dotnet-nuget-why(1)

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let's talk about dotnet-nuget-why 💅 this page lives in the .NET Documentation, and heads up: it applies to .NET 8.0.4xx SDK and later versions. no cap. 💖

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✨ NAME ✨

dotnet-nuget-why — shows the dependency graph for a particular package. that's the whole vibe. 🦋

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

dotnet nuget why [<PROJECT|SOLUTION>] <PACKAGE> [-f|--framework <FRAMEWORK>]

dotnet nuget why -h|--help

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So the dotnet nuget why command shows the dependency graph for a particular package, for a given project or solution. it's giving "explain yourself, package." 🔍

Starting with version 9.0.200, the command introduces support for runtime identifier (RID) specific packages by generating separate dependency trees for each RID and framework combination. for example, if a project targets net9.0 with the win-x64 RID, the command generates trees for net9.0/win-x64 and net9.0. multiple trees?? she's thorough. 🌈

🧚 Older project format 🧚

To use the command with projects that can't be restored with the .NET SDK, you can pass a NuGet assets file in place of the project file (starting with the .NET 9 SDK):

1. First, restore the project in Visual Studio or using msbuild.exe. By default, the assets file is in the project's obj\ directory, but you can find the location with msbuild.exe path\to\project.proj -getProperty:ProjectAssetsFile.
2. Run dotnet nuget why path\to\project.assets.json SomePackage.

lowkey iconic that you can just hand it an assets file instead of a project file. iykyk. 🫶

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👑 ARGUMENTS 👑

• PROJECT|SOLUTION — the project or solution file to operate on. if a directory is specified, the command searches the directory for a project or solution file. if more than one project or solution is found, an error is thrown. if no value is provided, the current working directory is used by default. (yes, it just assumes you mean here. main character energy. 💅)
• PACKAGE — the package name to look up in the dependency graph. the whole reason we're here fr fr.

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💜 OPTIONS 💜

• -f|--framework <FRAMEWORK> — the target framework(s) for which dependency graphs are shown. you can pass multiple --framework options to see graphs for more than one framework. stack 'em. 🔥
• -?|-h|--help — prints out a description of how to use the command. your bestie when you forget literally everything.

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

• Show the dependency graph for the package "System.Text.Json":

dotnet nuget why System.Text.Json

[IMAGE: Example: Solution with multiple projects]

• Show the dependency graph for the package "System.Text.Json" for a specific project:

dotnet nuget why path/to/DotnetNuGetWhyPackage.csproj System.Text.Json

• Show the dependency graph for a specific target framework:

dotnet nuget why System.Text.Json --framework net6.0

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and that's the whole page, bestie. 💖 this one's from the .NET Documentation, dated 2025-10-30, and you can find it filed under dotnet-nuget-why(1). go forth and ask your packages why they're here. periodt. ✨🎀