ci-test-failures

name	ci-test-failures
description	Guide for diagnosing and fixing CI test failures using the DownloadFailingJobLogs tool. Use this when asked to investigate GitHub Actions test failures, download failure logs, or debug CI issues. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"dotnet"}

CI Test Failure Diagnosis

This skill provides patterns and practices for diagnosing GitHub Actions test failures in the Aspire repository using the DownloadFailingJobLogs tool.

Overview

When CI tests fail, use the DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs tool to automatically download logs and artifacts for failed jobs. This tool eliminates manual log hunting and provides structured access to test failures.

Location: tools/scripts/DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs

Quick Start

Step 1: Find the Run ID

Get the run ID from the GitHub Actions URL or use the gh CLI:

# From URL: https://github.com/microsoft/aspire/actions/runs/19846215629
#                                                        ^^^^^^^^^^
#                                                        run ID

# Or find the latest run on a branch
gh run list --repo microsoft/aspire --branch <branch-name> --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId'

# Or for a PR
gh pr checks <pr-number> --repo microsoft/aspire

Step 2: Run the Tool

cd tools/scripts
dotnet run DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs -- <run-id>

Example:

dotnet run DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs -- 19846215629

Step 3: Analyze Output

The tool creates files in your current directory:

File Pattern	Contents
failed_job_<n>_<job-name>.log	Raw job logs from GitHub Actions
artifact_<n>_<testname>_<os>.zip	Downloaded artifact zip files
artifact_<n>_<testname>_<os>/	Extracted directory with .trx files, logs, binlogs

What the Tool Does

1. Finds all failed jobs in a GitHub Actions workflow run
2. Downloads job logs for each failed job
3. Extracts test failures and errors from logs using regex patterns
4. Determines artifact names from job names (pattern: logs-{testShortName}-{os})
5. Downloads test artifacts containing .trx files and test logs
6. Extracts artifacts to local directories for inspection

Example Workflow

# 1. Check failed jobs on a PR
gh pr checks 14105 --repo microsoft/aspire 2>&1 | Where-Object { $_ -match "fail" }

# 2. Get the run ID
$runId = gh run list --repo microsoft/aspire --branch davidfowl/my-branch --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId'

# 3. Download failure logs
cd tools/scripts
dotnet run DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs -- $runId

# 4. Search for errors in downloaded logs
Get-Content "failed_job_0_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "error|Error:" -Context 2,3 | Select-Object -First 20

# 5. Check .trx files for test failures
Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter "*.trx" | ForEach-Object {
    [xml]$xml = Get-Content $_.FullName
    $xml.TestRun.Results.UnitTestResult | Where-Object { $_.outcome -eq "Failed" }
}

Understanding Job Log Output

The tool prints a summary for each failed job:

=== Failed Job 1/1 ===
Name: Tests / Integrations macos (Hosting.Azure) / Hosting.Azure (macos-latest)
ID: 56864254427
URL: https://github.com/microsoft/aspire/actions/runs/19846215629/job/56864254427
Downloading job logs...
Saved job logs to: failed_job_0_Tests___Integrations_macos__Hosting_Azure____Hosting_Azure__macos-latest_.log

Errors found (2):
  - System.InvalidOperationException: Step 'provision-api-service' failed...

Searching Downloaded Logs

Find Errors in Job Logs

# PowerShell
Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "error|Error:" -Context 2,3

# Bash
grep -i "error" failed_job_*.log | head -50

Find Build Failures

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "Build FAILED|error MSB|error CS"

Find Test Failures

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "Failed!" -Context 5,0

Check for Disk Space Issues

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "No space left|disk space"

Check for Timeout Issues

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "timeout|timed out|Timeout"

Using GitHub API for Annotations

Sometimes job logs aren't available (404). Use annotations instead:

gh api repos/microsoft/aspire/check-runs/<job-id>/annotations

This returns structured error information even when full logs aren't downloadable.

Common Failure Patterns

Disk Space Exhaustion

Symptom: No space left on device in annotations or logs

Diagnosis:

gh api repos/microsoft/aspire/check-runs/<job-id>/annotations 2>&1

Common fixes:

• Add disk cleanup step before build
• Use larger runner (e.g., 8-core-ubuntu-latest)
• Skip unnecessary build steps (e.g., /p:BuildTests=false)

Command Not Found

Symptom: exit code 127 or command not found

Diagnosis:

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "command not found|exit code 127" -Context 3,1

Common fixes:

• Ensure PATH includes required tools
• Use full path to executables
• Install missing dependencies

Test Timeout

Symptom: Test hangs, then fails with timeout

Diagnosis:

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "Test host process exited|Timeout|timed out"

Common fixes:

• Increase test timeout
• Check for deadlocks in test code
• Review Heartbeat.cs output for resource exhaustion

Build Failure

Symptom: Build FAILED or MSBuild errors

Diagnosis:

Get-Content "failed_job_*.log" | Select-String -Pattern "error CS|error MSB|Build FAILED" -Context 0,3

Common fixes:

• Check for missing project references
• Verify package versions
• Download and analyze .binlog from artifacts

Artifact Contents

Downloaded artifacts typically contain:

artifact_0_TestName_os/
├── testresults/
│   ├── TestName_net10.0_timestamp.trx    # Test results XML
│   ├── Aspire.*.Tests_*.log              # Console output
│   ├── recordings/                        # Asciinema recordings (CLI E2E tests)
│   └── workspaces/                        # Captured project workspaces (CLI E2E tests)
│       └── TestClassName.MethodName/      # Full generated project for failed tests
│           ├── apphost.ts
│           ├── aspire.config.json
│           ├── .modules/                  # Generated SDK (aspire.js) - key for debugging
│           └── ...
├── *.crash.dmp                            # Crash dump (if test crashed)
└── test.binlog                            # MSBuild binary log

CLI E2E Workspace Capture

CLI E2E tests annotated with [CaptureWorkspaceOnFailure] automatically capture the full generated project workspace when a test fails. This includes the generated SDK (.modules/aspire.js), template output, and config files — critical for debugging template generation or aspire run failures.

Look in testresults/workspaces/{TestClassName.MethodName}/ inside the downloaded artifact.

Parsing .trx Files

# Find all failed tests in .trx files
Get-ChildItem -Path "artifact_*" -Recurse -Filter "*.trx" | ForEach-Object {
    Write-Host "=== $($_.Name) ==="
    [xml]$xml = Get-Content $_.FullName
    $xml.TestRun.Results.UnitTestResult | Where-Object { $_.outcome -eq "Failed" } | ForEach-Object {
        Write-Host "FAILED: $($_.testName)"
        Write-Host $_.Output.ErrorInfo.Message
        Write-Host "---"
    }
}

Tips

Clean Up Before Running

Remove-Item *.log -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item *.zip -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Recurse artifact_* -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Run From tools/scripts Directory

The tool creates files in the current directory, so run it from tools/scripts to keep things organized:

cd tools/scripts
dotnet run DownloadFailingJobLogs.cs -- <run-id>

Don't Commit Log Files

The downloaded log files can be large. Don't commit them to the repository:

# Before committing
rm tools/scripts/*.log
rm tools/scripts/*.zip
rm -rf tools/scripts/artifact_*

Prerequisites

• .NET 10 SDK or later
• GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
• Access to the microsoft/aspire repository

See Also

• tools/scripts/README.md - Full documentation
• tools/scripts/Heartbeat.cs - System monitoring tool for diagnosing hangs
• .github/skills/cli-e2e-testing/SKILL.md - CLI E2E test troubleshooting

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