Cake Build (C# Make)

Overview

Cake (C# Make) is a cross-platform build automation system that uses a C# DSL to define build tasks, dependencies, and orchestration logic. Build scripts are written in .cake files using Cake's scripting dialect or in regular C# console projects using the Cake.Frosting hosting model. Cake provides built-in aliases for common operations (compiling, testing, NuGet packaging, file operations) and supports extensibility through addins and modules.

Cake runs on .NET and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can be bootstrapped with dotnet tool as a local or global tool, ensuring reproducible builds without external dependencies.

Installation

bash

# Install as a local tool (recommended)
dotnet new tool-manifest
dotnet tool install Cake.Tool

# Run the build script
dotnet cake build.cake

# Or with Cake.Frosting (console app model)
dotnet new console -n Build
cd Build
dotnet add package Cake.Frosting

Cake Script DSL (build.cake)

The scripting model uses a .cake file with Cake's C# DSL.

csharp

// build.cake
#addin nuget:?package=Cake.Coverlet&version=3.0.4
#tool nuget:?package=ReportGenerator&version=5.2.0

var target = Argument("target", "Default");
var configuration = Argument("configuration", "Release");
var solutionPath = "./MyApp.sln";
var artifactsDir = Directory("./artifacts");
var coverageDir = Directory("./coverage");

Task("Clean")
    .Does(() =>
{
    CleanDirectory(artifactsDir);
    CleanDirectory(coverageDir);
    DotNetClean(solutionPath, new DotNetCleanSettings
    {
        Configuration = configuration
    });
});

Task("Restore")
    .IsDependentOn("Clean")
    .Does(() =>
{
    DotNetRestore(solutionPath, new DotNetRestoreSettings
    {
        Locked = true  // Enforce lock file
    });
});

Task("Build")
    .IsDependentOn("Restore")
    .Does(() =>
{
    DotNetBuild(solutionPath, new DotNetBuildSettings
    {
        Configuration = configuration,
        NoRestore = true,
        MSBuildSettings = new DotNetMSBuildSettings()
            .SetVersion("1.0.0")
            .WithProperty("ContinuousIntegrationBuild", "true")
    });
});

Task("Test")
    .IsDependentOn("Build")
    .Does(() =>
{
    var testSettings = new DotNetTestSettings
    {
        Configuration = configuration,
        NoRestore = true,
        NoBuild = true,
        ResultsDirectory = coverageDir,
        Loggers = new[] { "trx" },
        ArgumentCustomization = args => args
            .Append("--collect:\"XPlat Code Coverage\"")
    };

    var testProjects = GetFiles("./tests/**/*.csproj");
    foreach (var project in testProjects)
    {
        DotNetTest(project.FullPath, testSettings);
    }
});

Task("Pack")
    .IsDependentOn("Test")
    .Does(() =>
{
    DotNetPack(solutionPath, new DotNetPackSettings
    {
        Configuration = configuration,
        NoRestore = true,
        NoBuild = true,
        OutputDirectory = artifactsDir,
        MSBuildSettings = new DotNetMSBuildSettings()
            .SetVersion("1.0.0")
    });
});

Task("Publish")
    .IsDependentOn("Test")
    .Does(() =>
{
    DotNetPublish("./src/MyApp.Api/MyApp.Api.csproj", new DotNetPublishSettings
    {
        Configuration = configuration,
        OutputDirectory = artifactsDir + Directory("publish"),
        SelfContained = false,
        Runtime = "linux-x64"
    });
});

Task("Default")
    .IsDependentOn("Test");

RunTarget(target);

Cake Frosting (Console App Model)

Cake.Frosting is a strongly-typed alternative that uses regular C# classes in a console project.

csharp

// Program.cs
using Cake.Frosting;

return new CakeHost()
    .UseContext<BuildContext>()
    .Run(args);

public class BuildContext : FrostingContext
{
    public string Configuration { get; }
    public string SolutionPath { get; }
    public string ArtifactsDir { get; }

    public BuildContext(ICakeContext context) : base(context)
    {
        Configuration = context.Argument("configuration", "Release");
        SolutionPath = "./MyApp.sln";
        ArtifactsDir = "./artifacts";
    }
}

csharp

// Tasks/CleanTask.cs
using Cake.Common.IO;
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet;
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet.Clean;
using Cake.Frosting;

[TaskName("Clean")]
public sealed class CleanTask : FrostingTask<BuildContext>
{
    public override void Run(BuildContext context)
    {
        context.CleanDirectory(context.ArtifactsDir);
        context.DotNetClean(context.SolutionPath, new DotNetCleanSettings
        {
            Configuration = context.Configuration
        });
    }
}

csharp

// Tasks/BuildTask.cs
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet;
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet.Build;
using Cake.Frosting;

[TaskName("Build")]
[IsDependentOn(typeof(CleanTask))]
public sealed class BuildTask : FrostingTask<BuildContext>
{
    public override void Run(BuildContext context)
    {
        context.DotNetBuild(context.SolutionPath, new DotNetBuildSettings
        {
            Configuration = context.Configuration,
            NoRestore = false
        });
    }
}

csharp

// Tasks/TestTask.cs
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet;
using Cake.Common.Tools.DotNet.Test;
using Cake.Frosting;

[TaskName("Test")]
[IsDependentOn(typeof(BuildTask))]
public sealed class TestTask : FrostingTask<BuildContext>
{
    public override void Run(BuildContext context)
    {
        context.DotNetTest(context.SolutionPath, new DotNetTestSettings
        {
            Configuration = context.Configuration,
            NoBuild = true,
            NoRestore = true
        });
    }
}

csharp

// Tasks/DefaultTask.cs
using Cake.Frosting;

[TaskName("Default")]
[IsDependentOn(typeof(TestTask))]
public sealed class DefaultTask : FrostingTask<BuildContext>
{
}

Cake Script vs. Cake Frosting

Feature	Cake Script (`.cake`)	Cake Frosting (Console App)
File type	`.cake` script file	Regular `.cs` files in a project
IntelliSense	Limited (editor extensions)	Full IDE support
Debugging	Attach to process	Standard F5 debugging
Dependency injection	Not available	Supported via `CakeHost`
NuGet addins	`#addin` directive	`PackageReference` in `.csproj`
Compilation	JIT-compiled at runtime	Pre-compiled at build time
Learning curve	Lower (single file)	Higher (project structure)
CI integration	`dotnet cake build.cake`	`dotnet run --project Build`

Error Handling and Conditional Tasks

csharp

// build.cake
Task("Deploy")
    .IsDependentOn("Pack")
    .WithCriteria(() => BuildSystem.IsRunningOnGitHubActions)
    .WithCriteria(() => EnvironmentVariable("DEPLOY_KEY") != null)
    .Does(() =>
{
    var apiKey = EnvironmentVariable("NUGET_API_KEY");
    var packages = GetFiles("./artifacts/*.nupkg");

    foreach (var package in packages)
    {
        DotNetNuGetPush(package.FullPath, new DotNetNuGetPushSettings
        {
            ApiKey = apiKey,
            Source = "https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json",
            SkipDuplicate = true
        });
    }
})
.OnError(exception =>
{
    Error($"Deploy failed: {exception.Message}");
    throw; // Re-throw to fail the build
});

Task("CI")
    .IsDependentOn("Test")
    .IsDependentOn("Pack")
    .IsDependentOn("Deploy");

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

yaml

# .github/workflows/build.yml
name: Build
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-dotnet@v4
        with:
          dotnet-version: '9.0.x'
      - name: Restore tools
        run: dotnet tool restore
      - name: Run Cake
        run: dotnet cake build.cake --target=CI
        env:
          NUGET_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.NUGET_API_KEY }}

Best Practices

•
Use Cake.Frosting for new projects instead of .cake scripts because Frosting provides full IDE IntelliSense, standard debugging, and NuGet package references without the limitations of the scripting host.
•
Install Cake as a local dotnet tool with a tool manifest by running dotnet new tool-manifest && dotnet tool install Cake.Tool so that the exact Cake version is pinned in .config/dotnet-tools.json and reproducible across machines.
•
Define a linear task dependency chain (Clean -> Restore -> Build -> Test -> Pack -> Deploy) to ensure each step can assume the previous step completed successfully; use IsDependentOn to declare the graph explicitly.
•
Use WithCriteria to conditionally skip tasks instead of wrapping task bodies in if-statements so that Cake's task runner reports skipped tasks in the output log and the dependency graph remains clear.
•
Pass build parameters via Argument("name", defaultValue) rather than hardcoding values so that CI pipelines and developers can override configuration, target framework, and version from the command line.
•
Set NoRestore = true and NoBuild = true on downstream tasks after the Restore and Build tasks have run to avoid redundant restore and compilation passes that slow down the build pipeline.
•
Use GetFiles("./tests/**/*.csproj") with glob patterns to discover test projects dynamically rather than listing each project path manually, so that new test projects are automatically included without script changes.
•
Store artifacts in a dedicated ./artifacts directory and clean it in the Clean task to ensure every build starts from a known state and published packages or binaries are easy to locate and upload.
•
Use OnError handlers on deployment tasks to log failure details and re-throw to prevent silent deployment failures; combine with WithCriteria to skip deployment on pull request builds.
•
Pin addin versions in #addin directives or PackageReference elements using exact version numbers (not floating ranges) to prevent build-time resolution surprises when a new addin version introduces breaking changes.