Getting Started

This guide explains how to clone, build, test, run, and locally document the .NET Core Application Template.

Prerequisites

Install the following tools before working with the repository:

• .NET SDK 10.0 or later
• Git
• Visual Studio 2026 or another .NET-capable editor
• Optional: EF Core CLI tools for database migration work
• Optional: DocFX local tool restored through dotnet tool restore

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/cdcavell/NetCoreApplicationTemplate.git
cd NetCoreApplicationTemplate

Restore Dependencies

dotnet restore

Build the Solution

dotnet build

For the same configuration used by CI:

dotnet build --configuration Release

Run Tests

dotnet test

Run the Web Application

dotnet run --project src/ProjectTemplate.Web

The application uses the configuration from src/ProjectTemplate.Web/appsettings.json and environment-specific configuration when present.

Local Database

The default local database provider is SQLite. The default connection string is:

"ConnectionStrings": {
  "ApplicationDatabase": "Data Source=application-dev.db"
}

Database migrations are handled explicitly through EF Core CLI commands. The application does not automatically run migrations at startup.

Build Documentation Locally

Restore local tools:

dotnet tool restore

Build the DocFX site:

dotnet tool run docfx -- docs/docfx.json

Serve the generated site locally:

dotnet tool run docfx -- serve docs/_site

The local documentation site is usually available at:

http://localhost:8080

Development Notes

Do not commit real secrets, provider credentials, tokens, certificates, private keys, or production connection strings.

Use user secrets, environment variables, deployment secrets, or a secure secret store for sensitive configuration.