Cake.Sdk provides the InstallTool method to download and install tool executables available as NuGet packages as part of a build.

Installing tools with InstallTool

Cake.Sdk provides an InstallTool method to download a tool and install it:

The following example downloads the GitVersion.Tool package as part of executing your build script:

#:sdk Cake.Sdk

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

Setup(context =>
{
    InstallTool("dotnet:https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json?package=GitVersion.Tool&version=6.3.0");
    var version = GitVersion();

    Information("Building Version: {0}", version.FullSemVer);
});

Installing from NuGet

You can install tools from NuGet using the nuget: provider:

Setup(context =>
{
    InstallTool("nuget:?package=xunit.runner.console&version=2.4.1");
});

Installing .NET Tools

You can install .NET Tools using the dotnet: provider:

Setup(context =>
{
    InstallTool("dotnet:?package=GitVersion.Tool&version=6.3.0");
});

You can also specify a custom NuGet source:

Setup(context =>
{
    InstallTool("dotnet:https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json?package=GitVersion.Tool&version=6.3.0");
});

Installing tools from other providers

Out of the box NuGet and .NET Tools (since Cake 1.1) is supported as provider for InstallTool. More providers are available through Modules.