Empty Nuget package for just dependencies

Question

I have a project I'd like to put all my dependencies into one nuget package. The idea is that when I need to I can just pull in that one nuget package instead of 10 that I require. Is this possible to do?

When I created a library I removed the class file and just pulled in the dependencies but could not get a package to create.

Answer 1

You can do this by setting the IncludeBuildOutput property to false while creating the package.

For example [using VS 2017] -

1. File > New Project > .NET Core class library
2. Right click on project and edit csproj to have the following content -

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net46</TargetFramework>
    <PackageId>MetaPackage</PackageId>
    <GeneratePackageOnBuild>true</GeneratePackageOnBuild>
    <IncludeBuildOutput>false</IncludeBuildOutput>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="11.0.2" />
    <PackageReference Include="NuGet.Versioning" Version="4.7.0-rtm.5104" />
    <PackageReference Include="NUnit" Version="3.10.1" />
  </ItemGroup>

</Project>

3. Right click and build project
4. Look at the package at <project_dir>\bin\Debug\MetaPackage.1.0.0.nupkg

This will create a package that has no \lib and the nuspec file should have package reference dependencies.

You can read more about IncludeBuildOutput here.