#13358	Fixed indentation for _GetCopyToOutputDirectoryItemsFromTransitiveProjectReferences	🟢 Open	CEbbinghaus	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13336	Fix Unix/macOS node reuse bugs + reduce idle timeout	✅ Closed	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	None (closed)
#13355	Fix node reuse probe timeout: 0ms poll -> 1s wait	🟢 Open	JakeRadMSFT	Mar 10	Team (review)
#13353	[main] Source code updates from dotnet/dotnet	🟢 Open	dotnet-maestro[bot]	Mar 10	Team (review/merge)

Key PR Themes:

Node Reuse & Performance (JakeRadMSFT - 7 PRs):
A major initiative to fix macOS/Unix node reuse issues identified in #13334. Multiple PRs address different aspects: handshake timeouts (#13357, #13355), idle timeout reduction (#13356), cross-terminal reuse (#13354), pipe naming optimization (#13337), and system-wide coordination (#13352). One consolidated PR (#13336) was closed, likely superseded by individual focused PRs.

OOP TaskHost Improvements (JanProvaznik - 3 PRs):
Ongoing work on out-of-process task hosting: fixing ToolTask hangs (#13351), RequestCores/ReleaseCores fallback (#13345 - merged), and forwarding BuildProjectFile callbacks (#13350).

Maintenance:

• Localization updates (#13290)
• ASP.NET WebSite project fixes (#13058)
• Code formatting (#13358)
• Dependency updates (#13353)

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Bugs and Regressions Requiring Investigation

The following issues are categorized as bugs or regressions and should be investigated further:

Critical Priority:

1. #13334 - Node reuse non-functional on macOS (3 days old)

   • Impact: Hundreds of orphaned MSBuild processes accumulate, consuming memory
   • Status: Multiple fix PRs in review (#13354, #13355, #13356, #13357, #13337)

2. #12944 - Child node "3" exited prematurely (85 days old)

   • Impact: Regression after .NET 9 → 10 upgrade, build failures
   • Status: Reproduces on FreeBSD 15, happens when building MSBuild itself
   • Assignee: GangWang01 investigating

High Priority:

3. #13329 - AutoGenerateBindingRedirects doesn't propagate from dependencies (6 days old)

   • Impact: Runtime failures in .NET Framework projects despite correct binding redirects
   • Status: Community workaround available, requesting incorporation into MSBuild

4. #11784 - AfterTargets="Build" inconsistent behavior in parallel builds (312 days old)

   • Impact: Race conditions in multi-project builds, root cause of Deb and RPM generation sometimes happens before sdk layout dotnet/sdk#48785
   • Status: Active, no PR yet

5. #13221 - Runtime="NET" crashing with MSBuild 18.1.1-preview (31 days old)

   • Impact: Crashes in WASM targets with SDK-style projects
   • Status: Suspected stale version, waiting for image update

Medium Priority:

6. #12833 - PublishProfileFullPath doesn't support relative paths (106 days old)

   • Impact: Forces duplication of publish profiles across projects
   • Status: Workarounds discussed, no official solution

7. #13323 - Flaky test: TransactionalModePreservesAllData (7 days old)

   • Impact: Test reliability, CI/CD stability
   • Status: New, needs investigation

8. #13307 - Microsoft.NET.Build.Extensions bootstrap assembly issue (11 days old)

   • Impact: .NET Framework output broken when building repo with .NET SDK
   • Status: New, no PR yet

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Summary Statistics

• New Issues: 6 (3 bugs, 2 feature requests, 1 test issue)
• Active Older Issues: 5 (4 bugs, 1 epic)
• Active PRs: 27+ (15 highlighted above)
• Merged PRs: 1 (#13345)
• Major Initiative: macOS/Unix node reuse fixes (7 related PRs)
• Critical Bugs: 2 (#13334, #12944)
• Long-standing Issues: 2 over 300 days old (#11784, #11834)

Key Contributors This Period:

• JakeRadMSFT (7 PRs - node reuse initiative)
• JanProvaznik (3 PRs - OOP TaskHost)
• YuliiaKovalova (2 PRs - ToolTask, telemetry)
• AR-May (task migration work)
• rainersigwald (2 new issues, 1 PR)

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🧪 Investigation Results

Investigation results will be added here as they complete.

AI generated by MSBuild Weekly Activity Report

• expires on Mar 17, 2026, 11:40 AM UTC

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This discussion was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-03-17T11:40:08.324Z.

Closed by Workflow