Blazor Server Template Still Exists in .NET 8 — No Deprecation Warning, Confusing UX

[vsfeedback]

This issue has been moved from a ticket on Developer Community.

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Blazor Server Template Still Exists in .NET 8 — No Deprecation Warning, Confusing UX

Summary

The blazorserver template is still available via the CLI and Visual Studio in .NET 8, but it silently fails to support any framework newer than .NET 6.0, with no deprecation warning, guidance, or redirect to the new Blazor Web App template.

This creates confusion and wastes developer time — especially for those trying to adopt .NET 8 and follow modern Blazor guidance.

Expected Behavior

If a template is deprecated and no longer supports current .NET versions, I would expect:

• A clear warning message when using the CLI (e.g., dotnet new blazorserver -f net8.0)
• Updated help output (dotnet new blazorserver -h) indicating its deprecated status
• A deprecation notice in Visual Studio, with a suggestion to use the new "Blazor Web App" template
• Possibly even removal of the template from the new SDK unless explicitly installed via legacy packs

Actual Behavior

• dotnet new blazorserver -f net8.0 fails with:
  Error: Invalid option(s): -f net8.0 'net8.0' is not a valid value for -f. The possible values are: net6.0 - Target net6.0
• There is no indication that the template is deprecated
• Visual Studio still shows “Blazor Server App” as an option with no hint it's a legacy-only option
• No redirection or recommendation to use dotnet new blazor (Blazor Web App)

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Consequences

This leads to:

• Wasted time trying to debug "why can't I target .NET 8?"
• Confusion about whether Blazor Server is supported in .NET 8 (it is — just under a different template)
• Friction adopting the new Blazor programming model

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Recommendation

Please:

1. Mark the blazorserver template as deprecated
2. Add a warning message when using the CLI template
3. Update the Visual Studio template description with a deprecation note
4. Optionally, offer the old template via an installable legacy pack, not by default

Environment

• .NET SDKs: 8.0.407, 9.0.201
• Visual Studio 2022 (latest)
• OS: Windows 11

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Original Comments

Feedback Bot on 4/8/2025, 07:31 AM:

Thank you for taking the time to provide your suggestion. We will do some preliminary checks to make sure we can proceed further. We’ll provide an update once the issue has been triaged by the product team.

[javiercn]

Thanks for contacting us.

Do you happen to have the .NET 6.0 SDK installed? At the time of release for .NET 8.0, .NET 6.0 was supported so the template shows in Visual Studio. A clean installation shouldn't show the template.

[dotnet-policy-service]

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