EF Core Commander
EF Core Commander is a Visual Studio Code extension for discovering Entity Framework Core projects and running common dotnet ef migration and database commands from an Activity Bar panel.
Created and maintained by ManAndrei.ro.
Features
- Discover
.csproj files, EF Core references, DbContext classes, migrations and connection strings.
- Select migration and startup projects,
DbContext, target framework, build configuration and connection source.
- Add and remove migrations.
- Generate idempotent migration SQL scripts with optional transaction control.
- Update or drop a database.
- Display the latest applied migration and pending migrations when available.
- Stream command output and errors in the extension panel.
- Keep workspace-local execution history, restore the last completed execution and remove expired history automatically.
- Redact connection-string secrets from stored history.
- Generate SQL compatible with MariaDB CLI workflows when selected.
The extension invokes the .NET Entity Framework Core CLI installed in your environment. It does not replace dotnet ef and it does not contain a database server.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Code 1.90 or newer
- .NET SDK with
dotnet ef available on the PATH
Configuration
The only VS Code setting is:
ef-core-commander.dotnetPath - path to the dotnet executable, defaulting to dotnet.
Example settings.json:
{
"ef-core-commander.dotnetPath": "dotnet"
}
Build configuration, --no-build, command selections and history retention are managed in the EF Core Commander panel and saved inside the workspace.
History and Data Retention
History is stored in the open workspace, not in a global user folder:
<workspace>/.vscode/ef-core-commander/history
Examples:
- Windows:
C:\Users\alex\source\my-api\.vscode\ef-core-commander\history
- macOS:
/Users/alex/source/my-api/.vscode/ef-core-commander/history
- Linux:
/home/alex/source/my-api/.vscode/ef-core-commander/history
History retention settings are saved in:
<workspace>/.vscode/ef-core-commander/config.json
Default behavior:
- automatic cleanup is enabled;
- history is kept for 7 days;
- cleanup runs once when the extension initializes for the workspace;
- expired history session files are deleted from disk, not only hidden from the panel.
Use the History panel to change Automatic cleanup, change Retention (days), delete one entry or use Clear history to remove all workspace history.
Example config.json for 30-day retention:
{
"historyAutoCleanupEnabled": true,
"historyRetentionDays": "30"
}
Example config.json with automatic cleanup disabled:
{
"historyAutoCleanupEnabled": false,
"historyRetentionDays": "30"
}
The extension also stores form state in .vscode/ef-core-commander/form-state.json and the workspace scan cache in .vscode/ef-core-commander/workspace-model.json. Workspace-owned paths are stored relative when possible so local state remains portable if the workspace folder moves. Connection-string secrets are redacted from stored history, and custom connection-string values are not persisted.
Links
License
Released under the MIT License.
