Mitigate Breaking Changes

Skill: mitigate-breaking-changes

Patterns and techniques for mitigating breaking changes when regenerating Azure management-plane .NET SDKs. Use these to preserve backward compatibility in the generated SDK surface.

When Invoked

Trigger phrases: "mitigate breaking changes", "fix breaking change", "customization patterns", "how to keep backward compat", "CodeGenType", "CodeGenSuppress", "markAsPageable", "hierarchyBuilding", "base type change".

SDK-Side Customizations (in SDK repo)

Use Custom/*.cs or Customization/*.cs partial classes (follow the package's existing structure) for .NET-side fixes.

Custom code file organization

Keep custom code types split into separate files:

• Put each custom type/partial type in its own .cs file.
• Name the file after the class it contains, for example src/Custom/Models/MyModel.cs for public partial class MyModel.
• Align the custom code folder structure with the generated code structure, such as using Models/ for model customizations and Extensions/ for extension customizations when those folders exist.
• Do not group multiple compatibility types in a single broad file such as Compatibility.cs; split them so each file name aligns with the class name.

Partial class (add members, suppress generated members)

// src/Custom/Models/MyModel.cs (or src/Customization/Models/MyModel.cs — follow the package's existing convention)
namespace Azure.ResourceManager.<Service>.Models
{
    public partial class MyModel
    {
        // Add computed properties, rename via [CodeGenMember], etc.
    }
}

[CodeGenType] — Override accessibility or rename a generated type

When a generated type is internal and @@access in client.tsp doesn't work (common for nested/wrapper types), use [CodeGenType] in Custom code to make it public:

// src/Custom/Models/MyPublicModel.cs
using Microsoft.TypeSpec.Generator.Customizations;

namespace Azure.ResourceManager.<Service>.Models
{
    [CodeGenType("OriginalTypeSpecModelName")]
    public partial class MyPublicModel
    {
    }
}

The [CodeGenType("...")] attribute takes the original TypeSpec model name (not the C# renamed name). This links the Custom partial class to the generated internal type and overrides its accessibility to public.

TypeSpec Decorator Customizations (in spec repo)

These decorators are added to client.tsp in the spec repo.

// Rename parameter
@@clientName(Operations.create::parameters.resource, "content");

// Rename path parameter
@@Azure.ResourceManager.Legacy.renamePathParameter(Resources.list, "fooName", "name");

// Mark a non-pageable list operation as pageable (returns Pageable<T> instead of Response<ListType>)
// Requires: using Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy;
#suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "migration"
@@markAsPageable(InterfaceName.operationName, "csharp");

// Suppress warning
#suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "migration"

When to use @@markAsPageable

When the old SDK returned Pageable<T> / AsyncPageable<T> for a list operation, but the TypeSpec spec defines the operation as non-pageable (returns a wrapper list type like FooList), use @@markAsPageable to make the generator produce pageable methods. This is preferred over writing custom SinglePagePageable<T> wrapper code because:

• It reduces custom code that must be maintained
• The generated pageable implementation handles diagnostics, cancellation, and error handling correctly
• It keeps the SDK surface consistent with other generated methods

Do NOT use @@markAsPageable if the operation is already marked with @list — the @list decorator already makes the operation pageable, and adding @@markAsPageable will cause a compile error. Check the spec's operation definition before adding the decorator.

Requirements:

1. Add using Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy; to the client.tsp imports
2. Add #suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "migration" before each @@markAsPageable call
3. After adding the decorator, regenerate and remove any custom [CodeGenSuppress] + SinglePagePageable wrapper code

@@alternateType Decorator

When the spec uses older common types that generate incorrect C# types (e.g., string instead of ResourceIdentifier for ID properties), use @@alternateType:

@@alternateType(MyModel.resourceId, Azure.ResourceManager.CommonTypes.ArmResourceIdentifier, "csharp");

@@hierarchyBuilding Decorator — Legacy base-type override

Do not use @@hierarchyBuilding for C# base-model/base-type compatibility. First verify resource-hierarchy parity, fix structural resource hierarchy issues in the TypeSpec resource shape, and use SDK-side custom code only for C# base-model/base-type compatibility after the generated surface is stable.

@@hierarchyBuilding is a legacy escape hatch. Use it only with explicit owner approval when no TypeSpec resource-shape fix or SDK-side customization is appropriate.

Syntax:

// Requires: using Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy;
#suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "Change the base type back to <TargetBase> for backward compatibility"
@@Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy.hierarchyBuilding(MyResource,
  Azure.ResourceManager.Foundations.TrackedResource,
  "csharp"
);

Common target base types:

• Azure.ResourceManager.Foundations.TrackedResource — generates TrackedResourceData (for resources with location and tags)
• Azure.ResourceManager.Foundations.ProxyResource — generates ResourceData (for proxy/child resources)
• Azure.ResourceManager.Foundations.Resource — generates ResourceData (ARM resource base)

Legacy-only scenarios that require explicit approval:

• The old SDK had MyData : ResourceData or MyData : TrackedResourceData, the regenerated SDK produces MyData : SomeOtherType (e.g., a service-local Resource model), and the owner has explicitly rejected the normal resource-shape and SDK-customization fixes.
• The CannotRemoveBaseTypeOrInterface API compatibility violation remains after verifying resource-hierarchy parity and attempting the normal SDK-side customization approach.

Requirements:

1. Add using Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy; to the client.tsp imports
2. Add #suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "..." before each @@hierarchyBuilding call
3. After adding the decorator, regenerate the SDK code

Legacy-approved example (from Key Vault):

import "@azure-tools/typespec-client-generator-core";
using Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy;

// Fix Vault resource to generate VaultData : TrackedResourceData
#suppress "@azure-tools/typespec-azure-core/no-legacy-usage" "Change the base type back to TrackedResource for backward compatibility"
@@Azure.ClientGenerator.Core.Legacy.hierarchyBuilding(Vault,
  Azure.ResourceManager.Foundations.TrackedResource,
  "csharp"
);

WirePathAttribute Breaking Changes

When the previous SDK version included WirePathAttribute on model properties (used by Azure.Provisioning libraries), regeneration may produce ApiCompat CannotRemoveAttribute errors for the missing attribute because the emitter defaults to not generating it.

How to detect

• ApiCompat CannotRemoveAttribute errors referencing WirePathAttribute on model properties
• These errors appear during dotnet pack --no-restore when the previous SDK release had WirePathAttribute on properties but the new generation does not

Fix

Add enable-wire-path-attribute: true to the mgmt emitter options in tspconfig.yaml (in the spec repo):

options:
  "@azure-typespec/http-client-csharp-mgmt":
    emitter-output-dir: "{output-dir}/{service-dir}/{namespace}"
    namespace: "Azure.ResourceManager.<Service>"
    enable-wire-path-attribute: true

Then regenerate the SDK.

If the remaining ApiCompat diff is only WirePathAttribute removal, it is acceptable to add targeted entries to the centralized baseline file under eng/apicompatbaselines/<Project>.xml. Do not add SDK custom code just to restore WirePathAttribute; the maintenance cost is not worth it for this compatibility diff.

Do not create a local ApiCompatBaseline.txt, do not baseline unrelated ApiCompat errors, and do not disable ApiCompat.

Extension Resources

Extension resources (deployed onto parent resources from different providers) require special handling.

Parameterized Scopes

When the same resource type can be deployed onto multiple parent types (e.g., VM, HCRP, VMSS), use OverrideResourceName with parameterized scopes. Each scope generates a separate SDK resource type. The generator may produce duplicate GetXxxResource() methods in MockableArmClient when multiple entries exist for the same resource — this is a known generator bug requiring deduplication.

Sub-Resource Operations: Avoid Read<> / Extension.Read<> for Non-Lifecycle Ops

When a sub-resource operation (e.g., getting a report under an assignment) uses Read<> or Extension.Read<> templates, the ARM library treats it as a lifecycle read operation. This causes:

• The resource's resourceType and resourceIdPattern to be set to the sub-resource path
• Collections using the wrong REST client
• Compile errors: CS1729 (wrong constructor), CS0029 (type mismatch), CS1503 (wrong argument)

Fix: Change sub-resource Get operations from Read<> to ActionSync<> (or Extension.ActionSync<> for extension resources) with a @get decorator:

// WRONG — ARM library treats this as lifecycle Read
reportGet is Ops.Read<Resource, Response = ArmResponse<Report>, ...>;

// CORRECT — ActionSync with @get avoids lifecycle misclassification
@get reportGet is Ops.ActionSync<Resource, void, Response = ArmResponse<Report>, ...>;