Fix Visual Studio deadlock caused by restore target calls in BeforeResolveReferences #15137
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- Remove MSBuild calls to Restore target from BeforeResolveReferences in VS builds - Add explanatory comments documenting why restore calls cause deadlocks - Preserve all other functionality while fixing the deadlock issue - Visual Studio will handle NuGet restoration through its own mechanisms Co-authored-by: anupriya13 <54227869+anupriya13@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Calling the Fix Visual Studio deadlock caused by restore target calls in BeforeResolveReferences Sep 11, 2025
restore target in VS leads to a deadlock Copilot finished work on behalf of anupriya13 September 11, 2025 04:36
nkolev92 approved these changes Sep 16, 2025
| The "problematic" target served a purpose: allowing developers to fully build (and fetch C++ dependencies) from within Visual Studio. If there is no way around dropping this target, documentation should also be updated including a workaround to restore dependencies outside the IDE. |
| 2. It violates the restore/build contract (restore must complete before build starts) | ||
| 3. Network calls during restore on UI thread cause performance issues and potential deadlocks | ||
| Visual Studio will handle NuGet package restoration automatically through its own mechanisms. |
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Can you please confirm this actually happens and the target's removal is fully transparent to the user?
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This PR fixes a critical deadlock issue in Visual Studio when building React Native Windows C++ projects. The problem occurred when MSBuild targets called the
Restoretarget during theBeforeResolveReferencesphase of Visual Studio builds.Problem
The
BeforeResolveReferencestarget in bothMicrosoft.ReactNative.Common.targetsandvnext/Directory.Build.targetswas calling the NuGetRestoretarget whenBuildingInsideVisualStudiowas true. This caused several issues:Solution
Removed the problematic
BeforeResolveReferencestargets that were callingMSBuildtasks withTargets="Restore". Visual Studio has its own built-in NuGet package restoration mechanisms that handle this properly without the deadlock risk.The fix includes:
BeforeResolveReferencestargets from both affected filesFiles Changed
vnext/PropertySheets/External/Microsoft.ReactNative.Common.targetsvnext/Directory.Build.targetsBoth files had identical problematic patterns that have been resolved.
Fixes #15108.
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