Pipeline Content in Mod/Library

I’m trying to create a game with mod support. I’d like mod content to be created as .dll built against my Mod API as well as Monogame (so I don’t need to recreate common classes like Vector2, KeyState, etc.).

My question is, if I’d like mods to include optimized .xnb files for their graphics, will they also need .mgcb files? Trying to add them myself, VS2015 doesn’t give me the option to set the content.mgcb file’s build action to MonoGameContentReference. Do mods need a .mgcb file if the main executable is going to be doing the actual loading of the textures?

Any feedback is appreciated. I don’t really understand what the .mgcb file actually does after the .xnb files have been created via the pipeline tool.

The MGCB file is simply a collection of command line parameters for the MGCB.exe tool. It is not needed at runtime for the game to work.

Whatever system you have for the packaging of your mod could generate a temporary MGCB file that used just for that packaging process and removed when finished.