chore(renovate): cap Microsoft.Build packages below 18.10.0

[thomhurst]

Microsoft.Build 18.10.x ships only net11.0/net472 runtime assets, so net10.0 consumers such as TUnit.Mocks.InternalsAccess.Tests can't load it (23 tests fail with FileNotFoundException). Pinning only some projects to 18.9.6 then fails restore with NU1605.

This caps the Microsoft.Build family below 18.10.0 until the repo targets net11.0. Supersedes #6772.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Updated dependency management to prevent incompatible Microsoft build tooling versions from being selected.
  • Microsoft.Build packages and Microsoft.NET.StringTools are now limited to versions below 18.10.0.

[chatgpt-codex-connector]

Codex Review Summary

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Review	Status	Commit	Review trigger
📝 Code Review	✅ Completed 2026-09-22T20:33:03.979200Z	68128ea	PR opened

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ℹ️ Recent review info

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Run ID: 37f574a2-3fc1-4e51-a85e-8d11600756bb

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 8176071 and 68128ea.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• renovate.json

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The Renovate configuration now restricts four Microsoft packages to versions below 18.10.0. The rule prevents upgrades to versions with only net11.0 and net472 runtime assets.

Changes

Package Version Guard

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Renovate version rule renovate.json	Adds a packageRules entry that limits Microsoft.Build, Microsoft.Build.Framework, Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core, and Microsoft.NET.StringTools to versions below 18.10.0.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Other

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 68128

The package guard is narrowly scoped and presents no actionable merge-blocking risk.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: limiting Microsoft.Build package versions below 18.10.0 in Renovate.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 0 functions across 0…
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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_{A rabbit guards the package gate
Builds below eighteen point ten wait
New runtime paths stay out of sight
Net ten keeps running right
Renovate hops past the upgrade tonight}

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[github-actions]

Code Review: PR #6863 — cap Microsoft.Build packages below 18.10.0

Scope: Single 12-line addition to renovate.json, adding a packageRules entry that caps Microsoft.Build, Microsoft.Build.Framework, Microsoft.Build.Utilities.Core, and Microsoft.NET.StringTools to <18.10.0. No source code, generator, or execution-path changes are involved.

Verification performed:

• Confirmed renovate.json is valid JSON with the new packageRules entry correctly formed.
• Cross-checked existing references to these four package IDs (Directory.Packages.props, tests/TUnit.Mocks.InternalsAccess.Tests/*.csproj, src/TUnit.Mocks.InternalsAccess.Tasks/*.csproj, benchmarks/TUnit.SourceGenerator.Benchmarks/*.csproj). All are already pinned to 18.9.6 (or 18.10.1 for Microsoft.NET.StringTools in the benchmarks project, which uses ExcludeAssets=\"runtime\" and is therefore unaffected by the net10.0 runtime-asset problem this PR guards against). The new Renovate rule is consistent with, and simply codifies at the tooling level, pins that already exist in-repo for the reasons documented in those .csproj comments (compile-time-only MSBuild host assemblies needing both net472 and net8.0 assets).
• Checked matchPackageNames/allowedVersions syntax against Renovate's schema — standard, well-formed pattern.
• Considered whether <18.10.0 could still let a 18.10.0-preview slip through, but Renovate's default ignoreUnstable: true (not overridden here) prevents proposing prereleases against an already-stable pin, so this isn't a realistic failure path.
• No behavior is removed and no in-repo consumers are affected by a Renovate config change.

Result: No correctness, design, or maintainability issues found. This is a well-scoped, low-risk config change consistent with its stated rationale and the existing pins/comments elsewhere in the repo. Approving.