NuGet Package Manager

This official package manager for the .NET ecosystem, operated by Microsoft, serves as the central package repository that powers .NET development worldwide. The gallery hosts over 536,300 unique packages with 12,190,511 package versions and has accumulated nearly one trillion package downloads since inception. The client tools provide the ability to both produce and consume packages, with integration into Visual Studio, the .NET CLI, and MSBuild. Package creation is streamlined through nuspec manifests, while package consumption uses PackageReference in project files for transitive dependency resolution. The platform supports semantic versioning with pre-release tags, multi-targeting via framework folders, satellite resource assemblies for localization, and source link integration for debuggable symbols. Security features include signed package verification, vulnerability scanning integration with GitHub Advisory Database and GitHub Advanced Security, deprecated package marking, and supply chain protections. The REST API enables programmatic search, metadata retrieval, and automated CI/CD publishing through Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions. This is a foundational pillar of the .NET ecosystem, with the most downloaded packages including Newtonsoft.json with over 4 billion downloads, Microsoft.NETCore.App runtime packages, ASP.NET Core framework packages, and Entity Framework Core ORM. The service status dashboard provides real-time availability monitoring, and the FAQ and documentation at Microsoft Docs cover scenarios from package authoring to private feed hosting via Azure Artifacts.