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Aspire Skill

This repository uses Aspire to orchestrate its distributed application. Resources are defined in the AppHost project (apphost.cs or apphost.ts).

CLI command reference

Most commands support --format Json for machine-readable output. Use --apphost <path> to target a specific AppHost.

Key workflows

Running in agent environments

Use aspire start to run the AppHost in the background. When working in a git worktree, use --isolated to avoid port conflicts and to prevent sharing user secrets or other local state with other running instances:

aspire start --isolated

Use aspire wait <resource> to block until a resource is healthy before interacting with it:

aspire start --isolated
aspire wait myapi

Applying code changes

Choose the right action based on what changed:

Never restart the entire AppHost just because a single resource changed. Use aspire resource <name> rebuild for .NET project resources — it coordinates stop, build, and restart for just that resource. Use aspire describe --format Json to check which commands a resource supports.

Debugging issues

Before making code changes, inspect the app state:

1. aspire describe — check resource status
2. aspire otel logs <resource> — view structured logs
3. aspire logs <resource> — view console output
4. aspire otel traces <resource> — view distributed traces

Adding integrations

Use aspire docs search to find integration documentation, then aspire docs get to read the full guide. Use aspire add to add the integration package to the AppHost.

After adding an integration, restart the app with aspire start for the new resource to take effect.

Using resource MCP tools

Some resources expose MCP tools (e.g. WithPostgresMcp() adds SQL query tools). Discover and call them via CLI:

aspire mcp tools                                              # list available tools
aspire mcp tools --format Json                                # includes input schemas
aspire mcp call <resource> <tool> --input '{"key":"value"}'   # invoke a tool

Important rules

• Always start the app first (aspire start) before making changes to verify the starting state.
• To restart, just run aspire start again — it automatically stops the previous instance. NEVER use aspire stop then aspire run. NEVER use aspire run at all.
• Only restart the AppHost when AppHost code changes. For .NET project resources, use aspire resource <name> rebuild instead.
• Use --isolated when working in a worktree.
• Avoid persistent containers early in development to prevent state management issues.
• Never install the Aspire workload — it is obsolete.
• For Aspire API reference and documentation, prefer aspire docs search <query> and aspire docs get <slug> over searching NuGet package caches or XML doc files. The CLI provides up-to-date content from aspire.dev.
• Prefer aspire.dev and learn.microsoft.com/microsoft/aspire for official documentation.

Playwright CLI

If configured, use Playwright CLI for functional testing of resources. Get endpoints via aspire describe. Run playwright-cli --help for available commands.

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