Examine contents of a nuget package

Is there a way to examine the contents of a NuGet package to see what changes it will be making? There is no option for this on the Nuget.exe command line and I do not find any information about this in the NuGet docs.

What does a NuGet package contain?

Put simply, a NuGet package is a single ZIP file with the . nupkg extension that contains compiled code (DLLs), other files related to that code, and a descriptive manifest that includes information like the package's version number.

How do I open a NuGet package in Visual Studio?

Open the project/solution in Visual Studio, and open the console using the Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Package Manager Console command. Find the package you want to install.

Where can I find Nuspec file?

The current nuspec. xsd schema file can be found in the NuGet GitHub repository. All XML element names in the . nuspec file are case-sensitive, as is the case for XML in general.

.nupkg files are just ZIP files with some metadata, so you can have a look at the contents. The NuGet Package Explorer should make it a little easier to view the contents.

The NuGet Gallery (e.g. https://www.nuget.org/) has a "Download" link on the right hand side, otherwise just install the package into an empty project and then take a peek.