Template plus source package: my .NET console stack in 2026
Back in 2021 I wrote about my preferred .NET console stack, an opinionated alternative to dotnet new console built around Spectre.Console, dependency injection, and structured logging. That recipe worked well, and I've since used it as the foundation for several tools, including ARI, Blobify, DPI, BRI, and AZDOI. The original approach shipped everything as a .NET template, which was great for getting started, but over time I ran into a familiar problem: templates are excellent for scaffolding, yet not so great for keeping shared bootstrap code in sync across many applications.
A quarter of a billion NuGet downloads
The total downloads of my packages on NuGet.org have crossed a quarter of a billion. It is a vanity number, but it got me thinking less about the count and more about the platform that made it possible. So here is a short look back at NuGet, the positive bits, and what it has enabled for open source and the community.
Mend Renovate Now Supports C# File-Based Apps and Cake.Sdk
Mend Renovate automates dependency updates by opening pull requests when newer versions of your dependencies are available. Until recently, if you used .NET single-file scripts or Cake.Sdk build scripts written in C# (e.g. cake.cs or build.cs), Renovate did not look inside those files. Two merged changes fix that: the NuGet manager now understands #:sdk and #:package directives in C# files, and the Cake manager can extract and update packages from InstallTool and InstallTools calls. In this post I'll summarize what was added and how to enable it in your repo.
