EF Core Migrations for VS Code

EF Core Migrations is a Visual Studio Code extension that helps you create Entity Framework Core migrations with a guided wizard instead of manually typing long dotnet ef commands.

If you work with ASP.NET Core, .NET, Entity Framework Core, and multi-project solutions, this extension streamlines the most common migration workflow directly inside VS Code.

Why This Extension?

Creating EF Core migrations often requires remembering and typing command arguments such as:

• --project
• --startup-project
• --output-dir
• --context

This extension provides a wizard-based migration flow using VS Code QuickPick and InputBox steps so you can create migrations faster and with fewer mistakes.

Features

Add Migration Wizard (efcore.addMigrationWizard)

Guided flow for dotnet ef migrations add:

1. Select Startup Project (--startup-project)
2. Select Target Project (--project)
3. Enter Migrations Output Directory (--output-dir)
4. Enter Migration Name
5. Select DbContext (--context)

Additional behavior:

• Scans the current VS Code workspace for .csproj files
• Supports multi-root workspaces
• Automatically runs dotnet ef dbcontext list to detect available DbContext types
• Falls back to manual DbContext entry if automatic detection fails
• Streams command output to an EF Core Migrations output channel
• Shows success/error notifications in VS Code

Requirements

Before using the extension, make sure you have:

• .NET SDK installed (dotnet available in PATH)
• Entity Framework Core CLI tools (dotnet-ef) installed and working
• A workspace containing one or more .csproj projects configured for EF Core

Verify your environment

dotnet --version
dotnet ef --help

How to Use

1. Open your solution/workspace in VS Code
2. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
3. Run: EF Core Migrations: Add Migration Wizard
4. Complete the wizard steps
5. Review logs in the EF Core Migrations output channel if needed

What Command Gets Executed?

The wizard ultimately runs the EF Core CLI command equivalent to:

dotnet ef migrations add <MigrationName> \
  --project <TargetProject.csproj> \
  --startup-project <StartupProject.csproj> \
  --output-dir <Relative/Migrations/Folder> \
  --context <YourDbContext>

Typical Use Cases

• Add EF Core migrations in clean architecture solutions
• Work with separate API, Infrastructure, and Persistence projects
• Reduce command-line mistakes in multi-project .NET repositories
• Speed up onboarding for developers new to EF Core CLI

Troubleshooting

dotnet not found

Install the .NET SDK and ensure dotnet is available in your system PATH.

DbContext list fails

The extension will let you enter the DbContext name manually. You can also test directly:

dotnet ef dbcontext list --project <TargetProject.csproj> --startup-project <StartupProject.csproj>

No .csproj files found

Make sure you opened the correct folder/workspace in VS Code and that your projects are inside the workspace root(s).