gonuget

gonuget CLI

A fast, native NuGet package manager written in Go.

Features

• 15-17x faster than dotnet nuget for CLI operations
• 30-35% less memory per command invocation
• Zero runtime overhead - native binary, no .NET runtime required
• 100% compatible with NuGet.config and dotnet project files
• Cross-platform - Windows, macOS, Linux

Installation

From Source

git clone https://github.com/willibrandon/gonuget
cd gonuget
make build
./gonuget --version

Pre-built Binaries

Coming soon.

Quick Start

# Add a package source
gonuget add source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json --name "NuGet.org"

# List configured sources
gonuget list source

# Add a package to a project
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json --version 13.0.3

# Get configuration value
gonuget config get repositoryPath

Commands

Configuration

# Get a configuration value
gonuget config get <key> [--configfile <path>]

# Set a configuration value
gonuget config set <key> <value> [--configfile <path>]

# List all configuration
gonuget config list [--configfile <path>]

Source Management

# Add a package source
gonuget add source <URL> --name <name> [options]

# List package sources
gonuget list source [--format Detailed|Short]

# Remove a package source
gonuget remove source --name <name>

# Enable a package source
gonuget enable source --name <name>

# Disable a package source
gonuget disable source --name <name>

# Update a package source
gonuget update source --name <name> --source <URL>

Package Management

# Add a package reference to a project
gonuget add package <PACKAGE_ID> [options]
  --version <VERSION>           Specific version to add
  --framework <FRAMEWORK>       Target framework
  --no-restore                  Don't restore after adding
  --source <SOURCE>             Package source URL
  --prerelease                  Include prerelease versions
  --project <PATH>              Project file path

Examples

Configure NuGet Sources

# Add the official NuGet.org source
gonuget add source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json --name "NuGet.org"

# Add a private feed with credentials
gonuget add source https://pkgs.dev.azure.com/org/_packaging/feed/nuget/v3/index.json \
  --name "MyFeed" \
  --username user \
  --password $PAT

# List all sources
gonuget list source --format Detailed

Work with Packages

# Add latest stable version
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json

# Add specific version
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json --version 13.0.3

# Add latest prerelease
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json --prerelease

# Add without triggering restore
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json --no-restore

# Add to specific project
gonuget add package Newtonsoft.Json --project ./MyApp/MyApp.csproj

Configuration Management

# Set global packages folder
gonuget config set globalPackagesFolder /path/to/packages

# Get current repository path
gonuget config get repositoryPath

# List all configuration
gonuget config list

# Use specific config file
gonuget config get repositoryPath --configfile ./custom.config

Performance

gonuget is designed for speed:

Why is it faster?

• Native compilation (no runtime initialization)
• Zero startup overhead (no JIT, no assembly loading)
• Efficient execution (direct syscalls)
• Minimal dependencies

See benchmarks/README.md for detailed performance analysis.

Command Structure

gonuget follows the same patterns as dotnet:

# Source management (matches dotnet nuget)
gonuget add source <URL>      # dotnet nuget add source <URL>
gonuget list source           # dotnet nuget list source
gonuget remove source <name>  # dotnet nuget remove source <name>

# Package management (matches dotnet add)
gonuget add package <ID>      # dotnet add package <ID>

All flags use kebab-case naming:

• --configfile not --ConfigFile
• --name not --Name
• --store-password-in-clear-text not --StorePasswordInClearText

Configuration Files

gonuget uses standard NuGet.config files and is fully compatible with:

• %APPDATA%\NuGet\NuGet.config (Windows)
• ~/.nuget/NuGet/NuGet.config (macOS/Linux)
• ./NuGet.config (project-local)

Configuration hierarchy follows NuGet behavior:

1. Closest NuGet.config to current directory
2. Parent directories (walking up the tree)
3. User-level config
4. Machine-level config

Project Files

gonuget works directly with .NET project files:

• .csproj (C# projects)
• .fsproj (F# projects)
• .vbproj (VB.NET projects)

Changes are written in a format compatible with:

• Visual Studio
• Visual Studio Code
• dotnet CLI
• MSBuild

Development

Building

make build              # Build all binaries
make test               # Run all tests
make test-go-unit       # Run unit tests only
make bench              # Run benchmarks

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run CLI tests only
go test ./cmd/gonuget/... -v

# Run with coverage
go test ./cmd/gonuget/commands -cover

# Run benchmarks
go test -tags=benchmark -bench=. ./cmd/gonuget

Project Structure

cmd/gonuget/
├── main.go              # Entry point
├── cli/                 # CLI framework
│   ├── app.go           # Root command
│   └── version.go       # Version info
├── commands/            # Command implementations
│   ├── add.go           # Parent add command
│   ├── add_package.go   # Add package subcommand
│   ├── source_*.go      # Source management
│   ├── config.go        # Config command
│   └── version.go       # Version command
├── config/              # NuGet.config handling
├── output/              # Console output
├── project/             # Project file handling
└── benchmarks/          # Performance benchmarks

Contributing

See ../../CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

License

See ../../LICENSE