DotStyle Templates

DotStyle: .NET Code Governance Baseline (Copilot-Ready)

A drop-in .NET template that enforces consistent C# coding standards across your team.

No StyleCop setup. No configuration drift. No endless pull request discussions about formatting.

DotStyle provides a modern Seed → Ground → Enforce approach using native .NET tooling, .editorconfig, CI validation, and GitHub Copilot instructions.

The goal is simple:

Let developers and AI assistants write code that already follows your team's standards.

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Why DotStyle?

Every team eventually faces the same problems:

• Different formatting styles between developers
• Pull requests filled with style comments instead of meaningful reviews
• New developers missing hidden conventions
• AI-generated code that does not match your project standards

DotStyle moves these decisions from human discussions into automated rules.

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What's Included

Installing DotStyle adds the following files to your repository:

├── AGENTS.md                          # Repository instructions for GitHub Copilot
├── .editorconfig                      # C# formatting and style rules
├── Directory.Build.props              # Enables analyzers and style enforcement
├── global.json                        # Locks the .NET SDK version
├── .vscode/
│   └── settings.json                  # VS Code format-on-save configuration
├── .gitignore                         # Standard .NET ignores
└── .github/
    ├── workflows/
    │   └── code-style.yml             # CI style validation
    └── instructions/
        └── csharp.instructions.md     # C# specific Copilot instructions

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How It Works

DotStyle follows three layers:

Layer	File	Purpose
🌱 Seed	AGENTS.md	Provides coding rules to GitHub Copilot before generating code
🌍 Ground	.editorconfig	Defines the actual C# style rules used by IDEs and tooling
🚦 Enforce	GitHub Actions workflow	Prevents invalid style from reaching your main branch

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Installation

Option 1 — Install from NuGet

Install the template package:

dotnet new install Csharp.DotStyle.Templates

Verify installation:

dotnet new list dotnet-governance

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Option 2 — Install from Source

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/<your-account>/DotStyle.git

Install locally:

dotnet new install ./content/dotnet-governance

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Create a DotStyle Baseline

Navigate to your existing .NET repository:

cd YourProject

Run:

dotnet new dotnet-governance

Your project now has the complete DotStyle governance setup.

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Recommended First Run

Before committing, apply the formatting baseline:

dotnet format

Commit this separately:

chore: apply DotStyle formatting baseline

Avoid mixing formatting changes with feature changes because it makes reviews harder.

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Verify Formatting

Check the repository without changing files:

dotnet format --verify-no-changes --verbosity normal

This is the same validation used by CI.

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Git Blame Optimization

Formatting commits can make git blame noisy.

Create:

.git-blame-ignore-revs

Add your formatting commit SHA:

<formatting-commit-sha>

Enable it:

git config blame.ignoreRevsFile .git-blame-ignore-revs

GitHub will automatically respect this file.

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GitHub Copilot Integration

DotStyle includes instructions for AI-assisted development.

Copilot automatically reads:

AGENTS.md
.github/instructions/csharp.instructions.md

Verify it:

Ask Copilot:

What coding conventions should you follow in this repository?

It should reference your DotStyle rules.

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Supported Developer Experience

Feature	Supported
Visual Studio	✅ Uses .editorconfig
JetBrains Rider	✅ Uses .editorconfig
VS Code	✅ Uses .editorconfig + format-on-save
dotnet CLI	✅ Uses dotnet format
GitHub Actions	✅ Automatic validation
GitHub Copilot	✅ Repository-aware instructions

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CI Enforcement

Every pull request runs:

dotnet format --verify-no-changes

If formatting rules are violated, the build fails.

Developers fix issues locally:

dotnet format

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Template Development

Package Information

Property	Value
Package ID	Csharp.DotStyle.Templates
Template Name	dotnet-governance
Identity	Csharp.DotStyle.Templates.DotStyleBaseline
Author	Majdi ZLITNI
License	MIT

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Handling Existing Files

If your repository already contains:

• .editorconfig
• Directory.Build.props
• .github/workflows/code-style.yml

.NET will report conflicts.

Review the differences first.

Only use:

dotnet new dotnet-governance --force

when you intentionally want to overwrite existing files.

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Optional Extensions

DotStyle focuses only on code consistency.

For deeper analysis consider adding:

• CSharpier — zero-config C# formatter
• SonarQube / SonarCloud — security, complexity, and quality analysis

These complement DotStyle but solve different problems.

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The Main Rule

Style discussions belong in configuration files, not pull requests.

Change the rule once in .editorconfig.

Let automation enforce it forever.