Output folder

[Plasmadog]

Is it possible to just disable the output folder entirely? I have not specified a folder, but the output turns up in my project root anyway, which is not the default location described in the documentation. Having the files there makes Visual Studio very confused. I have no need for the files, and I'd rather not have to try to figure out a safe place to dump them that will work in every environment.

[pballada]

It can't be switched off, but you can send it somewhere harmless. The reason it lands in your project root is that the CLI and the library have different defaults.

• CLI (grate tool): --output defaults to %LOCALAPPDATA%/grate (DefaultConfiguration.DefaultOutputPath). That's the location the docs describe.

• Library / DI (grate.core, used via AddGrate(...)): GrateConfiguration.OutputPath defaults to

  public DirectoryInfo OutputPath { get; init; } = new(Path.Combine(CurrentDirectory.FullName, "output"));
  // CurrentDirectory => new(Directory.GetCurrentDirectory())

  When you run from Visual Studio, the working directory is the project folder, so you get <project>/output.

Why it can't be disabled

Every migration creates a "change drop" folder, <OutputPath>/migrations/<db>/<server>/<timestamp> (GrateMigrator.ChangeDropFolder / CreateChangeDropFolder), and copies each executed script into it (CopyToChangeDropFolder). There's no switch that skips this.

What works in every environment

Point it at the OS temp directory:

services.AddGrate(builder => builder
    .WithConnectionString(connectionString)
    .WithOutputFolder(Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "grate"))
    // ... your other settings
);

Path.GetTempPath() resolves on Windows, Linux, macOS and in containers. The only thing grate deletes there is its own timestamped subfolder before recreating it, so there's no risk to other files. If you also want nothing to accumulate, delete that grate temp folder after the migration has run.

Alternatively, use the same location as the CLI: Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData), "grate").

Making the library default match the CLI's (or adding an option to skip copying scripts) would be a reasonable issue to open. The docs only describe the CLI default.