dotnet-editorconfig

Comprehensive guide to configuring .NET code analysis rules via .editorconfig and global AnalyzerConfig files. Covers code style rules (IDE*), code quality rules (CA*), severity levels, AnalysisLevel, EnforceCodeStyleInBuild, directory hierarchy precedence, and .globalconfig files.

Scope

• Code style rules (IDE*) and code quality rules (CA*) configuration
• Severity levels and AnalysisLevel settings
• Directory hierarchy precedence and .globalconfig files
• EnforceCodeStyleInBuild integration

Out of scope

• Adding analyzer packages to a project — see [skill:dotnet-add-analyzers]
• Authoring custom Roslyn analyzers — see [skill:dotnet-roslyn-analyzers]
• Project-level build configuration (Directory.Build.props) — see [skill:dotnet-project-structure]

Cross-references: [skill:dotnet-add-analyzers] for adding analyzer packages and AnalysisLevel setup, [skill:dotnet-roslyn-analyzers] for authoring custom analyzers, [skill:dotnet-project-structure] for Directory.Build.props and solution layout, [skill:dotnet-csharp-coding-standards] for naming and formatting conventions enforced by EditorConfig rules.

EditorConfig Overview

.editorconfig is the standard configuration file for controlling code style and analysis rule behavior in .NET projects. The .NET compiler (Roslyn) reads .editorconfig to determine:

• Code style preferences — naming, formatting, expression-level patterns (IDE* rules)
• Code quality rule severity — suppress, demote, or escalate CA* and IDE* diagnostics
• Formatting rules — indentation, spacing, newlines

Directory Hierarchy and Precedence

EditorConfig files apply hierarchically. The compiler searches upward from the source file to the filesystem root, merging settings from each .editorconfig found. Closest file wins — a setting in src/MyApp/.editorconfig overrides the same setting in the repo root .editorconfig.

repo-root/
  .editorconfig              # Shared baseline (root = true)
  src/
    .editorconfig            # Overrides for production code
    MyApp.Api/
      .editorconfig          # API-specific overrides (if needed)
  tests/
    .editorconfig            # Relaxed rules for test projects

Set root = true in the topmost file to stop upward traversal. Without this, the editor traverses above the repo root into user or system-level EditorConfig files, producing non-reproducible behavior.

# repo-root/.editorconfig
root = true

[*.cs]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 4

File Glob Patterns

EditorConfig sections use glob patterns to scope settings to specific files:

Code Style Rules (IDE*)

IDE rules control code style preferences enforced by the Roslyn compiler and IDE. They are configured with dotnet_style_*, csharp_style_*, and dotnet_diagnostic.IDE*.severity entries.

Key IDE Rule Categories

Configuring Code Style Preferences

[*.cs]
# Expression-level preferences
csharp_style_expression_bodied_methods = when_on_single_line:suggestion
csharp_style_expression_bodied_properties = true:suggestion
csharp_style_expression_bodied_constructors = false:silent

# Pattern matching
csharp_style_prefer_pattern_matching = true:suggestion
csharp_style_prefer_switch_expression = true:suggestion
csharp_style_prefer_not_pattern = true:suggestion

# Null checking
csharp_style_prefer_null_check_over_type_check = true:suggestion
dotnet_style_coalesce_expression = true:suggestion
dotnet_style_null_propagation = true:suggestion

# var preferences
csharp_style_var_for_built_in_types = false:suggestion
csharp_style_var_when_type_is_apparent = true:suggestion
csharp_style_var_elsewhere = false:suggestion

# Namespace style (.NET 6+)
csharp_style_namespace_declarations = file_scoped:warning

# Using directives
csharp_using_directive_placement = outside_namespace:warning
dotnet_sort_system_directives_first = true

IDE Rule Severity via dotnet_diagnostic

Each IDE rule can have its severity set independently:

[*.cs]
# Enforce removal of unnecessary usings as a build warning
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0005.severity = warning

# Enforce file-scoped namespaces as a build error
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0161.severity = error

# Demote new-expression simplification to suggestion
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0090.severity = suggestion

# Disable this. qualification rule entirely
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0003.severity = none

Code Quality Rules (CA*)

CA rules detect design, performance, security, reliability, and usage issues. They are shipped with the .NET SDK and controlled by AnalysisLevel. For a complete CA rule category table and AnalysisLevel setup guidance, see [skill:dotnet-add-analyzers].

The main CA categories are: Design (CA1000s), Globalization (CA1300s), Interoperability (CA1400s), Maintainability (CA1500s), Naming (CA1700s), Performance (CA1800s), Reliability (CA2000s), Security (CA2100s, CA3xxx, CA5xxx), and Usage (CA2200s).

CA Rule Severity Configuration

[*.cs]
# Suppress rules not applicable to your project type
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1062.severity = none          # Nullable handles parameter validation
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2007.severity = none          # ConfigureAwait not needed in ASP.NET Core apps

# Escalate important rules
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1822.severity = warning       # Mark members as static
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1848.severity = warning       # Use LoggerMessage delegates
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2016.severity = warning       # Forward CancellationToken

# Error-level for security rules
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2100.severity = error         # SQL injection review
dotnet_diagnostic.CA5350.severity = error         # Weak cryptographic algorithms

Severity Levels

The five severity levels control how a diagnostic is reported:

Bulk Severity Configuration

Set default severity for entire categories:

[*.cs]
# Set all design rules to warning
dotnet_analyzer_diagnostic.category-Design.severity = warning

# Set all performance rules to error
dotnet_analyzer_diagnostic.category-Performance.severity = error

# Set all naming rules to suggestion
dotnet_analyzer_diagnostic.category-Naming.severity = suggestion

Valid category names for dotnet_analyzer_diagnostic.category-{Category}.severity include: Design, Documentation, Globalization, Interoperability, Maintainability, Naming, Performance, SingleFile, Reliability, Security, Usage. IDE* rules do not participate in category-level bulk configuration — configure them individually via dotnet_diagnostic.IDE*.severity.

Per-rule entries override category-level settings. Category-level settings override AnalysisLevel defaults.

Precedence order (highest to lowest):

1. Per-rule: dotnet_diagnostic.CA1822.severity = error
2. Per-category: dotnet_analyzer_diagnostic.category-Performance.severity = warning
3. AnalysisLevel baseline (set in MSBuild properties)

AnalysisLevel and EnforceCodeStyleInBuild

AnalysisLevel controls which built-in CA rules are enabled and their default severities. Values range from latest (default, correctness only) through latest-all (all rules). Pin to a specific .NET SDK major version (e.g., 8-all, 10-all) to lock the rule set across SDK upgrades. Use preview-all for the broadest coverage including experimental rules. For the full AnalysisLevel values table and setup guidance, see [skill:dotnet-add-analyzers].

EnforceCodeStyleInBuild

By default, IDE* rules only run in the IDE, not during dotnet build. Enable build enforcement:

<PropertyGroup>
  <EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>true</EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>
</PropertyGroup>

This is critical for CI enforcement — without it, code style violations slip through even if configured as warnings or errors in .editorconfig. Combine with TreatWarningsAsErrors for strict enforcement:

<PropertyGroup>
  <AnalysisLevel>latest-all</AnalysisLevel>
  <EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>true</EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>
  <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
</PropertyGroup>

Global AnalyzerConfig Files (.globalconfig)

Global AnalyzerConfig files (.globalconfig) provide an alternative to .editorconfig for analyzer configuration. They apply globally to all files in the compilation without requiring directory-relative placement.

When to Use .globalconfig vs .editorconfig

.globalconfig Syntax

# Filename: .globalconfig (or any name with is_global = true)
is_global = true

# Global level determines priority (higher number = higher priority)
global_level = 100

# Configure rules (same syntax as .editorconfig, without [*.cs] sections)
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1822.severity = warning
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2007.severity = none
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0005.severity = warning

Including .globalconfig in a Project

Reference via MSBuild GlobalAnalyzerConfigFiles item:

<!-- Directory.Build.props -->
<ItemGroup>
  <GlobalAnalyzerConfigFiles Include="$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory).globalconfig" />
</ItemGroup>

NuGet analyzer packages can ship .globalconfig files in buildTransitive/ to apply default severities to consumers.

global_level Precedence

When multiple .globalconfig files apply, the global_level value determines which one wins. Higher values take precedence. The SDK default global config uses global_level = -1. User configs should use global_level = 0 or higher (default when omitted is 0). NuGet-shipped configs use negative values to allow user overrides.

Full precedence order (highest to lowest):

1. Per-rule .editorconfig entries
2. Per-category .editorconfig entries
3. .globalconfig with highest global_level
4. .globalconfig with lower global_level
5. SDK default configuration (AnalysisLevel)

Naming Rules (IDE1006)

EditorConfig supports custom naming rules that enforce naming conventions at build time (when EnforceCodeStyleInBuild is enabled):

[*.cs]
# Define symbol groups
dotnet_naming_symbols.public_members.applicable_kinds = property, method, field, event
dotnet_naming_symbols.public_members.applicable_accessibilities = public

dotnet_naming_symbols.private_fields.applicable_kinds = field
dotnet_naming_symbols.private_fields.applicable_accessibilities = private

dotnet_naming_symbols.interfaces.applicable_kinds = interface

# Define naming styles
dotnet_naming_style.pascal_case.capitalization = pascal_case

dotnet_naming_style.underscore_prefix.capitalization = camel_case
dotnet_naming_style.underscore_prefix.required_prefix = _

dotnet_naming_style.interface_prefix.capitalization = pascal_case
dotnet_naming_style.interface_prefix.required_prefix = I

# Bind rules (lower number = higher priority)
dotnet_naming_rule.interfaces_must_start_with_i.symbols = interfaces
dotnet_naming_rule.interfaces_must_start_with_i.style = interface_prefix
dotnet_naming_rule.interfaces_must_start_with_i.severity = warning

dotnet_naming_rule.public_members_pascal_case.symbols = public_members
dotnet_naming_rule.public_members_pascal_case.style = pascal_case
dotnet_naming_rule.public_members_pascal_case.severity = warning

dotnet_naming_rule.private_fields_underscore.symbols = private_fields
dotnet_naming_rule.private_fields_underscore.style = underscore_prefix
dotnet_naming_rule.private_fields_underscore.severity = warning

Common Configuration Templates

Recommended Baseline (.editorconfig)

root = true

[*]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 4
end_of_line = lf
charset = utf-8
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
insert_final_newline = true

[*.cs]
# Namespace and using preferences
csharp_style_namespace_declarations = file_scoped:warning
csharp_using_directive_placement = outside_namespace:warning
dotnet_sort_system_directives_first = true

# Code style enforcement in build
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0005.severity = warning
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0161.severity = warning
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0090.severity = suggestion

# CA rule adjustments
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1848.severity = warning
dotnet_diagnostic.CA2016.severity = warning

Test Project Overrides (tests/.editorconfig)

Place a separate .editorconfig in the tests/ directory to relax rules that conflict with test readability. For common per-project-type suppression patterns (ASP.NET Core apps, libraries, test projects), see [skill:dotnet-add-analyzers].

[*.cs]
# Relax rules for test readability
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1707.severity = none          # Allow underscores in test names
dotnet_diagnostic.CA1822.severity = none          # Test methods often not static
dotnet_diagnostic.IDE0058.severity = none         # Expression value is never used

Generated Code Configuration

Source generators and scaffolding tools produce code that often triggers IDE/CA warnings. Use the generated_code = true setting or file glob patterns to suppress analysis on generated files:

# Suppress warnings in generated code files
[*.g.cs]
generated_code = true

[*.generated.cs]
generated_code = true

When generated_code = true is set, Roslyn treats the file as generated code and applies the GeneratedCodeAnalysisFlags configured in each analyzer (most analyzers skip generated code by default). This is particularly relevant when using source generators — see [skill:dotnet-csharp-source-generators].

References

• EditorConfig for .NET code style rules
• Code quality rules (CA*)
• Code style rules (IDE*)
• Configuration options for code analysis
• Global AnalyzerConfig files
• Naming rule configuration