The Aspire starter tutorial creates a problem

Question

The Aspire starter tutorial creates a problem

Rod Falanga 1,176

I am trying to learn how to use Aspire. I'm in Visual Studio Code, following along in a getting started video. I did what the tutorial told me to do, nothing else. Then when I got to the point of trying to run or debug it, I found there are now 2 instances of VS Code running, one showing me aspire-starter.AppHost.csproj and the other showing me the Welcome screen,, but both pointing to different folders. Very confusing!!! Why would it do that??

Going back to the one with aspire-starter.AppHost.csproj, here are the errors it has:

[{ "resource": "/C:/Users/rodf/.nuget/packages/aspire.hosting.apphost/13.4.6/build/Aspire.Hosting.AppHost.targets", "owner": "DesignTimeBuild", "code": "ASPIRE009", "severity": 8, "message": "aspire-starter.AppHost is configured with AspireUseCliBundle=true, but the Aspire CLI bundle could not be resolved. Install the Aspire CLI from https://get.aspire.dev and ensure the aspire command is available on PATH, or set AspireCliBundlePath/AspireCliPath to a valid Aspire CLI installation or bundle layout.", "source": "aspire-starter.AppHost.csproj", "startLineNumber": 1, "startColumn": 1, "endLineNumber": 209, "endColumn": 6, "origin": "extHost1" },{ "resource": "/C:/Users/rodf/Downloads/aspire-starter/aspire-starter.AppHost/aspire-starter.AppHost.csproj", "owner": "NuGet", "code": "MSB4240", "severity": 4, "message": "Multiple versions of the same SDK "Aspire.AppHost.Sdk" cannot be specified. The previously resolved SDK version "13.4.6" from location "C:\Pluralsight\Automation Testing Strategies with ASP.NET Core 10\01\demos\begin\CarvedRock.AppHost\CarvedRock.AppHost.csproj" will be used and the version "13.6.1" will be ignored.", "source": "NuGet", "startLineNumber": 1, "startColumn": 1, "endLineNumber": 1, "endColumn": 1, "modelVersionId": 1, "origin": "extHost1" }]

So, doing nothing more than following the instructions I get immediate errors. This makes learning how to use Aspire very difficult, when it causes errors to follow instructions.

I need help, please.

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Answer 1

Hi @Rod Falanga

Confusing setup, but those two errors point at two separate, fixable things. And the second VS Code window is normal: when the template creates a new project, VS Code opens it in its own window. You can close the Welcome one.

ASPIRE009 just means the newer Aspire template expects the Aspire CLI to be installed, and it isn't on your machine yet.

Open a PowerShell window and run: irm https://aspire.dev/install.ps1 | iex
Close and reopen your terminal (and VS Code) so the PATH change is picked up.
Run aspire --version. You should see a 13.x version number.

MSB4240 is coming from a different project. The message shows an SDK version being resolved from your Pluralsight CarvedRock.AppHost folder. That project pins Aspire 13.4.6, the new starter wants 13.6.1, and the same build process has loaded both, so they clash.

In VS Code, use File > Close Folder (or Close Workspace) so the Pluralsight folder isn't loaded.
Use File > Open Folder and open only Downloads\aspire-starter.
If the error still shows, run dotnet build-server shutdown in a terminal, then reopen VS Code.
Run the AppHost again.

If you want to go back to the Pluralsight course later, open that folder on its own in a separate window rather than in the same workspace.

After installing the CLI and opening only the starter folder, does aspire run from the starter folder start the dashboard?

If this resolved your issue, please consider accepting it as the answer. If either error is still there after that, let me know and I'll be happy to keep helping.

Reference:

https://aspire.dev/get-started/install-cli/