EF Core Migration Buddy

EF Core Migration Buddy is a VS Code extension for people who use Entity Framework Core migrations and are tired of retyping the same long dotnet ef commands.

It does not replace EF Core. It wraps the official dotnet ef CLI with workspace-aware presets and focused forms inside VS Code, so the common migration flows become much faster and more predictable.

Why

In many .NET solutions, the DbContext lives in one project and the executable startup host lives somewhere else:

src/Project.Persistence/Project.Persistence.csproj
src/Project.Api/Project.Api.csproj

That usually means migration commands become easy to forget:

dotnet ef migrations add <migration_title> \
  --project src/Project.Persistence/Project.Persistence.csproj \
  --startup-project src/Project.Api/Project.Api.csproj \
  --context ProjectDbContext \
  --output-dir <output_path (ex: Migration/Project)>

EF Core Migration Buddy turns that into:

EF: Add Migration

Now the extension turns those flows into dedicated forms where you pick the DbContext, confirm the Startup project, and run the operation without rebuilding the command by hand.

Features

• Detect .sln and .csproj files in the current workspace.
• Find likely EF Core projects through Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore* package references.
• Detect DbContext classes in C# files.
• Suggest migration presets for split projects such as Api + Persistence.
• Read and create .vscode/efcore.json.
• Open dedicated forms for each supported EF migration flow.
• List all discovered projects in Startup project selectors.
• Load migrations dynamically in flows that need migration selection.
• Run commands through VS Code tasks.
• Generate idempotent migration scripts as .sql files in the workspace root.
• Show friendlier diagnostics for common design-time EF Core failures.

Commands

• EF: Add Migration
• EF: Remove Last Migration
• EF: Update Database
• EF: Script Migration

Current command scope is intentionally focused on the main migration lifecycle.

Solution Explorer Integration

The extension adds an Entity Framework submenu to the C# Dev Kit Solution Explorer, so the main EF flows are available directly from the solution context menu.

Form Pattern

Every active command follows the same UI pattern:

• DbContext selector first
• Startup project as a dropdown listing all discovered projects
• Default values preselected from the inferred preset
• Context summary on the right side
• Direct execution after submitting the form

Add Migration

Use this flow to create a new migration with:

• DbContext
• Migration name
• Output directory
• Startup project

Remove Last Migration

Use this flow to remove the latest migration for a selected context.

Update Database

Use this flow to update the database to a selected migration.

• Target migration is loaded dynamically from dotnet ef migrations list
• The list is filtered to real EF migrations only
• Items are ordered from newest to oldest

Script Migration

Use this flow to generate an idempotent SQL script.

• From migration is loaded dynamically and ordered from oldest to newest
• To migration is loaded dynamically and ordered from newest to oldest
• Startup project is selectable from all discovered projects

Workspace Config

The extension uses .vscode/efcore.json for workspace presets.

Example:

{
  "defaultContext": "ProjectDbContext",
  "migrations": [
    {
      "name": "Project",
      "project": "src/Project.Persistence/Project.Persistence.csproj",
      "startupProject": "src/Project.Api/Project.Api.csproj",
      "context": "ProjectDbContext",
      "outputDir": "Migrations/Project"
    }
  ]
}

If the file does not exist, the extension can scan the workspace and offer to create one from the discovered DbContext candidates.

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90.0 or newer.
• .NET SDK installed and available on your PATH.
• EF Core CLI available through your project or globally:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

To update an existing global install:

dotnet tool update --global dotnet-ef

How To Use

1. Open a .NET workspace in VS Code.
2. Open the Command Palette or use the Entity Framework submenu from the C# Dev Kit Solution Explorer.
3. Run one of the supported commands.
4. Select the DbContext.
5. Review or change the Startup project.
6. Fill the remaining fields for the selected flow.
7. Submit the form.

The extension runs the command in a VS Code task and shows output in the terminal panel.

EF: Script Migration always generates an idempotent SQL script with --idempotent and writes it to the workspace root, using a file name like efcore-project-migration-script.sql.

Diagnostics

EF Core Migration Buddy looks for common failure patterns in dotnet ef output and suggests a more direct next step, including:

• Missing or incorrect --startup-project.
• EF Core failing to create the DbContext at design time.
• Startup host code blocking migrations.
• DbContext dependencies such as IHttpContextAccessor causing design-time failures.
• Missing .Designer.cs migration companion files.

Current Scope

This is an early V1 focused on the most common EF migration flows inside VS Code.

It intentionally does not:

• Reimplement EF Core.
• Parse or edit migration files directly.
• Replace dotnet ef.
• Cover every EF CLI command yet.

Development

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build:

npm run build

Run tests:

npm test

Launch the extension locally:

Press F5 in VS Code

This opens a new Extension Development Host window with EF Core Migration Buddy loaded.

Packaging

Create a VSIX package:

vsce package

Publish to the Visual Studio Marketplace:

vsce publish

License

MIT