Motor cortex (MCtx) comprise the primary descending circuits for flexible control of voluntary movements and plays an important role in motor skill learning. The proposed mechanism for motor learning and updating is dopaminergic modulation of local neuronal activity. However, little is known about the organization of dopaminoceptive circuits in the MCtx. Therefore, we targeted cells expressing D1 and D2 receptors in the MCtx and discovered that neurons located in the superficial layer 2/3 have D2 receptors, whereas the majority of cells in deep output layers 5-6 express D1 receptors. We then investigated if there is a causal relationship between dopamine (DA) release and neuronal activity in these circuits during the development of skilled forelimb movements. We trained head-fixed mice to make self-initiated joystick movements to collect water rewards while simultaneously monitoring DA release and calcium dynamics in the MCtx forelimb area using fiber photometry. We found that both DA fluorescence and neuronal calcium signals rose significantly after initiating joystick movement and receiving water rewards. Furthermore, animals’ performance adapted to changes in task parameters (e.g. reward threshold), which were followed by changes in calcium fluctuations and DA concentration recorded in MCtx dopaminoceptive circuits. Finally, we demonstrated that systemic injection of selective DA receptor antagonists or cell-type specific optogenetic perturbations of D1+ and D2+ neurons in the MCtx impairs task performance. Overall, our findings revealed a link between DA release and neuronal activity in dopaminoceptive circuits within MCtx in the development of skilled forelimb movements and evaluating their outcomes.Funding: National_Science_Centre_Poland, SONATA_2020/39/D/NZ4/00503