Create Multi-Version .NET Setup Copilot Workflow

[dburriss]

Create Multi-Version .NET Setup Copilot Workflow

Objective

Create a GitHub Actions workflow file that sets up a multi-version .NET environment for GitHub Copilot to work with .NET 6, 8, and 10 projects using best practices for security, performance, and maintainability.

Role

You are a DevOps engineer specializing in GitHub Actions and .NET CI/CD pipelines. Your task is to create a workflow that properly configures multiple .NET SDK versions following documented best practices.

Context

The workflow needs to be named copilot-setup-steps.yml and placed in .github/workflows/. It will automatically run when changed to validate the setup, and can be manually triggered through the Actions tab. The job must be named copilot-setup-steps to be recognized by Copilot. Docs: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/use-copilot-agents/coding-agent/customize-the-agent-environment

Requirements

• Create a GitHub Actions workflow that sets up .NET 6.0, 8.0, and 10.0 SDKs in a single step using multi-version syntax
• Use specific version numbers for reproducibility (not wildcards)
• Include NuGet package caching with lock files for performance
• Add .NET environment variables setup
• Install dotnet-format tool for code formatting
• Use minimum required permissions for security
• Add proper validation and build steps
• Enable package lock files for deterministic restores

Instructions

• If ./gitub/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml already exists, do not continue.
  Create a workflow file with the following structure:
• Name: "Copilot Setup Steps for Multi-Version .NET"
• Triggers: workflow_dispatch, push, and pull_request on the workflow file path
• Job name: copilot-setup-steps
• Runner: ubuntu-latest
• Permissions: contents: read (minimum required)
• Steps: checkout with full history, setup .NET SDKs (multi-version with caching), restore dependencies with --locked-mode, install dotnet-format, set environment variables, build validation

Project File Updates Required

For the caching to work correctly, each .NET project file (.csproj or .fsproj) must include:

<PropertyGroup>
    <RestorePackagesWithLockFile>true</RestorePackagesWithLockFile>
</PropertyGroup>

And commit the generated packages.lock.json files to source control.

Expected Output

The workflow should create a .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml file that:

1. Sets up all three .NET SDK versions in a single step using proper multi-version syntax
2. Uses specific version numbers (e.g., 6.0.428, 8.0.416, 10.0.101)
3. Includes NuGet package caching with lock files and cache-dependency-path for performance optimization
4. Installs dotnet-format tool globally
5. Sets up .NET environment variables (DOTNET_ROOT, DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUT)
6. Includes build validation to ensure setup works correctly
7. Uses proper GitHub Actions syntax with comments explaining each section
8. Follows security best practices with minimal permissions
9. Uses --locked-mode for dotnet restore to ensure exact package versions

Acceptance Criteria

• If an existing ./gitub/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml exists, it is left untouched and no other files are changed
• Workflow file is properly formatted YAML
• All three .NET versions are configured in a single setup step using multi-version syntax
• Specific version numbers are used (not wildcards)
• NuGet caching is implemented with cache: true and cache-dependency-path: "**/packages.lock.json"
• dotnet-format tool installation step is included
• Environment variables for .NET are configured
• Build validation step is included to verify setup
• Job is named copilot-setup-steps
• Workflow triggers on appropriate events
• Permissions are set to minimum required (contents: read)
• Comments explain each section and security considerations
• Follows best practices for reproducibility and performance
• Uses --locked-mode for dotnet restore to ensure deterministic package versions