VSTS YAML Build publishing strange path - azure-devops

Question

I'm publishing build artefacts from $(Build.Repository.LocalPath)/src/cookiecutter.utility.tool.csproj and setting an output path of $(build.artifactstagingdirectory)/dist, however for some reason I can't comprehend it's adding the src element to the output path, rather than just dist.
I've checked the YAML docs and can't see anything that would suggest I've done something wrong.
The YAML section
task: DotNetCoreCLI#2
displayName: Publish
inputs:
command: publish
publishWebProjects: false
zipAfterPublish: false
projects: $(projectDir)/cookiecutter.utility.tool.csproj
arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(build.artifactstagingdirectory) --self-contained -r win10-x64 /p:PublishSingleFile=true /p:PublishTrimmed=true
'
View of source repo.

Answer 1

Because you specify the projects in the dotnet publish task.
This .csproj is what you are trying to publish. When you specify the exactly project file value to task parameter projects , at this time, the output path is in project file’s directory rather than the root directory. That's why it keep the path of src in the artifact path.
If you don't want this src displayed, just remove projects: $(projectDir)/cookiecutter.utility.tool.csproj . Then the publish will work with the root directory(all projects) and the src will not displayed any more.
Update:
As I mentioned in my comment, as normal, it will looking for project file automatically under its working directory during dotnet.exe execution. For VSTS, the default working directory is solution folder (root).
So, to work around the Specify a project or solution file error and avoid the strange path added in artifact also, you can configure yourself working directory by using workingDirectory: src.
- task: DotNetCoreCLI#2
displayName: Publish
inputs:
command: publish
publishWebProjects: false
arguments: '--configuration $(BuildConfiguration) --output $(build.artifactstagingdirectory) --self-contained -r win10-x64 /p:PublishSingleFile=true /p:PublishTrimmed=true'
zipAfterPublish: false
modifyOutputPath: true
workingDirectory: src
This could let you avoid the src display in artifact structure without error.