NuGet Client Tools

To work with NuGet, as a package consumer or creator, you can use command-line interface (CLI) tools as well as NuGet features in Visual Studio.

• dotnet.exe CLI tool for .NET Core and .NET Standard libraries, and for any SDK-style project such as one that targets .NET Framework. Included with the .NET Core SDK and provides core NuGet features on all platforms. (Starting in Visual Studio 2017, the dotnet CLI is automatically installed with any .NET Core-related workloads.) .NET Core SDK
• nuget.exe CLI tool for .NET Framework libraries and for any non-SDK-style project such as one that targets .NET Standard libraries. Provides all NuGet capabilities on Windows, provides most features on Mac and Linux when running under Mono. nuget.exe
• Visual Studio On Windows, the NuGet Package Manager is included with Visual Studio 2012 and later. Visual Studio provides the Package Manager UI and the Package Manager Console, through which you can run most NuGet operations. Visual Studio
• Visual Studio for Mac On Mac, certain NuGet capabilities are built-in directly. Package Manager Console is not presently available. For other capabilities, use the dotnet.exe or nuget.exe CLI tools. Visual Studio for Mac
• Visual Studio Code On Windows, Mac, or Linux, NuGet capabilities are available through marketplace extensions or use the dotnet.exe or nuget.exe CLI tools. Visual Studio Code

The MSBuild CLI also provides the ability to restore and create packages, which is primarily useful on build servers. MSBuild is not a general-purpose tool for working with NuGet.