Common MSBuild item metadata

The following table describes optional item metadata that have meaning for some MSBuild SDKs or targets, but that are not set by default for every item. You can set these to influence build behavior, but only if the SDK or target files you are using recognize it.

Item metadata	SDKs	Description
%(Link)	All	The Visual Studio project system uses Link metadata (if present) to alter what shows up in the project tree; you can put a file in a different logical folder structure in Solution Explorer. In addition, the AssignTargetPath task looks at Link to determine where in the output directory to copy a file to, if it’s one of the items that gets copied.
%(LinkBase)	.NET Core SDK	Used to set the folder to be used for Link metadata for groups of items.

See also

• Common MSBuild project properties
• Common MSBuild project items
• MSBuild well-known item metadata