aspire-apphost-wiring

name	aspire-apphost-wiring
description	How to wire up .NET Aspire 13.1 AppHost with containers, databases, and service projects
domain	infrastructure
confidence	low
source	earned

Context

When scaffolding a .NET Aspire 13.1 solution with multiple services, containers, and infrastructure resources. Applies to any project using Aspire for orchestration.

Patterns

Template selection

• aspire-apphost for the orchestrator (generates AppHost.cs, not Program.cs)
• aspire-servicedefaults for shared defaults (OTel, health checks, service discovery)
• Standard webapi, worker, classlib templates for service projects — Aspire doesn't need special service templates

Container endpoints for non-HTTP services

Non-HTTP containers (Minecraft, game servers, TCP services) need explicit scheme: "tcp":

.WithEndpoint(targetPort: 25565, port: 25565, name: "minecraft", scheme: "tcp")

Secret parameters

Use builder.AddParameter("name", secret: true) for secrets that containers need:

.WithEnvironment("RCON_PASSWORD", builder.AddParameter("rcon-password", secret: true))

This integrates with user secrets in dev and proper stores in production.

Service wiring pattern

Services call builder.AddServiceDefaults() plus their specific Aspire client integrations:

builder.AddNpgsqlDbContext<MyDbContext>("connectionName");
builder.AddRedisClient("redis");

The connection name must match what the AppHost defines (e.g., .AddDatabase("bridgedb") → "bridgedb").

EF Core Design package placement

Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design must be in BOTH the data class library AND the startup project for dotnet ef migrations to work.

Examples

See src/AppHost/AppHost.cs in the Discord-Minecraft project for a complete multi-service, multi-container orchestration.

Anti-Patterns

• Don't hardcode connection strings — let Aspire inject them via service discovery
• Don't use aspire-starter if you need custom project layouts — scaffold individual projects instead
• Don't forget WaitFor() chains — services that depend on infrastructure should wait for it
• Don't mix EF Core package versions between the Aspire integration and your data library — pin explicitly if needed