CURSOR RULES.NET 8 & C# 12 Cursor Rules (.mdc) | Clean Architecture & Minimal APIs
Generate .NET 8 and C# 12 Cursor rules enforcing Minimal APIs, primary constructors, file-scoped namespaces, and EF Core 8 query optimizations. C# 12 and .NET 8 introduce primary constructors, collection expressions ([1, 2, 3]), frozen collections, and lightweight Minimal APIs. Outdated LLMs continually generate verbose 2018-era boilerplate with nested namespaces, Startup.cs classes, and unindexed EF Core queries.
.cursor/rules/csharp-dotnet-8.mdcWhat this file changes for .NET 8 & C# 12 Minimal APIs
C# 12 and .NET 8 introduce primary constructors, collection expressions ([1, 2, 3]), frozen collections, and lightweight Minimal APIs. Outdated LLMs continually generate verbose 2018-era boilerplate with nested namespaces, Startup.cs classes, and unindexed EF Core queries.
.NET 8 & C# 12 Minimal APIs: code to avoid and code to write instead
// Discouraged: Nested namespaces, missing AsNoTracking, untyped object returns
namespace App.Controllers
{
public class UsersController : Controller
{
[HttpGet]
public IActionResult GetUser(Guid id)
{
var user = _context.Users.Find(id); // Untracked query tracking all state!
return Ok(user);
}
}
}namespace App.Features.Users;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.HttpResults;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
public record CreateUserRequest(string Email, string FullName);
public record UserDto(Guid Id, string Email, string FullName);
public static class UserEndpoints
{
public static RouteGroupBuilder MapUserEndpoints(this RouteGroupBuilder group)
{
group.MapGet("/{id:guid}", async Task<Results<Ok<UserDto>, NotFound>> (Guid id, AppDbContext db) =>
{
var user = await db.Users
.AsNoTracking()
.Where(u => u.Id == id)
.Select(u => new UserDto(u.Id, u.Email, u.FullName))
.FirstOrDefaultAsync();
return user is not null ? TypedResults.Ok(user) : TypedResults.NotFound();
});
return group;
}
}How to Install .NET 8 & C# 12 Minimal APIs Cursor Rules (.mdc) via Terminal
Step 1: Open Project Directory & Verify Target Placement
Open your terminal and navigate to your project root folder where the .cursor/rules/csharp-dotnet-8.mdc file will reside. Ensure the file is placed at the exact path below relative to your project root so the AI engine automatically loads it:
Step 2: Fetch Rule File via Terminal Command
Run curl, PowerShell, or wget to stream the rule directly from the DevScratchpad raw API endpoint and write it to .cursor/rules/csharp-dotnet-8.mdc:
Terminal One-Liner Install
Run directly in your project root to stream and write this rule file with one command.
mkdir -p ".cursor/rules" && curl -fsSL "https://www.devscratchpad.tech/api/raw/cursor-rules/csharp-dotnet-8" -o ".cursor/rules/csharp-dotnet-8.mdc"Step 3: Check that Cursor uses it
Cursor picks up rules in .cursor/rules/ automatically. This one attaches when files matching its globs are in the request, or when you @-mention it.
Cursor rules generator: .cursor/rules/*.mdc for your stack
Cursor Rules (.mdc): how it works, where the file goes, and every Cursor Rules preset.
Tools for .NET 8 & C# 12 Minimal APIs work
Browser-based utilities to test, format and inspect the code your AI tool writes. Nothing you paste is uploaded.
cURL to JavaScript Fetch
Translate bash cURL commands into JavaScript fetch() API calls.
cURL to Python Requests
Translate bash cURL commands into Python `requests` code.
JSON Formatter & Validator
Format, validate, and minify JSON with interactive syntax highlighting.
HMAC Generator
Compute Hash-based Message Authentication Codes (HMAC) using SHA256, SHA512, etc.
Live Repository & Schema Ingestion
Inspect any public or private GitHub repository, or paste SQL DDL and Prisma models directly in AI Skill Studio to auto-generate authentic rules. Zero server transmission.
Migrating from Legacy .cursorrules or CLAUDE.md?
Use the free, in-browser converter to turn one long rules file into Cursor .mdc, Claude SKILL.md or Windsurf rules.
Technical FAQ: .NET 8 & C# 12 Minimal APIs AI Rulebooks
Does this rulebook support both Minimal APIs and traditional Controllers?
Yes, though it prioritizes modern .NET 8 Minimal APIs with typed results for reduced overhead and cleaner unit testing.
Why is AsNoTracking required for EF Core reads?
AsNoTracking prevents EF Core from allocating memory for entity snapshot tracking on queries that do not modify state.