Aspire Visual Studio Code extension

The official Aspire extension for VS Code. Run, debug, and deploy your Aspire apps without leaving the editor, with debugging support for C#, Python, Node.js, and more.

Features at a glance

Prerequisites

• Aspire CLI — Install via the Aspire: Install Aspire CLI (stable) command in VS Code, or follow the installation guide.
• .NET 10 or later — Download .NET.
• VS Code 1.98 or later.

Install the extension

Or install directly from the VS Code Marketplace.

Getting started

Open your Aspire project in VS Code, or create one with Aspire: New Aspire project from the Command Palette. Run Aspire: Configure launch.json file to set up the debug configuration, then press . The extension builds your apphost, starts your services, attaches debuggers, and opens the dashboard.

There's also a built-in walkthrough at Help > Get Started > Get started with Aspire that covers the basics step by step.

Running and debugging

Launch configuration

Add an entry to .vscode/launch.json pointing at your apphost project:

{
  "type": "aspire",
  "request": "launch",
  "name": "Aspire: Launch MyAppHost",
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}/MyAppHost/MyAppHost.csproj"
}

Or run Aspire: Configure launch.json file from the Command Palette to generate one automatically.

When you press , the extension builds the apphost, starts all resources (services, containers, databases) in the right order, attaches debuggers based on each service's language, and opens the dashboard.

You can also right-click an AppHost file in the Explorer and select Run Aspire apphost or Debug Aspire apphost.

Deploy, publish, and pipeline steps

The command property in the launch config supports more than just running:

• deploy — Push to your defined deployment targets.
• publish — Generate deployment artifacts (manifests, Bicep files, etc.).
• do — Run a specific pipeline step. Set step to the step name.

{
  "type": "aspire",
  "request": "launch",
  "name": "Aspire: Deploy MyAppHost",
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}/MyAppHost/MyAppHost.csproj",
  "command": "deploy"
}

Customizing debugger settings per language

The debuggers property lets you pass debug configuration specific to a language. Use project for C#/.NET services, python for Python, and apphost for the apphost itself:

{
  "type": "aspire",
  "request": "launch",
  "name": "Aspire: Launch MyAppHost",
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}/MyAppHost/MyAppHost.csproj",
  "debuggers": {
    "project": {
      "console": "integratedTerminal",
      "logging": { "moduleLoad": false }
    },
    "apphost": {
      "stopAtEntry": true
    }
  }
}

The Aspire sidebar

The extension adds an Aspire panel to the Activity Bar with a live tree of your resources. In Workspace mode you see resources from the apphost in your current workspace, updating in real time. Switch to Global mode with the toggle in the panel header to see every running apphost on your machine.

Right-click a resource to start, stop, or restart it, view its logs, run resource-specific commands, or open the dashboard.

Commands

All commands are available from the Command Palette () under Aspire.

Language and debugger support

The extension detects each resource's language and attaches the right debugger. Some languages need a companion extension:

Node.js and browser debugging work out of the box — VS Code includes a built-in JavaScript debugger. C# Dev Kit gives you richer build integration than the standalone C# extension, but either works for debugging. Azure Functions debugging supports C#, JavaScript/TypeScript, and Python.

Extension settings

Configure the extension under Settings > Aspire, or jump there with Aspire: Extension settings.

There are more settings for verbose logging, startup prompts, and polling intervals — run Aspire: Extension settings to see them all.

The extension also provides IntelliSense and validation when editing .aspire/settings.json (workspace-level) and ~/.aspire/globalsettings.json (user-level). Use the Open local/global Aspire settings commands to open them.

MCP server integration

The extension can register an Aspire MCP server with VS Code. This lets AI tools — GitHub Copilot included — see your running app's resources, endpoints, and configuration for better context when helping you write code.

Turn it on by setting aspire.registerMcpServerInWorkspace to true. When enabled, the extension registers the MCP server definition via the Aspire CLI whenever a workspace is open and the CLI is available.

Feedback and issues

Found a bug or have an idea? File it on the microsoft/aspire repo:

• Report a bug
• Request a feature