Implement dynamic package versioning and update CI/CD workflow for NuGet packaging

Author: jongalloway

.github/workflows/build.yml

@@ -158,11 +158,29 @@ jobs:
     - name: Restore dependencies
       run: dotnet restore
 
+    - name: Determine Version
+      id: version
+      run: |
+        # Get the latest git tag or use 1.0.0 as default
+        LATEST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || echo "v1.0.0")
+        
+        # Remove 'v' prefix if present
+        VERSION=${LATEST_TAG#v}
+        
+        # If not on a tag, add pre-release suffix with commit count and short SHA
+        if ! git describe --exact-match --tags HEAD >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+          COMMITS_SINCE_TAG=$(git rev-list --count ${LATEST_TAG}..HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+          SHORT_SHA=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+          VERSION="${VERSION}-alpha.${COMMITS_SINCE_TAG}+${SHORT_SHA}"
+        fi
+          echo "version=${VERSION}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        echo "📦 Determined version: ${VERSION}"
+
     - name: Build (Release) for packaging
       run: dotnet build src/NLWebNet --configuration Release --no-restore --verbosity minimal
 
     - name: Pack NuGet package
-      run: dotnet pack src/NLWebNet --configuration Release --no-build --output ./packages
+      run: dotnet pack src/NLWebNet --configuration Release --no-build --output ./packages -p:PackageVersion=${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}
 
     - name: Upload package artifacts
       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -172,6 +190,9 @@ jobs:
         retention-days: 30
 
     - name: Validate NuGet Package
-      uses: NuGetPackageExplorer/ValidatePackage@v1
-      with:
-        packagePath: ./packages/NLWebNet.1.0.0-alpha.nupkg
+      run: |
+        echo "📦 Validating NuGet package..."
+        dotnet tool install --global dotnet-validate --version 0.0.1-preview.537
+        PACKAGE_FILE=$(find ./packages -name "*.nupkg" | head -n 1)
+        echo "Validating package: $PACKAGE_FILE"
+        dotnet validate package local "$PACKAGE_FILE"

doc/todo.md

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ The demo application is now fully functional with a modern .NET 9 Blazor Web App
 - ✅ **CI/CD Testing Fix**: Updated GitHub Actions workflow to gracefully handle missing test projects and prevent build failures
 - ✅ **CI/CD Packaging Fix**: Added Release build step to package-validation job to ensure NuGet DLL is available for packaging
 - ✅ **CI/CD Symbol Generation**: Fixed NuGet package validation by adding proper symbol generation, deterministic builds, and Source Link integration
+- ✅ **Dynamic Package Versioning**: Implemented Git-based semantic versioning with automatic pre-release numbering for CI builds
 
 The next phase focuses on implementing the core NLWeb library functionality.
 

src/NLWebNet/NLWebNet.csproj

@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <GeneratePackageOnBuild>true</GeneratePackageOnBuild>
-    
-    <!-- Package Metadata -->
+      <!-- Package Metadata -->
     <PackageId>NLWebNet</PackageId>
-    <PackageVersion>1.0.0-alpha</PackageVersion>
+    <PackageVersion Condition="'$(PackageVersion)' == ''">1.0.0-dev</PackageVersion>
     <Authors>NLWebNet Contributors</Authors>
     <Description>A .NET library implementing the NLWeb protocol for natural language web interfaces</Description>
     <PackageProjectUrl>https://github.com/microsoft/NLWeb</PackageProjectUrl>