Call MSBuild passing it a single task to run

Based on the MSBuild Command-Line Reference, this isn't possible exactly as you describe it, i.e. MSBuild will not take Target definitions from the command-line input. They have to be defined in a file somewhere.

But, you can have a script (maybe even a .bat?) that does something like:

1. Create a new, essentially empty, project file.
2. Import the .csproj, with <Import Project="foo.csproj" />
3. Add the targets
4. Call MSBuild with the new project file with the targets you want. Multiple targets can be specified by multiple /t: switches. Properties can be specified with /p:

The final, programmatically/script generated project file might look something like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Project ToolsVersion="12.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003"> <Import Project="foo.csproj" /> <Target Name="CopyFiles"> <Copy SourceFiles="@(MySourceFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(Destination)" /> </Target> </Project> 

The actual MSBuild command called might then be:

msbuild temp.proj /t:CopyFiles /p:"Destination=c:\MyProject\Destination"