MSBuild Server for CLI Caching

Use the MSBuild Server to cache evaluation results across CLI builds, matching the performance advantage Visual Studio gets from its long-lived MSBuild process.

When to Use

• Small incremental builds from CLI (dotnet build) are slower than expected
• Developers notice that VS builds are faster than CLI builds for the same project
• CI agents run many sequential builds of the same repo

When Not to Use

• IDE-based builds (Visual Studio already uses a long-lived MSBuild process)
• One-off builds where cold-start overhead is acceptable
• Build correctness issues are suspected (disable the server to isolate the problem)

Inputs