Preserve the default AppHost for explicit runs by adamint · Pull Request #19394 · microsoft/aspire

Adam Ratzman (adamint) · 2026-08-14T17:37:51Z

Description

Running aspire run --apphost <alternate> currently replaces the configured appHost.path, so the next bare aspire run unexpectedly uses the alternate AppHost.

This makes a direct --apphost selection invocation-scoped when a valid default already exists. Extension user selections and interactive selections from a directory still update the default, while missing or deleted defaults are still established or replaced.

Related to #19080, which covered explicit VS Code launch configurations but not direct CLI --apphost usage.

User-facing usage

aspire run --apphost Secondary/apphost.cs

If aspire.config.json points to Primary/apphost.cs, this runs the secondary AppHost without changing the configured primary AppHost.

Validation:

Aspire.Cli.Tests: 5,027 total, 4,993 passed, 34 platform skips, 0 failed
Targeted Aspire.Cli build: 0 warnings, 0 errors
Manual detached run launched Secondary/apphost.cs; the config remained Primary/apphost.cs before the run, after startup, and after stopping

Fixes # (issue)

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 <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 270b31f3-8e18-4d54-ba74-ba62a82630ca

Keep extension and interactive selections persistent while treating direct CLI selections as invocation-scoped. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 270b31f3-8e18-4d54-ba74-ba62a82630ca

github-actions · 2026-08-14T17:38:17Z

🚀 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 -- 19394

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 19394"

Copilot

Pull request overview

Makes explicit CLI --apphost selections invocation-scoped while preserving valid configured defaults.

Changes:

Distinguishes explicit targets from prompted or extension-origin selections.
Preserves, establishes, or replaces defaults according to selection origin and validity.
Adds regression tests for each persistence scenario.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/Aspire.Cli/Projects/ProjectLocator.cs`	Implements selection-aware default preservation.
`tests/Aspire.Cli.Tests/Projects/ProjectLocatorTests.cs`	Covers preservation, replacement, and prompt behavior.

Review details

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Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
Comments generated: 0
Review effort level: Balanced

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway)

I reviewed the AppHost selection and config-persistence flow end to end, including direct and ambient resolution, detached child launches, the VS Code extension handoff, and the focused regression coverage.

I found two concrete config-persistence issues: one regression in detached ambient launches and one remaining gap for --apphost commands entered in the Aspire terminal.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 16/16 changed files
Comments generated: 2
Review effort level: Balanced

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 16/16 changed files
Comments generated: 2
Review effort level: Balanced

Adds RunWithExplicitAlternateAppHost_PreservesExistingDefault, which runs `aspire run --apphost Alternate/apphost.cs` against a workspace whose aspire.config.json points at a different AppHost, then asserts the config is byte-for-byte unchanged and no local config was created beside the alternate. The alternate AppHost is patched to write a marker file. Without that, a silent fallback to the configured Primary AppHost would leave the config untouched and pass the persistence assertion vacuously. GetAspireRunCommand now takes optional additional arguments so the new test inherits the ASPIRE_CLI_START_TIMEOUT budget that AspireRunReadyTimeout assumes. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

The existing coverage stops on either side of VS Code's two-stage debug configuration resolution: the InteractionService test stubs startDebugging, and the AspireDebugSession tests hand-build a configuration that already carries `explicit-cli`. Neither proves the origin survives the resolver boundary, where ensureAppHostSelectionOrigin backfills an absent origin with `explicit-launch-configuration` and AspireDebugSession then omits `--apphost` for a directory target. The new test runs the real InteractionService, both real resolver stages with a JSON clone between them, and a real AspireDebugSession, asserting the spawned CLI receives `--apphost <directory>` and the explicit-cli origin environment. Reverting the AspireDebugSession condition fails it. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 18/18 changed files
Comments generated: 0 new
Review effort level: Balanced

…t-config-persistence

main added a required `vscode.Memento` parameter to AspireDebugConfigurationProvider, so the two-argument construction in the new resolver-stage test no longer compiles against the merged tree. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 18/18 changed files
Comments generated: 0 new
Review effort level: Balanced

Adam Ratzman and others added 2 commits August 14, 2026 13:01

Preserve the default AppHost for explicit runs

20d67f7

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 270b31f3-8e18-4d54-ba74-ba62a82630ca

Preserve selection-origin behavior

7a4cf24

Keep extension and interactive selections persistent while treating direct CLI selections as invocation-scoped. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 270b31f3-8e18-4d54-ba74-ba62a82630ca

Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings August 14, 2026 17:37

Adam Ratzman (adamint) requested review from James Newton-King (JamesNK), David Fowler (davidfowl) and Mitch Denny (mitchdenny) as code owners August 14, 2026 17:37

github-actions Bot added the area-cli label Aug 14, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Adam Ratzman (adamint) August 14, 2026 17:38 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

Adam Ratzman (adamint) requested review from David Pine (IEvangelist) and Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) August 17, 2026 20:14

Ella Hathaway (ellahathaway) reviewed Aug 17, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/Aspire.Cli/Projects/ProjectLocator.cs

Comment thread src/Aspire.Cli/Projects/ProjectLocator.cs Outdated

Adam Ratzman and others added 7 commits August 17, 2026 18:25

Preserve detached AppHost selection origin

54ddb1f

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Carry CLI AppHost selection origin to VS Code

be77592

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Pin the AppHost selection origin wire contract

6b62f05

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Keep Aspire terminal apphost overrides invocation scoped

dec37bc

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Carry explicit CLI selection origin through debug sessions

f8673a3

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Cover old CLI AppHost origin fallback

4c1323a

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Preserve explicit AppHost directories across extension handoff

4c0b9e2

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 18, 2026 01:53

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Adam Ratzman (adamint) August 18, 2026 01:53 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 18, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/Aspire.Cli/Projects/ProjectLocator.cs Outdated

Comment thread src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/AppHostLauncher.cs Outdated

Fix prompted AppHost persistence

77dedfd

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 5e30157e-5245-4f06-a696-1516f9cd8f9e

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 18, 2026 02:08

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Adam Ratzman (adamint) August 18, 2026 02:09 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 18, 2026

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Comment thread extension/src/server/interactionService.ts

Comment thread src/Aspire.Cli/Projects/ProjectLocator.cs

Adam Ratzman added 2 commits August 18, 2026 00:55

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 18, 2026 04:55

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Adam Ratzman (adamint) August 18, 2026 04:56 View session

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View reviewed changes

Adam Ratzman and others added 2 commits August 18, 2026 01:14

Merge remote-tracking branch 'microsoft/main' into adamint/fix-apphos…

d79cc4f

…t-config-persistence

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 18, 2026 05:18

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Adam Ratzman (adamint) August 18, 2026 05:19 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 18, 2026

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Preserve the default AppHost for explicit runs - #19394

Preserve the default AppHost for explicit runs#19394
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Adam Ratzman (adamint) commented Aug 14, 2026

Description

User-facing usage

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