SlimDep for Visual Studio Code

Detect and remove unused NuGet package references directly inside VS Code — with a tree view panel and inline CodeLens on every .csproj file.

Requirement

The SlimDep CLI must be installed as a .NET global tool:

dotnet tool install --global SlimDep --prerelease

The extension shells out to slimdep — it will not work without the CLI installed.

Features

Unused Packages Tree View

A dedicated "Unused NuGet Packages" panel appears in the Explorer sidebar whenever a .csproj file is detected in your workspace. It lists every unused package grouped by project.

Inline CodeLens on .csproj files

Open any .csproj file and unused packages are highlighted with a CodeLens annotation directly above the <PackageReference> element.

Commands

Run any command via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P).

Usage

1. Open a .NET workspace that contains .csproj files
2. Run dotnet restore in the terminal (required before scanning)
3. Open the Command Palette → SlimDep: Scan for Unused Packages
4. Review unused packages in the "Unused NuGet Packages" panel in the Explorer
5. Click SlimDep: Remove All Unused Packages to auto-remove them
6. Run dotnet restore again after removal

Commands In Detail

SlimDep: Scan for Unused Packages

Command ID: slimdep.scan

Scans all .csproj files found in the current workspace for unused NuGet package references.

How to run:

• Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → type SlimDep: Scan
• Click the Refresh button (↻) in the Unused NuGet Packages panel title bar

What happens:

• A progress indicator appears in the status bar while scanning
• Each .csproj is scanned individually via the slimdep CLI
• Results populate the Unused NuGet Packages tree view in the Explorer
• Unused packages are also annotated inline with ⚠ Unused CodeLens above their <PackageReference> line in the .csproj editor

Example — tree view result after scan:

UNUSED NUGET PACKAGES
└── MyApp.Api.csproj  (2 unused)
    ├── Newtonsoft.Json  13.0.3
    └── Serilog.Sinks.File  5.0.0
└── MyApp.Core.csproj  (1 unused)
    └── CsvHelper  30.0.1

Example — CodeLens in .csproj editor:

⚠ Unused — run slimdep fix to remove
<PackageReference Include="Newtonsoft.Json" Version="13.0.3" />

SlimDep: Remove All Unused Packages

Command ID: slimdep.fix

Removes all unused packages found in the last scan from their respective .csproj files.

How to run:

• Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → type SlimDep: Remove
• Click the trash icon (🗑) in the Unused NuGet Packages panel title bar
• Click the ⚠ Unused — run slimdep fix to remove CodeLens annotation in the .csproj editor

What happens:

1. A confirmation dialog appears showing how many packages will be removed and from how many projects
2. After confirming, the slimdep fix CLI command runs for each affected project
3. The tree view and CodeLens annotations are cleared
4. A notification reminds you to run dotnet restore

Example confirmation dialog:

SlimDep: Remove 3 unused package(s) from 2 project(s)?
                                          [Remove]  [Cancel]

⚠ This writes changes to your .csproj files. Always review the scan results before confirming.

SlimDep: Refresh

Command ID: slimdep.refresh

Re-runs the scan and refreshes the tree view with the latest results. Identical to Scan but accessible directly from the panel title bar.

How to run:

• Click the ↻ icon in the Unused NuGet Packages panel title bar
• Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → type SlimDep: Refresh

Typical Workflow

1. dotnet restore              ← must run before scanning
2. Scan (Ctrl+Shift+P)        ← finds unused packages
3. Review tree view            ← check what would be removed
4. Remove (confirm dialog)    ← writes changes to .csproj files
5. dotnet restore              ← update the lockfile after removal

Settings

Configure in File → Preferences → Settings → search for SlimDep.

How It Works

The extension delegates all analysis to the slimdep CLI tool, which:

• Reads obj/project.assets.json to discover package DLLs
• Uses Roslyn to parse .cs files and extract using directives
• Uses .NET reflection metadata to extract namespaces exported by each package
• Flags any package whose namespaces never appear in a using directive

No build is required — only dotnet restore.

Known Limitations

• Packages used via fully-qualified names (no using directive) will be reported as unused
• Does not analyse XAML, Razor, or other non-C# source files
• Requires obj/project.assets.json — run dotnet restore before scanning

CLI Tool

SlimDep is also available as a standalone CLI tool for terminal and CI pipeline use:

slimdep scan C:\Dev\MySolution
slimdep fix C:\Dev\MySolution --dry-run

Install: dotnet tool install --global SlimDep --prerelease

License

MIT © 2026 Vinay Diddi