EfBootstrap 1.1.1

🚀 EF Core Project Bootstrapper (EfBootstrap)

A .NET Global CLI Tool to bootstrap production-ready backend projects using Entity Framework Core.

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📦 Installation

# Install globally
dotnet tool install -g EfBootstrap

# Update to latest version
dotnet tool update -g EfBootstrap

# Uninstall
dotnet tool uninstall -g EfBootstrap

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🎯 Commands

efbootstrap init

Initialize a new EF Core project with folder structure, packages, and database scaffolding.

efbootstrap init [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--path	-p	Path to the project directory	Current directory
--connection-string	-c	Database connection string for scaffolding	(interactive prompt)
--localhost	-l	Use localhost database	true
--repositories	-r	Create Repositories folder	false
--skip-scaffold	-s	Skip database scaffolding	false
--non-interactive	-n	Run in non-interactive mode (for CI/CD)	false

Examples

# Interactive mode (recommended for first-time setup)
efbootstrap init

# Initialize with LocalDB connection string
efbootstrap init -c "Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;"

# Initialize with repositories folder
efbootstrap init -r

# Skip scaffolding (just create folders and install packages)
efbootstrap init -s

# Non-interactive mode for CI/CD
efbootstrap init -n -c "Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;"

# Specify a different project path
efbootstrap init -p "C:\Projects\MyNewProject"

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efbootstrap scaffold

Scaffold database entities and DbContext. Use this to retry scaffolding after a failure or run scaffolding separately.

efbootstrap scaffold [options]

Options

Option	Alias	Description	Default
--path	-p	Path to the project directory	Current directory
--connection-string	-c	Database connection string	(interactive prompt)
--non-interactive	-n	Run in non-interactive mode	false

Examples

# Interactive mode with detailed connection string guidance
efbootstrap scaffold

# Scaffold with specific connection string
efbootstrap scaffold -c "Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;"

# Scaffold for a different project path
efbootstrap scaffold -p "C:\Projects\MyProject" -c "Server=localhost;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;"

# Non-interactive mode
efbootstrap scaffold -n -c "Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;"

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📋 Connection String Examples

LocalDB (Recommended for Development)

Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=YourDatabaseName;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;

Prerequisites:

• SQL Server LocalDB installed (comes with Visual Studio)
• Database must exist before scaffolding

Useful Commands:

# Check if LocalDB is running
sqllocaldb info MSSQLLocalDB

# Start LocalDB
sqllocaldb start MSSQLLocalDB

# Create a new database
sqlcmd -S (localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB -Q "CREATE DATABASE YourDatabaseName"

# List existing databases
sqlcmd -S (localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB -Q "SELECT name FROM sys.databases"

SQL Server (localhost)

Server=localhost;Database=YourDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;

For SQL Server Express:

Server=localhost\SQLEXPRESS;Database=YourDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;

Remote SQL Server / Azure SQL

Server=yourserver.database.windows.net;Database=YourDb;User Id=username;Password=yourpassword;TrustServerCertificate=True;

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🏗 Generated Project Structure

YourProject/
├── Controllers/
├── Models/          ← Entity classes generated here
├── DTOs/
├── Data/
│   └── AppDbContext.cs
├── Services/
└── Repositories/    ← Optional (use -r flag)

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⚙️ What the Tool Does

1️⃣ Creates Folder Structure

Automatically creates standard backend folders:

• Controllers - API controllers
• Models - Entity classes (EF Core models)
• DTOs - Data Transfer Objects
• Data - DbContext and database configuration
• Services - Business logic services
• Repositories - Repository pattern classes (optional)

2️⃣ Installs EF Core Packages

Installs required NuGet packages:

• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

3️⃣ Scaffolds Database

Runs EF Core scaffolding to generate:

• Entity model classes from database tables
• AppDbContext class with DbSet properties

Equivalent to running:

dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold "ConnectionString" Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer --output-dir Models --context-dir Data --context AppDbContext --force

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🔧 Troubleshooting

Scaffolding Failed

Common causes:

1. SQL Server not running

   # For LocalDB
   sqllocaldb start MSSQLLocalDB
   
   # For SQL Server, check Windows Services
   

2. Database doesn't exist

   sqlcmd -S (localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB -Q "CREATE DATABASE YourDatabaseName"
   

3. Wrong server name

   • LocalDB: (localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB
   • SQL Express: localhost\SQLEXPRESS or .\SQLEXPRESS
   • Default instance: localhost or .

4. TCP/IP disabled

   • Open SQL Server Configuration Manager
   • Enable TCP/IP under SQL Server Network Configuration

5. Firewall blocking connection

   • Allow SQL Server through Windows Firewall

Retry Scaffolding

If scaffolding fails during init, you can retry using:

efbootstrap scaffold

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🔌 Supported Platforms

Component	Support
.NET	6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0+
EF Core	Any compatible version
OS	Windows / macOS / Linux
Database	SQL Server, LocalDB

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🛣 Roadmap

✅ Phase 1 (Current - v1.1.0)

• SQL Server & LocalDB support
• Folder scaffolding
• EF Core package installation
• DbContext generation
• Separate scaffold command for retry
• Detailed connection string guidance

🔜 Phase 2

• MySQL & PostgreSQL support
• Additional database providers

📋 Phase 3

• Custom project templates
• Clean Architecture presets
• Optional Unit of Work pattern

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📖 Quick Start

# 1. Install the tool
dotnet tool install -g EfBootstrap

# 2. Navigate to your project
cd YourProject

# 3. Run initialization
efbootstrap init

# 4. Follow the interactive prompts
#    - Select database type (LocalDB/SQL Server/Remote)
#    - Enter connection string
#    - Choose whether to create Repositories folder

# 5. Done! Your project is ready with:
#    - Folder structure
#    - EF Core packages
#    - Generated entity models and DbContext

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🧪 CI/CD Usage

For automated pipelines, use non-interactive mode:

efbootstrap init -n -c "Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyDb;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;" -r

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📝 License

MIT License - Copyright © 2025 Shalin Shah, SSB DIGITAL

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

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📬 Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub Issues page.