dotnet-harness-manifest

Skill manifest management for dotnet-harness toolkit. Tracks dependencies between skills, version compatibility, and conflicts.

When to Use

Load this skill when:

• Resolving skill dependencies before invocation
• Validating skill compatibility
• Building the skill manifest
• Detecting version conflicts
• Analyzing skill dependency graphs

Key Concepts

Manifest Structure

Each skill declares dependencies and conflicts in frontmatter:

depends_on:
  - dotnet-version-detection
  - dotnet-project-analysis
conflicts_with:
  - legacy-ef-core-patterns
version: '2.1.0'

Dependency Types

1. Required (depends_on): Must be loaded before this skill
2. Optional (optional): Loaded if available, skipped if missing
3. Conflicts (conflicts_with): Cannot be used with these skills

Version Semantics

• Follows semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH)
• Breaking changes bump MAJOR
• New features bump MINOR
• Bug fixes bump PATCH
• Version ranges supported: ^1.0.0, ~1.2.0, >=1.0.0 <2.0.0

Workflow

1. Build manifest -- Run [dotnet-harness:build-manifest] to generate .rulesync/manifest/skill-manifest.json
2. Validate dependencies -- Check all skills have valid dependency declarations
3. Resolve conflicts -- Identify and report skill conflicts
4. Generate graph -- Create dependency visualization for complex scenarios

Commands

Build Manifest

/dotnet-harness:build-manifest

Generates skill-manifest.json from all skill frontmatter.

Validate Dependencies

/dotnet-harness:validate-dependencies <skill-name>

Checks if a skill's dependencies are satisfiable.

Check Conflicts

/dotnet-harness:check-conflicts

Identifies skill conflicts across the toolkit.

Dependency Graph

/dotnet-harness:graph --format mermaid

Generates dependency visualization.

Manifest Schema

Location: .rulesync/manifest/schema.json

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "version": { "type": "string" },
    "generated_at": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time" },
    "skills": {
      "type": "object",
      "patternProperties": {
        "^[a-z-]+$": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "name": { "type": "string" },
            "version": { "type": "string" },
            "description": { "type": "string" },
            "tags": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
            "depends_on": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
            "optional": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
            "conflicts_with": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } },
            "file_path": { "type": "string" },
            "line_count": { "type": "integer" }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Dependency Resolution Algorithm

1. Load target skill
2. Collect dependencies (recursive, breadth-first)
3. Detect cycles (fail fast on circular deps)
4. Check conflicts (fail if conflict found)
5. Topological sort (dependency order)
6. Validate versions (ensure compatibility)

Example Usage

Basic Dependency Check

# Check if dotnet-efcore-patterns can be loaded
dotnet-harness:validate-dependencies dotnet-efcore-patterns

# Output:
# ✓ dotnet-version-detection (found)
# ✓ dotnet-project-analysis (found)
# ✓ All dependencies satisfied

Conflict Detection

# Check for conflicts
dotnet-harness:check-conflicts

# Output:
# ⚠ Conflict detected:
#   dotnet-efcore-patterns conflicts with: legacy-ef-core-patterns
#   Both cannot be loaded simultaneously

Build Full Manifest

# Generate complete manifest
dotnet-harness:build-manifest

# Creates: .rulesync/manifest/skill-manifest.json
# Size: ~50KB for 131 skills

Best Practices

• Declare minimal dependencies: Only require what's essential
• Use optional for enhancements: Features that improve but aren't required
• Document conflicts: Explain why skills conflict in description
• Version skills: Always include version for tracking
• Test manifest builds: Run validation before committing

Integration with Advisor

The [skill:dotnet-advisor] uses the manifest to:

• Route to appropriate skills based on dependencies
• Warn about version mismatches
• Suggest compatible alternatives
• Build dependency chains for complex scenarios

References

• [skill:dotnet-advisor] -- skill routing and delegation
• [skill:dotnet-project-analysis] -- project context detection
• [skill:dotnet-version-detection] -- TFM and SDK detection
• .rulesync/manifest/schema.json -- manifest JSON schema

Code Navigation (Serena MCP)

Primary approach: Use Serena symbol operations for efficient code navigation:

1. Find definitions: serena_find_symbol instead of text search
2. Understand structure: serena_get_symbols_overview for file organization
3. Track references: serena_find_referencing_symbols for impact analysis
4. Precise edits: serena_replace_symbol_body for clean modifications

When to use Serena vs traditional tools:

• Use Serena: Navigation, refactoring, dependency analysis, precise edits
• Use Read/Grep: Reading full files, pattern matching, simple text operations
• Fallback: If Serena unavailable, traditional tools work fine

Example workflow:

# Instead of:
Read: src/Services/OrderService.cs
Grep: "public void ProcessOrder"

# Use:
serena_find_symbol: "OrderService/ProcessOrder"
serena_get_symbols_overview: "src/Services/OrderService.cs"