C# and .NET Project .gitattributes

C# / .NET .gitattributes

.NET projects have specific requirements around line endings because Visual Studio and MSBuild tools on Windows expect CRLF endings for certain file types, while the .NET Core / .NET 5+ cross-platform tooling works better with LF.

Recommended Configuration

# Auto detect
* text=auto

# C# source
*.cs     text diff=csharp
*.cshtml text diff=html
*.razor  text diff=html
*.csx    text diff=csharp

# Visual Studio (require CRLF)
*.sln        text eol=crlf
*.csproj     text
*.vbproj     text
*.fsproj     text
*.dbproj     text
*.props      text
*.targets    text
*.ruleset    text
*.vsixmanifest text
*.vsct       text

# XML config
*.config     text
*.xml        text
*.xaml       text
*.resx       text
*.nuspec     text

# Script files
*.ps1   text eol=crlf
*.psm1  text eol=crlf
*.psd1  text eol=crlf
*.bat   text eol=crlf
*.cmd   text eol=crlf
*.sh    text eol=lf

# Data
*.json  text
*.csv   text
*.sql   text diff=sql

# NuGet
*.nupkg binary

# Compiled
*.dll   binary
*.exe   binary
*.pdb   binary
*.cache binary

# Designer files (suppress diff)
*.Designer.cs text -diff
*.designer.cs text -diff

Key Decisions

*.sln text eol=crlf: Visual Studio's solution file parser requires CRLF. This is the most common source of issues in cross-platform .NET teams.

*.Designer.cs text -diff: Designer-generated files (WinForms, EF migrations) change frequently but are auto-generated. Suppressing diffs keeps PRs clean.

*.ps1 text eol=crlf: PowerShell scripts are Windows-centric and expect CRLF endings. This differs from bash scripts which need LF.

No eol=crlf for .csproj: Modern .NET SDK-style project files work fine with either LF or CRLF. Only .sln strictly requires CRLF.

Entity Framework Migrations

EF migrations generate designer files that produce large diffs:

Migrations/*.Designer.cs text -diff
Migrations/*ModelSnapshot.cs text -diff