MSBuild properties

The Nite package brings MSBuild targets (build/Nite.targets), imported automatically into any project that references it. They keep client files out of the build, and run nite build for Release builds.

What the targets do

When	What
Always	Add node_modules/** and .nite/** to DefaultItemExcludes, so MSBuild never walks them.
Always	Mark the client root, nite.json and nite.lock.json as never copied to the build or publish output.
Always	Remove wwwroot/_nite/** from content, so a Debug build never serves a stale production build.
NiteBuildEnabled is true (Release by default)	Run $(NiteCommand) build --dir "$(MSBuildProjectDirectory)" after project references resolve and before static web assets are collected, then add wwwroot/_nite/** as content so it publishes.
dotnet clean	Delete wwwroot/_nite.

Properties

Property	Default	Meaning
NiteBuildEnabled	true when Configuration is Release, otherwise empty	Whether builds run nite build. Set false to skip it (a separate CI step builds the client, say), or true to build the client in Debug too.
NiteCommand	nite, or "dotnet" "$(NiteCliPath)" when NiteCliPath is set	The command that runs the CLI. Use dotnet tool run nite for a local tool.
NiteCliPath	empty	Path to Nite.Cli.dll, for projects that build against a NiteFx source checkout (nite init --nite-source sets it).
NiteClientRoot	Client	The client folder kept out of the build output. Set it when clientRoot in nite.json is something else.
NiteDotnet	$(DOTNET_HOST_PATH), or dotnet	The dotnet executable used with NiteCliPath.

Set them in the project file:

<PropertyGroup>
  <!-- nite is a local tool in this repository (.config/dotnet-tools.json). -->
  <NiteCommand>dotnet tool run nite</NiteCommand>

  <!-- The client lives in "frontend" (and nite.json says so). -->
  <NiteClientRoot>frontend</NiteClientRoot>
</PropertyGroup>

Or on the command line:

dotnet publish -c Release -p:NiteBuildEnabled=false

Building against a source checkout

Projects created with nite init --nite-source <path> reference the library and the CLI project directly and import the targets from the checkout:

<ItemGroup>
  <ProjectReference Include="..\nite\src\Nite\Nite.csproj" />
  <!-- Built first so Release builds can run `nite build`; not referenced as an assembly. -->
  <ProjectReference Include="..\nite\src\Nite.Cli\Nite.Cli.csproj" ReferenceOutputAssembly="false" Private="false" />
</ItemGroup>

<PropertyGroup>
  <NiteCliPath>$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)..\nite\src\Nite.Cli\bin\$(Configuration)\net10.0\Nite.Cli.dll</NiteCliPath>
</PropertyGroup>

<Import Project="..\nite\build\Nite.targets" />

If NiteCliPath points at a file that does not exist, the build fails with a message saying so.