aspire

name

aspire

description

Orchestrates Aspire distributed applications using the Aspire CLI for running, debugging, and managing distributed apps. USE FOR: aspire start, aspire stop, start aspire app, aspire describe, list aspire integrations, debug aspire issues, view aspire logs, add aspire resource, aspire dashboard, update aspire apphost. DO NOT USE FOR: non-Aspire .NET apps (use dotnet CLI), container-only deployments (use docker/podman), Azure deployment after local testing (use azure-deploy skill). INVOKES: Aspire CLI commands (aspire start, aspire describe, aspire otel logs, aspire docs search, aspire add), bash. FOR SINGLE OPERATIONS: Use Aspire CLI commands directly for quick resource status or doc lookups.

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

Task	Command
Start the app	aspire start
Start isolated (worktrees)	aspire start --isolated
Restart the app	aspire start (stops previous automatically)
Wait for resource healthy	aspire wait <resource>
Stop the app	aspire stop
List resources	aspire describe or aspire resources
Run resource command	aspire resource <resource> <command>
Start/stop/restart resource	`aspire resource start
Rebuild a .NET project resource	aspire resource <resource> rebuild
View console logs	aspire logs [resource]
View structured logs	aspire otel logs [resource]
View traces	aspire otel traces [resource]
Logs for a trace	aspire otel logs --trace-id <id>
Add an integration	aspire add
List running AppHosts	aspire ps
Update AppHost packages	aspire update
Search docs	aspire docs search <query>
Get doc page	aspire docs get <slug>
List doc pages	aspire docs list
Environment diagnostics	aspire doctor
List resource MCP tools	aspire mcp tools
Call resource MCP tool	aspire mcp call <resource> <tool> --input <json>

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:

What changed	Action	Why
AppHost project (apphost.cs/apphost.ts)	aspire start	Resource graph changed; full restart required
Compiled .NET project resource	aspire resource <name> rebuild	Rebuilds and restarts only that resource
Interpreted resource (JavaScript, Python)	Typically nothing — most run with file watchers	Restart the resource if no watch mode is configured

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.