GitHub Copilot. Migrating Asp.Net - Web Forms App to Blazor. Attempt 1

Описание: GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2026. Converting old .Net Framework WebForms application to the more modern Blazor

*Converting ASP.NET WebForms to Blazor Using GitHub Copilot – My Full, Honest Experience*

In this video, I attempt something ambitious*: using **GitHub Copilot* to fully convert an *ASP.NET WebForms (.NET Framework)* application into the *latest ASP.NET Blazor Server* project.

As a developer with almost no real Copilot experience, I went into this process with extremely high expectations—especially considering the WebForms application is small, well-structured, and uses common design patterns.

If you want to see how to get started with GitHub Copilot in **Visual Studio 2026**, watch my separate video. The setup is very simple as long as you already have a GitHub account.

*Getting Started with Copilot*
   • Github Copilot. Getting Started in Visual ...  

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*About the Existing Application*

The original solution is a classic *.NET Framework WebForms* project that:

✔ Has one main page that creates a product and saves it to a database
✔ Uses a *User Control* for most of the form
✔ Uses a *Master Page* for layout
✔ Has clean separation of layers:

WebForms front-end
A Data Access layer using *Entity Framework 6*
A Composition Root project using *Autofac* (because WebForms has no built-in DI)
Integration tests running against a real database

I expected Copilot to be able to handle most of the migration—especially the EF6 to EF Core changes.

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*The Migration Plan / Prompt*

Here is the exact prompt I gave Copilot:

“Given this solution that was created in ASP.NET WebForms, convert it to the latest ASP.NET Blazor Server.
• Keep C# code in code-behind where possible
• Use the latest versions of Entity Framework
• Use the appropriate version of AutoFac for dependency injection”

I also emphasized the importance of *source control* and having both a backup and a clean branch before starting.

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*Copilot Agent Mode – The Reality*

On my very first attempt, I quickly realized I had to use **Agent Mode**.
This allows Copilot to directly edit files across the solution instead of relying on copy/paste.

Sounds great in theory… but here’s what really happened:

● Copilot was very slow
● Lots of back-and-forth questions
● Barely any progress after 10 minutes
● Most projects remained on .NET Framework
● It attempted a Blazor migration—but only to **.NET 8**, not the latest version
● It couldn’t modify solution-level files while the IDE was open
● I eventually had to unload every project manually just to proceed
● Endless rebuilds and test runs slowed everything down
● After 3 hours, it still hadn’t migrated the WebForms project or moved the connection string
● After 4 hours, the solution finally compiled—but the Blazor project was still missing entirely

The good news?

✔ Integration tests still passed
✔ Supporting projects upgraded cleanly
✔ NuGet packages stayed at previous versions to prevent breaking changes

But ultimately…

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*Conclusion: My First Attempt Failed*

Despite all the effort, Copilot *could not* successfully migrate even this simple WebForms app to Blazor in its first attempt.

The WebForms project simply stayed WebForms.

The rest of the solution upgraded, but the core goal failed.

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*What’s Next?*

I will create another video where I repeat the entire migration **but this time I will manually create the Blazor project first**, since Copilot may have selected the wrong Blazor template.

Grab your popcorn, chips, sweets, and cooldrink—because this experiment did not go as expected… but it was very educational.

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*Timestamps (Add later after upload)*

00:00 - Intro
00:43 - WebForms App
04:04 - Prompt to Copilot
05:15 - The Failure
07:57 - 3-4 Hrs - Nothing
09:00 - Conclusion

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*Getting Started with Copilot*
   • Github Copilot. Getting Started in Visual ...  

*Keywords*

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