dotnet sln

       This article applies to: ✔️ .NET 6 SDK and later versions

NAME

       dotnet-sln  -  Lists  or  modifies the projects in a .NET solution file, or migrates the file to an .slnx
       file.

SYNOPSIS

              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] [command]

              dotnet sln [command] -h|--help

DESCRIPTION

       The dotnet sln command provides a convenient way to list and modify projects in a solution file.

   Create a solution file
       To use the dotnet sln command, the solution file must already exist.  If you need to create one, use  the
       dotnet new command with the sln template name.

       The following example creates an .slnx file in the current folder, with the same name as the folder:

              dotnet new sln

       The following example creates an .slnx file in the current folder, with the specified file name:

              dotnet new sln --name MySolution

       The following example creates an .slnx file in the specified folder, with the same name as the folder:

              dotnet new sln --output MySolution

              In .NET 9 and earlier versions, dotnet new sln creates an .sln file instead of an .slnx file.

ARGUMENTS

       • SOLUTION_FILE

         The solution file to use (either an .sln or .slnx file).

         If  unspecified,  the command searches the current directory for an .sln or .slnx file and, if it finds
         exactly one, uses that file.  If multiple solution files are found, the user is prompted to  specify  a
         file explicitly.  If none are found, the command fails.

OPTIONS

       • -?|-h|--help

         Prints out a description of how to use the command.

   Commands
       The following commands are available:

       • list

       • add

       • remove

       • migrate

   list
       Lists all projects in a solution file.

SYNOPSIS

              dotnet sln list [-h|--help]

ARGUMENTS

       • SOLUTION_FILE

         The solution file (.sln or .slnx file) or solution filter (.slnf file) to use.

         If unspecified, the command searches the current directory for an .sln, .slnx, or .slnf file and, if it
         finds  exactly  one,  uses  that  file.   If  multiple solution files or filters are found, the user is
         prompted to specify a file explicitly.  If none are found, the command fails.

         (Support for .slnf files was added in .NET SDK 9.0.3xx.)

OPTIONS

       • -?|-h|--help

         Prints out a description of how to use the command.

   add
       Adds one or more projects to the solution file.

SYNOPSIS

              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] add [--in-root] [-s|--solution-folder <PATH>] <PROJECT_PATH> [<PROJECT_PATH>...]
              dotnet sln add [-h|--help]

ARGUMENTS

       • SOLUTION_FILE

         The solution file to use (either an .sln or .slnx file).

         If unspecified, the command searches the current directory for an .sln or .slnx file and, if  it  finds
         exactly  one,  uses that file.  If multiple solution files are found, the user is prompted to specify a
         file explicitly.  If none are found, the command fails.

       • PROJECT_PATH

         The path to the project or projects  to  add  to  the  solution.   Unix/Linux  shell  globbing  pattern
         (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming)) expansions are processed correctly by the dotnet sln
         command.

         If  PROJECT_PATH  includes folders that contain the project folder, that portion of the path is used to
         create solution folders.  For example, the following commands create a solution with myapp in  solution
         folder folder1/folder2:

                dotnet new sln
                dotnet new console --output folder1/folder2/myapp
                dotnet sln add folder1/folder2/myapp

         You  can  override  this default behavior by using the --in-root or the -s|--solution-folder <PATH> op‐
         tion.

OPTIONS

       • -?|-h|--help

         Prints out a description of how to use the command.

       • --in-root

         Places the projects in the root of the solution, rather than creating a solution folder.  Can’t be used
         with -s|--solution-folder.

       • -s|--solution-folder <PATH>

         The destination solution folder path to add the projects to.  Can’t be used with --in-root.

   remove
       Removes a project or multiple projects from the solution file.

SYNOPSIS

              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] remove <PROJECT_PATH|PROJECT_NAME> [<PROJECT_PATH|PROJECT_NAME>...]
              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] remove [-h|--help]

ARGUMENTS

       • SOLUTION_FILE

         The solution file to use (either an .sln or .slnx file).

         If unspecified, the command searches the current directory for an .sln or .slnx file and, if  it  finds
         exactly  one,  uses that file.  If multiple solution files are found, the user is prompted to specify a
         file explicitly.  If none are found, the command fails.

       • PROJECT_PATH or PROJECT_NAME

         The path to, or name of, the project or projects to remove from the solution.  Unix/Linux  shell  glob‐
         bing  pattern  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glob_(programming)) expansions are processed correctly by
         the dotnet sln command.

         If a project name is provided instead of a path, the project in the solution that matches the name, re‐
         gardless of its path, is removed.  If more than one matching project is found in the solution, the com‐
         mand errors out.  Omit the project file extension in the name.  (Support for removing projects by  name
         was added in .NET 10.)

OPTIONS

       • -?|-h|--help

         Prints out a description of how to use the command.

   migrate
       Generates an .slnx solution file from an .sln file.

SYNOPSIS

              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] migrate
              dotnet sln [<SOLUTION_FILE>] migrate [-h|--help]

ARGUMENTS

       • SOLUTION_FILE

         The .sln solution file to migrate.

         If  unspecified,  the  command searches the current directory for an .sln file and, if it finds exactly
         one, uses that file.  If multiple .sln files are found, the user is prompted to specify a file  explic‐
         itly.  If none are found, the command fails.

         If  you specify an .slnx file instead of an .sln file, or if an .slnx file with the same file name (mi‐
         nus the .sln extension) already exists in the directory, the command fails.

OPTIONS

       • -?|-h|--help

         Prints out a description of how to use the command.

EXAMPLES

       • List the projects in a solution:

                dotnet sln todo.slnx list

       • Add a C# project to a solution:

                dotnet sln add todo-app/todo-app.csproj

       • Remove a C# project from a solution:

                dotnet sln remove todo-app/todo-app.csproj

       • Add multiple C# projects to the root of a solution:

                dotnet sln todo.slnx add todo-app/todo-app.csproj back-end/back-end.csproj --in-root

       • Add multiple C# projects to a solution:

                dotnet sln todo.slnx add todo-app/todo-app.csproj back-end/back-end.csproj

       • Remove multiple C# projects from a solution:

                dotnet sln todo.slnx remove todo-app/todo-app.csproj back-end/back-end.csproj

       • Add multiple C# projects to a solution using a globbing pattern (Unix/Linux only):

                dotnet sln todo.slnx add **/*.csproj

       • Add multiple C# projects to a solution using a globbing pattern (Windows PowerShell only):

                dotnet sln todo.slnx add (ls -r **/*.csproj)

       • Remove multiple C# projects from a solution using a globbing pattern (Unix/Linux only):

                dotnet sln todo.slnx remove **/*.csproj

       • Remove multiple C# projects from a solution using a globbing pattern (Windows PowerShell only):

                dotnet sln todo.slnx remove (ls -r **/*.csproj)

       • Generate an .slnx file from a .sln file:

                dotnet sln todo.sln migrate

       • Create a solution, a console app, and two class libraries.  Add the projects to the solution,  and  use
         the --solution-folder option of dotnet sln to organize the class libraries into a solution folder.

                dotnet new sln -n mysolution
                dotnet new console -o myapp
                dotnet new classlib -o mylib1
                dotnet new classlib -o mylib2
                dotnet sln mysolution.slnx add myapp\myapp.csproj
                dotnet sln mysolution.slnx add mylib1\mylib1.csproj --solution-folder mylibs
                dotnet sln mysolution.slnx add mylib2\mylib2.csproj --solution-folder mylibs

         The following screenshot shows the result in Visual Studio 2019 Solution Explorer:

         :::image type=“content” source=“media/dotnet-sln/dotnet-sln-solution-folder.png” alt-text=“Solution Ex‐
         plorer showing class library projects grouped into a solution folder.”:::

SEE ALSO

       • dotnet/sdk GitHub repo (https://github.com/dotnet/sdk) (.NET CLI source)

                                                   2025-10-30                                      dotnet-sln(1)