Training course · Windsurf · C# & .NET

Windsurf for C# and .NET Developers

Develop with the Windsurf AI IDE and its Cascade agent: flows, memories, rules, workflows and safe use across the team.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

This course connects Windsurf with the everyday processes of C# & .NET. Participants work on realistic scenarios and leave with prompts, workflows and checklists they can use straight away.

Windsurf is an AI-powered development environment built around its agent, Cascade. Cascade understands the structure of your project, follows your actions in the editor and terminal, and works with you according to the flow principle: you and the agent take turns on the same task without having to re-explain context over and over. In this two-day course you will learn how to use Cascade effectively for features, debugging and refactoring, and how to make the most of intelligent completion in your daily development work.

To keep results consistent across a team, you steer Cascade with global and workspace rules, rely on memories for lasting project knowledge and automate recurring procedures with workflows that run from a slash command. You will connect external tools through MCP, control how terminal commands are executed and decide which data Cascade is allowed to see. Finally, you will define rules for code review, security and data protection so that Windsurf can be used responsibly within your organisation and its existing processes.

C# and .NET are firmly established in many organisations: ASP.NET Core APIs, Blazor and WPF front ends, Azure services and line-of-business applications dating back to the .NET Framework era. Migrating from the classic .NET Framework to modern cross-platform .NET in particular ties up significant capacity. AI coding assistants and agents take over much of the mechanical work here: converting project files to SDK style, identifying WCF or Web Forms dependencies, writing xUnit or NUnit tests, optimising Entity Framework Core queries and introducing nullable reference types. To do this well, they need context on solution structure, analyser rules and architectural guidelines. This course shows you how to use agents in Visual Studio, VS Code or Rider and on the command line.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • C# developers working with ASP.NET Core, Blazor or WPF
  • Teams migrating applications from .NET Framework to modern .NET
  • Software architects for .NET and Azure solutions
  • Developers of line-of-business applications in industry and SMEs

Typical challenges we address

  • Costly migration of .NET Framework applications built on WCF, Web Forms or ageing NuGet packages
  • Large solutions with many projects, circular dependencies and little test coverage
  • Performance issues caused by inefficient Entity Framework queries
  • Inconsistent handling of nullability, async/await and dependency injection

What you will be able to do

  • You use Cascade productively in flow for features, debugging and refactoring.
  • You steer Windsurf’s context precisely and keep sensitive content protected.
  • You maintain memories and rules that reliably enforce your project conventions.
  • You automate recurring procedures with workflows and connect external tools via MCP.
  • Use AI agents for .NET migrations, refactorings and test generation across large solutions.
  • Optimise Entity Framework Core data access and ASP.NET Core APIs with AI support.
  • Define analyser rules, conventions and review criteria that generated C# code meets reliably.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Getting to know Windsurf and Cascade
  • Installation, importing existing editor settings and basic configuration
  • Cascade in code and chat mode: when the agent edits and when it only advises
  • The flow principle: how Cascade takes your editor and terminal actions into account
  • Intelligent completion and inline commands in everyday development
Module 2 Steering context
  • Understanding codebase indexing and referencing relevant files or directories
  • Bringing documentation, web sources and terminal output into context
  • Excluding sensitive content from context with ignore files
  • Structuring sessions and starting afresh when the topic changes
Module 3 Memories and rules for consistent results
  • Reviewing and maintaining auto-generated and manually created memories
  • Creating and versioning global and workspace rules
  • Expressing architecture, style and testing guidelines as effective rules
  • Activating rules selectively by file pattern or occasion
Module 4 Workflows and automation
  • Defining recurring procedures as workflows and launching them via slash command
  • Building workflows for release preparation, testing or code maintenance
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or internal services
  • Controlling terminal command execution with allow and deny lists

Day 2

Module 5 Quality, review and governance
  • Tracing Cascade’s changes, accepting them partially or reverting them
  • Using a test-driven approach and preview features for verification
  • Team settings, data protection options and handling of secrets
  • Defining review processes and accountability for AI-generated code
Module 6 Practice lab: C# & .NET
  • Migrating to modern .NET
  • Writing xUnit and NUnit tests
  • Optimising Entity Framework Core
  • Introducing nullable reference types
  • Building ASP.NET Core APIs
  • Code analysis and refactoring
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Clarify whether source code may be sent to cloud models and which tenant or region settings apply, and keep connection strings and secrets from User Secrets or Key Vault out of prompts. New NuGet packages should be checked for licence, provenance and vulnerabilities – not least in view of the obligations under the Cyber Resilience Act.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Migrating to modern .NET

The agent analyses projects using the upgrade tooling and compiler output, converts csproj files to SDK style, replaces incompatible APIs and proposes alternatives to WCF or System.Web until the solution builds and tests pass.

Writing xUnit and NUnit tests

Services, controllers and domain logic get unit tests with Moq or NSubstitute plus integration tests using WebApplicationFactory. The AI covers edge cases and sticks to your existing test conventions.

Optimising Entity Framework Core

The AI analyses generated SQL, spots N+1 problems, missing AsNoTracking calls or awkward Includes, and creates migrations and projections for faster queries. Every change is backed by the resulting SQL.

Introducing nullable reference types

Nullable is enabled project by project while the AI works through compiler warnings, adds guard clauses and annotations and makes implicit assumptions in the code explicit.

Building ASP.NET Core APIs

Specifications become minimal APIs or controllers with validation, ProblemDetails error handling, authentication and OpenAPI documentation, consistent with your existing layered architecture. Integration tests safeguard each new endpoint.

Code analysis and refactoring

Roslyn analyser findings are fixed systematically, oversized classes split, async anti-patterns such as .Result removed and dependency injection registrations made consistent. Build, analysers and existing tests confirm that behaviour is unchanged.

Possible hands-on projects

Minimal API service

An ASP.NET Core service using minimal APIs, EF Core, health checks, structured logging and integration tests, built end to end by an AI agent from a specification.

Migration inventory

A console tool that scans a solution, lists target frameworks, NuGet packages and incompatible APIs, and produces a prioritised migration plan.

Blazor admin UI

A small Blazor application for managing master data, with form validation, filterable tables and integration with an existing REST API.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and a modern IDE. Good C# skills, experience with ASP.NET Core or .NET desktop development, and familiarity with Visual Studio, Rider or VS Code and Git.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with the Windsurf editor, Git and your usual toolchain installed; a Windsurf account with access to Cascade is required.

Data protection & compliance

Clarify whether source code may be sent to cloud models and which tenant or region settings apply, and keep connection strings and secrets from User Secrets or Key Vault out of prompts. New NuGet packages should be checked for licence, provenance and vulnerabilities – not least in view of the obligations under the Cyber Resilience Act.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Wed, 25 November 2026 – Thu, 26 November 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 8 December 2026 – Wed, 9 December 2026 Bremen Request
  • Tue, 12 January 2027 – Wed, 13 January 2027 Salzburg Request
  • Mon, 18 January 2027 – Tue, 19 January 2027 Online Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Kaiserslautern Request
  • Wed, 3 February 2027 – Thu, 4 February 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

What does Windsurf mean by flows?

Flows describe the close collaboration between you and Cascade. The agent observes what you do in the editor and terminal and takes those actions into account in its next steps. As a result you do not have to keep explaining where you are, and you can move smoothly between doing the work yourself and delegating it to the agent.

How do memories, rules and workflows differ?

Memories store knowledge that Cascade has gathered while working or that you have explicitly recorded. Rules are guidelines you write that shape the agent’s behaviour permanently. Workflows are reusable sequences of steps for recurring tasks, launched with a slash command. Together they keep results consistent across the whole team.

Can I use Windsurf with my existing projects and languages?

Yes. Windsurf is language-agnostic and works with your existing toolchain, including build tools, package managers and test frameworks. Whether you work on back end, front end, data processing or infrastructure code, what matters is giving Cascade good rules and clear context. Each course variant adds the specific focus for your field.

Does AI really help with migrating from .NET Framework?

Yes, especially with the mechanical work: converting project files, finding incompatible APIs, suggesting replacement libraries and fixing build errors iteratively. Fundamental architecture decisions, such as replacing WCF with gRPC or REST, remain with the team. On the course you practise breaking such migrations into small, verifiable steps.

Do AI agents work with Visual Studio?

Many AI assistants integrate directly with Visual Studio, VS Code or Rider, while others run in the terminal alongside the dotnet CLI. The methods taught are tool-neutral: you learn to provide context, scope tasks and safeguard results through builds, analysers and tests, regardless of your IDE.

How much does “Windsurf for C# and .NET Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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