Tools.Config.props

This file tells the build tool whether a project is an SDK or a plugin, whether to package it automatically, and whether to generate localization helpers.

The tool copies a default file into your project on the first build. You can also create it yourself:

Tools.Config.props

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <IsPluginLoader>false</IsPluginLoader>
    <IsPlugin>false</IsPlugin>
    <AutoPluginPackage>true</AutoPluginPackage>
    <PluginMisxPackage>false</PluginMisxPackage>
    <AutoGenerateI18N>true</AutoGenerateI18N>
    <DebugSourceGenerator>false</DebugSourceGenerator>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Choose the project type

• SDK: IsPluginLoader=true, IsPlugin=false.
• Plugin: IsPluginLoader=false, IsPlugin=true.
• Ordinary app: leave both false.

Enable only one of IsPluginLoader and IsPlugin.

Other switches

Property	Default	What it does
AutoPluginPackage	true	Creates an installation package when you build a plugin
PluginMisxPackage	false	Also creates an MSIX package; requires a certificate
AutoGenerateI18N	true	Generates localization helpers from resources in Strings
DebugSourceGenerator	false	Saves generated plugin source in GeneratedFiles for inspection

You still write the plugin.json template yourself. The build tool fills in its variables and creates the final file. If you turn off automatic packaging, include metadata generation in your own build workflow; see Custom Packaging.

Turn on DebugSourceGenerator to see the generated code. Treat those files as a reference: make changes in your own source files, then rebuild.

See Internationalization and Quick Dependency Injection for localization and generated constructors.