Are there a reason that msbuild would not import build/xxx.targets automatically from tool package in contrast from normal package?

[tny-cesilco]

Since we can install dotnet tool globally I would like to write some tool that trigger command on restore package on every project. So I have write .targets file inside build folder and pack it as a nupkg then install

But that seem to trigger if the package is install as normal package, not installed as tool

Are there any problem or concern that this was not a feature of msbuild?

[vst121]

This is by design in MSBuild/NuGet. When a package is installed as a .NET tool, it’s treated purely as a CLI tool, not as a dependency that participates in the project’s build graph. That means:

• build/*.targets or props files in a tool package are not imported automatically.
• Only packages referenced as normal project dependencies trigger MSBuild integration (.targets/.props) on restore/build.

The reasoning is that tools are meant to run commands in isolation (dotnet tool run …) rather than injecting build logic into every project. If you want a package to automatically trigger a target on restore/build, it must be a normal package, not a global tool.