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A new preview version of Cake.Sdk has been released! Version 5.0.25253.70-beta brings compatibility with .NET 10 RC1 and introduces powerful new features for modular build script organization. 🚀 🍰

What's new in this release

• Compiled with/against .NET 10 RC1 - Full compatibility with the latest .NET 10 release candidate
• Multiple Main Entry Points - Support for multiple Main_* methods for better script organization
• Script Host IoC Integration - Enhanced dependency injection with script host action execution
• Performance Optimizations - Significant improvements in build time and memory usage
• New minimal template - Easily scaffold new Cake projects with the streamlined minimal template

.NET 10 RC1 Compatibility

This release is fully compiled against .NET 10 RC1, ensuring compatibility with the latest .NET 10 features and improvements. The SDK now takes full advantage of the latest framework capabilities while maintaining backward compatibility with .NET 8 and 9.

Multiple Main Entry Points

One of the most exciting new features is support for multiple main entry points through Main_* methods. This allows you to organize your build scripts into logical modules while maintaining a single entry point.

#:sdk Cake.Sdk@5.0.25253.70-beta

Task("Default")
    .IsDependentOn("Three");

RunTarget("Default");


// Additional main methods for different scenarios will be automatically invoked
static partial void Main_One()
{
    Task("One")
        .Does(() => Information("Building component one"));
}

static partial void Main_Two()
{
    Task("Two")
        .IsDependentOn("One")
        .Does(() => Information("Building component two"));
}

The generator automatically scans for Main_* methods and registers them as available entry points, making it easy to create modular build scripts that can be executed independently or as part of a larger workflow. This feature works in both file-based and project-based approaches, allowing you to organize your build logic across multiple files while maintaining a single entry point. This simplifies migrating from Cake script files that have Tasks registered in multiple files. When placing a partial main method in an external file, it must be inside a partial Program class:

public static partial class Program
{
    static void Main_Three()
    {
        Task("Build-Three")
            .IsDependentOn("Build-Two")
            .Does(() => Information("Building component three"));
    }
}

Script Host IoC Integration

Enhanced dependency injection capabilities now allow for deeper integration between the script host and IoC container. This enables dynamic task creation and more flexible service registration patterns, including the ability to add Cake Tasks via external Cake modules.

#:sdk Cake.Sdk@5.0.25253.70-beta

var target = Argument("target", "Test");

Task("Build")
    .Does(() => {
       // Build
    });

Task("Test")
    .IsDependentOn("Build")
    .Does(() => {
        // Test
    });

RunTarget(target);

// Register services with script host integration
static partial void RegisterServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    // Injects IOC-Task as an dependency of Build task
    services.AddSingleton(new Action<IScriptHost>(
                        host => host.Task("IOC-Task")
                                    .IsDependeeOf("Build")
                                    .Does(() => Information("Hello from IOC-Task"))));
}

This integration provides seamless access to registered services throughout your build script, enabling more sophisticated build automation patterns.

Performance Optimizations

This release includes significant performance improvements that result in:

• Reduction in incremental build times
• Reduction in peak memory usage
• Reduction in CPU usage for large projects
• Better scalability with large numbers of Cake aliases

Getting Started

To try out the latest preview, update your global.json file:

{
  "sdk": {
    "version": "10.0.100-rc.1.25451.107"
  },
  "msbuild-sdks": {
    "Cake.Sdk": "5.0.25253.70-beta"
  }
}

Or install the latest template package:

dotnet new install Cake.Template@5.0.25253.70-beta

Create a new Cake file-based project with sample project to build:

dotnet new cakefile --name cake --IncludeExampleProject true

And run it with:

dotnet cake.cs

Minimal Template

For the simplest possible setup, you can use the new minimal template:

dotnet new cakeminimal --name cake

This creates a minimal cake.cs file with just the essential SDK directive and Information log statement. Perfect for getting started quickly or when you want to build your script from scratch.

Multi-file Organization

For larger projects, you can organize your code across multiple files:

dotnet new cakemultifile --name cake

This creates a structure that supports both single-file and multi-file approaches, i.e., for use with the new Main_* methods providing flexible entry points for different build scenarios. This allows you to organize your build logic across multiple files while maintaining a single entry point.

Requirements

• File-based approach: .NET 10 RC1 or later
• Project-based approach: .NET 8.0 or later
• Compatible with .NET 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0 target frameworks

Example Repository

We've updated our comprehensive example repository at github.com/cake-build/cakesdk-example to demonstrate:

• Multiple main entry points with Main_* methods
• Script host IoC integration patterns
• Performance-optimized build scripts
• Multi-file organization strategies

GitHub Actions Support

The latest unreleased bits of cake-action include support for the new features:

steps:
  - name: Run Cake with multiple main entry points
    uses: cake-build/cake-action@master
    with:
      file-path: path/to/Build.cs
      arguments: --target="Main_One"

Feedback Welcome

This is still a preview release, and we'd love your feedback! You can:

• Try out the new multiple main entry points and IoC features
• Report issues on GitHub
• Join the discussion on our discussion board
• Contribute to the source code

Package References

• Cake.Sdk - The main SDK package
• Cake.Generator - Source generator for Cake aliases
• Cake.Template - Templates for creating Cake projects

We're excited to see what you build with the enhanced Cake.Sdk capabilities! 🍰

A new preview version of Cake.Sdk has been released! Version 5.0.25225.53-beta brings compatibility with .NET 10 Preview 7. 🚀 🍰

We're excited to announce the preview of Cake.Sdk, a new way to get the Cake tool scripting experience in regular .NET console applications! This brings you the stellar experience of the new "dotnet run app.cs" feature (requires .NET 10), while also working seamlessly with .NET 8 and 9 for regular csproj projects. 🚀 🍰

Here's the minimal example:

After weeks of internal testing and development, we're now expanding the beta for public feedback and contribution. While this is still in early stages, we want to gather early feedback from the community and plan to be ready when .NET 10 launches in November.

Version 5.0.0 of Cake has been released. Take it for a spin and give us feedback on our discussion board.

This release includes new features, improvements and bug fixes to both Cake Scripting and Cake Frosting since the Cake v4.2.0 release! 🚀 🍰

Cake now fully supports running on .NET 9, and with this C# 13, which means you can take advantage of the latest framework, runtime, and language improvements.

Cake itself will no longer run on .NET 6 or .NET 7, but Cake will continue to support the building of .NET Framework projects, as well as projects targeting .NET 7.0 or older.

The supported platform matrix for Cake 5.0.0 will look like this:

The FreeBSD operating system should now be recognized as Environment.Platform.Family PlatformFamily.FreeBSD, and new bool IsRunningOnFreeBSD alias and bool IsUnix alias will now be true for FreeBSD.

We've now set the recommended version of Cake.Core for addins to target to 5.0.0.

This won't break the build, but you might see warnings like the one below when addins or modules are loaded.

The recommended target framework monikers for addins are now:

We are thrilled to announce that Cake.Tool has reached an incredible milestone of 100 million downloads on NuGet.org! This accomplishment wouldn't have been possible without the contributions of over 300 individuals and the unwavering support of our users. Join us as we reflect on the journey of Cake, featuring 129 releases and over 300 third-party community add-ins.

This release was made possible thanks to the Cake team and the contribution of these awesome members of the Cake community listed below:

Full details of everything that was included in this release can be seen below.

Version 4.1.0 of Cake has been released. Take it for a spin and give us feedback on our discussion board.

This release includes new features, improvements and bug fixes to both Cake Scripting and Cake Frosting since the Cake v4.0.0 release! 🚀 🍰

This release was made possible thanks to the Cake team and the contribution of these awesome members of the Cake community listed below:

Full details of everything that was included in this release can be seen below.