Detecting WinForms Breaking Changes with the Telerik CLI migrate analyze Command

Updated on Oct 6, 2026

The migrate analyze command of the Telerik CLI scans Telerik UI for WinForms projects and reports API breaking changes between product versions. Use it before upgrading a project to identify affected C# or VB.NET source code and review the recommended changes.

Why Use the migrate Command

Upgrading to a newer Telerik UI for WinForms release can involve breaking API changes, such as removed or renamed members. Instead of upgrading blindly and fixing compiler errors one at a time, migrate analyze scans your project up front and lists affected files, the exact line and column, and guidance on how to update the code. The command works through static analysis, so your project does not need to build successfully first.

Prerequisites

The migrate analyze command requires the Telerik CLI to be installed as a .NET global tool.

powershell

dotnet tool install -g Telerik.CLI

For more information, see Setup and Installation with Telerik CLI.

Quick Start

To analyze a project and let the command auto-detect your current Telerik version from the project references, run the following command.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --project ./MyWinFormsApp.csproj

Auto-detection relies on the project referencing Telerik packages or assemblies in a recognizable way. If the command cannot determine your current version, pass --from-version explicitly.

More Usage Examples

To pin an explicit version range instead of relying on auto-detection, use --from-version and --to-version.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --project ./MyWinFormsApp.csproj --from-version 2020.3.915 --to-version 2026.2.701

To scan a source directory recursively without a project file, use --directory.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --directory ./src --from-version 2024.4.1111

To analyze only specific files, use --file with one or more space-separated paths. For example, include a form and its designer file.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --file MainForm.cs MainForm.Designer.cs --from-version 2024.4.1111

To get machine-readable output for scripting or CI pipelines, add --json.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --project ./MyWinFormsApp.csproj --json

Output Formats

By default, the command prints a human-readable table to the console.

text

Telerik version range: 2020.3.915 → 2026.2.701
Files discovered: 42, analyzed: 18
Breaking changes found: 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C:\MyApp\MainForm.cs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  L14:C32  [Removed]  RadGridView.OldPropertyName
           Use the replacement property instead.

The output above is illustrative. The reported control members and recommended changes depend on the breaking changes detected for the versions you analyze.

Pass the --json option to the migrate analyze command to get the same information as structured data, suitable for CI pipelines.

json

{
  "exitCode": 1,
  "message": "Analysis complete (2020.3.915 → 2026.2.701). 7 breaking change(s) detected.",
  "success": false,
  "data": [
    {
      "filePath": "C:\\MyApp\\MainForm.cs",
      "line": 14,
      "column": 32,
      "typeName": "RadGridView",
      "member": "OldPropertyName",
      "memberKind": "property",
      "changeKind": "removed",
      "old": "",
      "new": "",
      "message": "Use the replacement property instead.",
      "confidence": "direct"
    }
  ]
}

To save the results to a file for later review, redirect the output.

powershell

telerik migrate analyze --product winforms --project ./MyWinFormsApp.csproj --json > findings.json

See Also

• Setup and Installation with Telerik CLI
• Use the WinForms MCP Upgrade Assistant