In the Microsoft.Practices.RecipeFramework.VisualStudio.dll in Microsoft.Practices.RecipeFramework.VisualStudio.Templates.VszWizard.FindAddItem() is the following code: state["WizardType"] = context[0]; state["ProjectName"] = ((ProjectItems) context[2]).ContainingProject.UniqueName; state["ProjectItems"] = context[2]; state["LocalDirectory"] = context[3]; state["ItemName"] = context[4]; state["InstallationDirectory"] = context[5]; state["Silent"] = context[5]; Notice the last two lines both use context[5]. The last one should use context.