Create Flow Libraries

Creating a new flow library is a pretty straightforward process, but there are a few steps that you need to take to execute a complete setup.

Class library project

First and foremost, as discussed on the Flow Library architecture page, a flow library is really just a normal dotnet class library. So to create a new flow library, you simply need to create a new dotnet class library.

The dotnet CLI provides a very easy way to do this. For example, to create a new flow library called FlowLibrary, run this command through the dotnet CLI:

dotnet new classlib -o FlowLibrary -f net8.0

Add NuGet packages

Once your new flow library is created, you need to add a helper NuGet package to your class library called Didact Core. This package helps you to both configure your flow library and design your flows.

Run the following command in your terminal to add Didact Core as a dependency:

dotnet add package DidactCore

Configure the csproj

Finally, you need to add a few configurations to your flow library's .csproj file. These configurations are required in order to make your flow library build versions as plugin-friendly as possible. Some of these configurations could be manually entered in the dotnet CLI by the dotnet build or dotnet publish commands, but, in my opinion, the commands become burdensome to type out after you add so many arguments and params.

Instead, I find that it is typically easier to add a set of project-level configurations in the .csproj file itself; that way, the dotnet build and dotnet publish commands will use those project-level settings by default and make your terminal calls more simple.

Please add the following configurations to your flow library's .csproj file:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>

        <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
        <OutputType>Library</OutputType>
        <SelfContained>false</SelfContained>
        <GenerateRuntimeConfigurationFiles>false</GenerateRuntimeConfigurationFiles>
        <GenerateDependencyFile>false</GenerateDependencyFile>
        <CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>true</CopyLocalLockFileAssemblies>
        <DebugType>none</DebugType>
        <DebugSymbols>false</DebugSymbols>
        <Optimize>true</Optimize>
        <Deterministic>false</Deterministic>

    </PropertyGroup>
</Project>