Why add-migration command is giving error although build succeeds in Visual Studio using .NET

Question

I'm new to .NET and keep getting the following error when executing add-migration command in Visual Studio 2022. Error Details

You must install or update .NET to run this application.

App: C:\Users\myname\.nuget\packages\microsoft.entityframeworkcore.tools\3.1.1\tools\netcoreapp2.0\any\ef.dll
Architecture: x64
Framework: 'Microsoft.NETCore.App', version '2.0.0' (x64)
.NET location: C:\Program Files\dotnet\

The following frameworks were found:
  3.1.32 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  5.0.17 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  6.0.16 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]
  7.0.5 at [C:\Program Files\dotnet\shared\Microsoft.NETCore.App]

Learn about framework resolution:
https://aka.ms/dotnet/app-launch-failed

To install missing framework, download:
https://aka.ms/dotnet-core-applaunch?framework=Microsoft.NETCore.App&framework_version=2.0.0&arch=x64&rid=win10-x64

Notice,
App: C:\Users\myName\.nuget\packages\microsoft.entityframeworkcore.tools\3.1.1\tools\netcoreapp2.0\any\ef.dll does not point to the location of my solution/project but to some nuget package.

.csproj file mentions <TargetFrameworks>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFrameworks>. So I assume my app is using .NET 3.1 which is already installed in my system. But the error says I should have .NET 2.0.0

I tried to check the .NET version in package manager console.
PM> dotnet --version
7.0.203

I genuinely appreciate any fixes or help in understanding why its asking for 2.0.0 when my app uses 3.1 and why its showing 7.0 when I try to check the version in PM Console.

Answer 1

PM> dotnet --version
7.0.203

What this command says is the latest version of .NET you have installed on your system, not what your project uses.

<TargetFrameworks>netcoreapp3.1</TargetFrameworks>

While this already indicates that your app is using .NET Core 3.1, if you want to use .NET 7 you should swap it for

<TargetFramework>net7.0</TargetFramework>

After that I'd update the nuget packages to corresponding versions and try again.