Don't include dependencies from packages.config file when creating NuGet package

In version 2.7 there is an option called developmentDependency that can be set into package.config to avoid including dependency.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
    <package id="jQuery" version="1.5.2" />
    <package id="netfx-Guard" version="1.3.3.2" developmentDependency="true" />
    <package id="microsoft-web-helpers" version="1.15" />
</packages>

Prevent your package from being dependent on other packages

As of NuGet 2.7 there is a new developmentDependency attribute that can be added to a package node in your project's packages.config file. So if your project includes a NuGet package that you don't want your NuGet package to include as a dependency, you can use this attribute like so:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<packages>
  <package id="CreateNewNuGetPackageFromProjectAfterEachBuild" version="1.8.1-Prerelease1" targetFramework="net45" developmentDependency="true" />
</packages>

The important bit that you need to add here is developmentDependency="true".

Prevent your development package from being depended on by other packages

If you are creating a development NuGet package for others to consume, that you know they will not want to have as a dependency in their packages, then you can avoid users having to manually add that attribute to their packages.config file by using the NuGet 2.8 developmentDependency attribute in the metadata section of your .nuspec file. This will automatically add the developmentDependency attribute to the packages.config file when the your package is installed by others. The catch here is that it requires the user to have at least NuGet 2.8 installed. Luckily, we can make use of the NuGet 2.5 minClientVersion attribute to ensure that users have at least v2.8 installed; otherwise they will be notified that they need to update their NuGet client before they can install the package.

I have a development NuGet package that this was perfect for. Here is what my .nuspec file looks like, showing how to use the minClientVersion and developmentDependency attributes (lines 3 and 20 respectively):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<package xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/packaging/2011/08/nuspec.xsd">
  <metadata minClientVersion="2.8">
    <id>CreateNewNuGetPackageFromProjectAfterEachBuild</id>
    <version>1.8.1-Prerelease1</version>
    <title>Create New NuGet Package From Project After Each Build</title>
    <authors>Daniel Schroeder,iQmetrix</authors>
    <owners>Daniel Schroeder,iQmetrix</owners>
    <licenseUrl>https://newnugetpackage.codeplex.com/license</licenseUrl>
    <projectUrl>https://newnugetpackage.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=NuGet%20Package%20To%20Create%20A%20NuGet%20Package%20From%20Your%20Project%20After%20Every%20Build</projectUrl>
    <requireLicenseAcceptance>false</requireLicenseAcceptance>
    <description>Automatically creates a NuGet package from your project each time it builds. The NuGet package is placed in the project's output directory.
    If you want to use a .nuspec file, place it in the same directory as the project's project file (e.g. .csproj, .vbproj, .fsproj).
    This adds a PostBuildScripts folder to your project to house the PowerShell script that is called from the project's Post-Build event to create the NuGet package.
    If it does not seem to be working, check the Output window for any errors that may have occurred.</description>
    <summary>Automatically creates a NuGet package from your project each time it builds.</summary>
    <releaseNotes>- Changed to use new NuGet built-in method of marking this package as a developmentDependency (now requires NuGet client 2.8 or higher to download this package).</releaseNotes>
    <copyright>Daniel Schroeder 2013</copyright>
    <tags>Auto Automatic Automatically Build Pack Create New NuGet Package From Project After Each Build On PowerShell Power Shell .nupkg new nuget package NewNuGetPackage New-NuGetPackage</tags>
    <developmentDependency>true</developmentDependency>
  </metadata>
  <files>
    <file src="..\New-NuGetPackage.ps1" target="content\PostBuildScripts\New-NuGetPackage.ps1" />
    <file src="Content\NuGet.exe" target="content\PostBuildScripts\NuGet.exe" />
    <file src="Content\BuildNewPackage-RanAutomatically.ps1" target="content\PostBuildScripts\BuildNewPackage-RanAutomatically.ps1" />
    <file src="Content\UploadPackage-RunManually.ps1" target="content\PostBuildScripts\UploadPackage-RunManually.ps1" />
    <file src="Content\UploadPackage-RunManually.bat" target="content\PostBuildScripts\UploadPackage-RunManually.bat" />
    <file src="tools\Install.ps1" target="tools\Install.ps1" />
    <file src="tools\Uninstall.ps1" target="tools\Uninstall.ps1" />
  </files>
</package>

If you don't want to force your users to have at least NuGet v2.8 installed before they can use your package, then you can use the solution I came up with and blogged about before the NuGet 2.8 developmentDependency attribute existed.

If you are using the PackageReference element instead of package.config file, here is the solution:

<PackageReference Include="Nerdbank.GitVersioning" Version="1.5.28-rc" PrivateAssets="All" />

or

<PackageReference Include="Nerdbank.GitVersioning" Version="1.5.28-rc">
   <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
</PackageReference>

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