From e16c8ddfde798a46989c38ddcaf41592933130bd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "copilot-swe-agent[bot]" <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2025 18:04:57 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Initial plan


From 5d37c16f69ad03b786a2bf92e09fab49c6bba8e4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "copilot-swe-agent[bot]" <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2025 18:10:44 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Change PrivateAssets from "all" to "runtime" in warning
 and docs

Co-authored-by: baronfel <573979+baronfel@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 docs/diagnostics/MSBL001.md                        | 14 +++++++-------
 .../build/Microsoft.Build.Locator.targets          |  2 +-
 2 files changed, 8 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/diagnostics/MSBL001.md b/docs/diagnostics/MSBL001.md
index b98f1ef..4e27b6c 100644
--- a/docs/diagnostics/MSBL001.md
+++ b/docs/diagnostics/MSBL001.md
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Error Message
 
-> A PackageReference to the package '{PackageId}' at version '{Version}' is present in this project without ExcludeAssets="runtime" and PrivateAssets="all" set. This can cause errors at run-time due to MSBuild assembly-loading.
+> A PackageReference to the package '{PackageId}' at version '{Version}' is present in this project without ExcludeAssets="runtime" and PrivateAssets="runtime" set. This can cause errors at run-time due to MSBuild assembly-loading.
 
 ## Cause
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ When MSBuild runtime assemblies are copied to your application's output director
 2. **Missing SDKs and build logic**: The MSBuild assemblies in your output directory don't include the SDKs, targets, and build logic needed to build real projects
 3. **Inconsistent behavior**: Your application may behave differently than `MSBuild.exe`, `dotnet build`, or Visual Studio when evaluating projects
 
-Additionally, without `PrivateAssets="all"`, downstream projects that reference your project may still get these runtime assets transitively, causing the same issues in consuming projects.
+Additionally, without `PrivateAssets="runtime"`, downstream projects that reference your project may still get these runtime assets transitively, causing the same issues in consuming projects.
 
 ## Example Runtime Error
 
@@ -36,19 +36,19 @@ This happens because your application loads MSBuild assemblies from your bin fol
 
 ## Solution
 
-Add `ExcludeAssets="runtime"` and `PrivateAssets="all"` to all MSBuild PackageReferences in your project file:
+Add `ExcludeAssets="runtime"` and `PrivateAssets="runtime"` to all MSBuild PackageReferences in your project file:
 
 ```xml
 <ItemGroup>
-  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="all" />
-  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="all" />
-  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="all" />
+  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="runtime" />
+  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Framework" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="runtime" />
+  <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core" ExcludeAssets="runtime" PrivateAssets="runtime" />
   ...
 </ItemGroup>
 ```
 
 - `ExcludeAssets="runtime"` tells NuGet to use these packages only for compilation, not at runtime. At runtime, MSBuildLocator will load MSBuild assemblies from the registered Visual Studio or .NET SDK installation.
-- `PrivateAssets="all"` prevents the package reference metadata from flowing to downstream projects, ensuring that projects referencing your library don't inadvertently get runtime assets from these packages.
+- `PrivateAssets="runtime"` prevents the runtime assets from flowing to downstream projects, ensuring that projects referencing your library don't inadvertently get runtime assets from these packages. Using `"runtime"` instead of `"all"` allows downstream projects to still reference the compile-time assemblies if needed.
 
 ## Alternative: Disable the Check (Not Recommended)
 
diff --git a/src/MSBuildLocator/build/Microsoft.Build.Locator.targets b/src/MSBuildLocator/build/Microsoft.Build.Locator.targets
index f110be0..b37ad22 100644
--- a/src/MSBuildLocator/build/Microsoft.Build.Locator.targets
+++ b/src/MSBuildLocator/build/Microsoft.Build.Locator.targets
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     <Error
       Condition="@(_DistinctMSBuildPackagesReferencedPoorly->Count()) > 0"
       Code="MSBL001"
-      Text="A PackageReference to the package '%(_DistinctMSBuildPackagesReferencedPoorly.NuGetPackageId)' at version '%(_DistinctMSBuildPackagesReferencedPoorly.NuGetPackageVersion)' is present in this project without ExcludeAssets=&quot;runtime&quot; and PrivateAssets=&quot;all&quot; set. This can cause errors at run-time due to MSBuild assembly-loading."
+      Text="A PackageReference to the package '%(_DistinctMSBuildPackagesReferencedPoorly.NuGetPackageId)' at version '%(_DistinctMSBuildPackagesReferencedPoorly.NuGetPackageVersion)' is present in this project without ExcludeAssets=&quot;runtime&quot; and PrivateAssets=&quot;runtime&quot; set. This can cause errors at run-time due to MSBuild assembly-loading."
       HelpLink="https://aka.ms/msbuild/locator/diagnostics/MSBL001"
       />
   </Target>