Improve VS Code AppHost build failure notifications by ellahathaway · Pull Request #19755 · microsoft/aspire

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) · 2026-08-27T20:05:02Z

Description

AppHost build failures in VS Code currently produce separate error and log-path notifications, and the log path must be copied manually. This change consolidates that experience into one error notification with Open CLI Log and, when available, Open AppHost Log actions while keeping the full diagnostics and log locations in the Debug Console.

The CLI/extension backchannel now supports reusable structured message actions. Each action has a display name and either a command to execute or a file path to open. VS Code hides actions whose command is not registered or whose file is not an existing absolute path, and action selection remains asynchronous so the CLI does not wait for the notification.

The behavior is gated by the extension-advertised message-actions.v1 capability. A newer CLI paired with an older extension retains the existing separate error and log notifications; an older CLI paired with the newer extension continues using the existing pathless message RPCs. This replaces the previous localized-message parsing approach and incorporates the diagnostic-log scenarios from #19679.

User-facing usage

When an AppHost fails to build during a run or debug launch, VS Code shows one error notification. Selecting a log action opens that file directly in a non-preview editor.

Screenshots / Recordings

Before:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5d2f732e-a11d-4c77-abea-005f3afc43d2

After:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d53a6b0f-fe4f-4f77-bde9-fda29081aad3

Validation

Built the Aspire CLI and VS Code extension together with extension\build.ps1 after merging current main.
Passed 65 focused Aspire.Cli.Tests covering combined actions, legacy fallback, capability failures, console output, and the AOT JSON wire shape.
Passed extension lint/compilation and 72 focused extension tests covering command/file actions, unavailable-action filtering, nonblocking notification selection, cancellation, and existing resource-command log actions.
Updated the existing failed-AppHost-build E2E scenario to verify Debug Console diagnostics, one relevant notification, and the log-opening action.

Fixes #19748
Fixes #19511

Checklist

Is this feature complete?
- Yes. Ready to ship.
- No. Follow-up changes expected.
Are you including unit tests for the changes and scenario tests if relevant?
- Yes
- No
Did you add public API?
- Yes
  - If yes, did you have an API Review for it?
    - Yes
    - No
  - Did you add <remarks /> and <code /> elements on your triple slash comments?
    - Yes
    - No
- No
Does the change make any security assumptions or guarantees?
- Yes
  - If yes, have you done a threat model and had a security review?
    - Yes
    - No
- No

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

github-actions · 2026-08-27T20:05:18Z

🚀 Dogfood this PR with:

⚠️ WARNING: Do not do this without first carefully reviewing the code of this PR to satisfy yourself it is safe.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.sh | bash -s -- 19755

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 19755"

Copilot

Pull request overview

Consolidates CLI build failures into one VS Code notification with an Open CLI Log action while preserving diagnostics and backward compatibility.

Changes:

Adds capability-gated CLI/extension RPC support for associated log files.
Opens CLI logs in a non-preview editor.
Adds unit, compatibility, command, and extension E2E coverage.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 20 out of 20 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestInteractionService.cs`	Records combined errors and log paths.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionInteractionService.cs`	Implements the new test interface method.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionBackchannel.cs`	Supports combined-error RPC testing.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Templating/DotNetTemplateFactoryTests.cs`	Updates the interaction test stub.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Projects/ExtensionGuestLauncherTests.cs`	Updates the interaction test stub.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Interaction/ExtensionInteractionServiceTests.cs`	Tests capability and fallback behavior.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/UpdateCommandTests.cs`	Forwards the new interaction method.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/RunCommandTests.cs`	Verifies build failures include the CLI log.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/PublishCommandPromptingIntegrationTests.cs`	Updates the interaction test implementation.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/BaseCommandTests.cs`	Verifies combined unexpected-error reporting.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Utils/ExtensionHelper.cs`	Defines the versioned capability.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Interaction/IInteractionService.cs`	Adds combined error/log reporting.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Interaction/ExtensionInteractionService.cs`	Negotiates RPC behavior and preserves console output.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Interaction/ConsoleInteractionService.cs`	Retains the console two-line presentation.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/BaseCommand.cs`	Routes eligible failures through combined reporting.
`src/Aspire.Cli/Backchannel/ExtensionBackchannel.cs`	Sends the optional log path over RPC.
`extension/src/test/rpc/interactionServiceTests.test.ts`	Tests the notification action.
`extension/src/test-e2e/debugDashboard.e2e.test.ts`	Covers the complete failure UX.
`extension/src/server/interactionService.ts`	Displays the action and opens the log.
`extension/src/capabilities.ts`	Advertises extension support.

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Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

github-actions · 2026-08-28T01:56:14Z

Retrying the failed CI jobs for this pull request from the CI run attempt. The rerun is being tracked in the rerun attempt.

…uild-failure-ux

Replace extension-side log-message parsing with capability-gated CLI message actions for opening files or running registered commands. Preserve legacy notifications for older extensions and keep diagnostic paths in console output. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: b4574890-67c5-476a-abdd-cd5ac59e9418

github-actions · 2026-09-01T01:12:07Z

Tests selector

2 / 99 PR test projects · 4 PR jobs · 1 advisory-only target, from 32 changed files.

Selected PR test projects (2 / 99)

Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests, Aspire.Cli.Tests

Selected PR jobs (4)

extension-e2e, extension-unit, polyglot, typescript-api-compat

Advisory workflow impact (1)

deployment-e2e (schedule/dispatch-only)

How these were chosen — grouped by what changed

📦 affected project Aspire.Cli
→ 1 test: Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests

🔧 src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/InteractionServiceStrings.Designer.cs (changed source)
→ 1 via the project graph: Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Backchannel/BackchannelJsonSerializerContextTests.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/BaseCommandTests.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Interaction/ExtensionInteractionServiceTests.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Projects/ExtensionGuestLauncherTests.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionBackchannel.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionInteractionService.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Cli.Tests

Job reasons

Job	Triggered by
`deployment-e2e`	affected project `Aspire.Cli`
`extension-e2e`	• `extension/src/capabilities.ts`, `extension/src/server/interactionService.ts`, `extension/src/test-e2e/debugDashboard.e2e.test.ts`, `extension/src/test/appHostLogOutputCapability.test.ts`, `extension/src/test/rpc/interactionServiceTests.test.ts`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Backchannel/BackchannelJsonSerializerContext.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Backchannel/ExtensionBackchannel.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Backchannel/ExtensionBackchannelDataTypes.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/BaseCommand.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Interaction/ExtensionInteractionService.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/InteractionServiceStrings.Designer.cs`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/InteractionServiceStrings.resx`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.cs.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.de.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.es.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.fr.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.it.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.ja.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.ko.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.pl.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.pt-BR.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.ru.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.tr.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.zh-Hans.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/xlf/InteractionServiceStrings.zh-Hant.xlf`, `src/Aspire.Cli/Utils/ExtensionHelper.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Backchannel/BackchannelJsonSerializerContextTests.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Commands/BaseCommandTests.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Interaction/ExtensionInteractionServiceTests.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Projects/ExtensionGuestLauncherTests.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionBackchannel.cs`, `tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/TestServices/TestExtensionInteractionService.cs` • affected project `Aspire.Cli`
`extension-unit`	`extension/src/capabilities.ts`, `extension/src/server/interactionService.ts`, `extension/src/test-e2e/debugDashboard.e2e.test.ts`, `extension/src/test/appHostLogOutputCapability.test.ts`, `extension/src/test/rpc/interactionServiceTests.test.ts`
`polyglot`	affected project `Aspire.Cli`
`typescript-api-compat`	affected project `Aspire.Cli`

Selection computed for commit 7e32352.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 31 out of 32 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Files not reviewed (1)

src/Aspire.Cli/Resources/InteractionServiceStrings.Designer.cs: Generated file

Improve VS Code build failure notifications

0a3d624

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Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings August 27, 2026 20:05

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Adam Ratzman (adamint) mentioned this pull request Aug 27, 2026

Tracking: open VS Code extension issues with no active PR #19066

Open

Handle build failure logs in VS Code

9a6470c

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Comment thread extension/src/utils/diagnosticLogPath.ts Outdated

Handle localized diagnostic log messages

c5ba3c1

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Comment thread extension/src/utils/diagnosticLogPath.ts Outdated

Preserve Unicode log path offsets

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Merge origin/main into VS Code build failure UX

d645a02

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Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) marked this pull request as ready for review August 28, 2026 16:03

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) requested a review from Adam Ratzman (adamint) as a code owner August 28, 2026 16:03

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) mentioned this pull request Aug 28, 2026

Open CLI diagnostic logs in VS Code after failures #19679

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[repo-pulse] 📊 Repo Pulse — Daily Activity Dashboard #16404

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Comment thread extension/src/server/interactionService.ts Outdated

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) added 3 commits August 31, 2026 14:05

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into ellahathaway-vscode-b…

efe93b1

…uild-failure-ux

Merge origin/main into VS Code build failure UX

7e32352

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Improve VS Code AppHost build failure notifications - #19755

Improve VS Code AppHost build failure notifications#19755
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Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) commented Aug 27, 2026 •

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Description

User-facing usage

Screenshots / Recordings

Validation

Checklist

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Tests selector

Selected PR test projects (2 / 99)

Selected PR jobs (4)

Advisory workflow impact (1)

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Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) commented Aug 27, 2026 •

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