--- title: Automatically generate SandCastle documentation using... description: A step-by-step guide shows how to automate SandCastle API documentation generation on a build server using either CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build. It... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/automatically-generate-sandcastle-documentation-using-cruisecontrol-net-or-vsts-team-build-nqcvoz5eb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Automatically generate SandCastle documentation using CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build | daily.dev og:description: A step-by-step guide shows how to automate SandCastle API documentation generation on a build server using either CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build. It... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/automatically-generate-sandcastle-documentation-using-cruisecontrol-net-or-vsts-team-build-nqcvoz5eb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/NQcvOz5EB.png og:image:alt: Automatically generate SandCastle documentation using CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Automatically generate SandCastle documentation using CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build **[Maarten Balliauw](https://daily.dev/sources/maartenballiauw)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A step-by-step guide shows how to automate SandCastle API documentation generation on a build server using either CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build. It covers installing the SandCastle Help File Builder (SHFB), fixing a known bug in the 1.5.0.1 release's MRefBuilder.config file, enabling XML documentation output in project settings, creating an SHFB configuration file, and wiring the SHFB command-line tool into a scheduled build task that copies generated docs to a web server folder. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I fix the MRefBuilder.config bug in SandCastle Help File Builder 1.5.0.1? Open C:\Program Files\EWSoftware\Sandcastle Help File Builder\Templates\MRefBuilder.config in Notepad and replace %DXROOT% with {@SandcastlePath} on line 4. This resolves a known bug in SHFB version 1.5.0.1 that otherwise breaks the documentation build process when running SandcastleBuilderConsole.exe. _Developers wiring SandCastle into a build pipeline can find setup fixes like this through daily.dev._ ### How do I automatically generate SandCastle documentation on a CruiseControl.NET build server? Add a new project to ccnet.config with a scheduled trigger and two exec tasks: one calling SandcastleBuilderConsole.exe with the path to a .shfb configuration file, and another using xcopy to deploy the generated files to a web server folder like wwwroot. Setting a generous buildTimeoutSeconds value matters since documentation builds can take over an hour. _Teams scheduling automated doc builds track CruiseControl.NET configuration tips on daily.dev._ ### How do I add a documentation build step to a VSTS Team Build TFSbuild.proj file? Add an AfterCompile target containing two Exec tasks: the first runs SandcastleBuilderConsole.exe against the .shfb configuration file to generate documentation, and the second uses xcopy to copy the generated output into a web server directory such as wwwroot. Check in the build file afterward so the solution build triggers it. _Developers integrating documentation generation into Team Build pipelines follow guides like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [MSBuild explained: Understanding Microsoft’s build platform](https://daily.dev/posts/msbuild-explained-understanding-microsoft-s-build-platform-eurl48soa) · InfoWorld · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Automating Flutter Android Deployments: CI/CD, Play Store & Shorebird OTA](https://daily.dev/posts/automating-flutter-android-deployments-ci-cd-play-store-shorebird-ota-tidg0wtgb) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [foojay – Documentation as Code with AsciiDoctor, GitLab CI, and GitLab Pages](https://daily.dev/posts/foojay-documentation-as-code-with-asciidoctor-gitlab-ci-and-gitlab-pages-2fslmmcqk) · Foojay.io · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [Simple Project Documentation with MkDocs, PlantUML, and PlantUML-C4 Integration](https://daily.dev/posts/simple-project-documentation-with-mkdocs-plantuml-and-plantuml-c4-integration-ysgvf2igo) · Jacek Galowicz · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#cicd](https://daily.dev/tags/cicd) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/automatically-generate-sandcastle-documentation-using-cruisecontrol-net-or-vsts-team-build-nqcvoz5eb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Automatically generate SandCastle documentation using CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/automatically-generate-sandcastle-documentation-using-cruisecontrol-net-or-vsts-team-build-nqcvoz5eb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/automatically-generate-sandcastle-documentation-using-cruisecontrol-net-or-vsts-team-build-nqcvoz5eb"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T13:06:13.474Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T13:14:41.362Z","description":"A step-by-step guide shows how to automate SandCastle API documentation generation on a build server using either CruiseControl.NET or VSTS Team Build. 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