Refactor serverReadyAction handling by dkattan · Pull Request #13930 · dotnet/aspire

dkattan · 2026-01-15T14:04:06Z

Motivation

Aspire 13 improved debugging for child processes; this change extends that all the way to the browser.

Expectation

If I use the following configuration in launch.json

{
      "name": "Aspire",
      "type": "aspire",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/Aspire/Immybot.AppHost/Immybot.AppHost.csproj",
      "serverReadyAction": {
        "action": "debugWithEdge",
        "pattern": "\\bNow listening on:\\s+(https?://\\S+)",
        "killOnServerStop": true,
      }
    }

Then Edge will start with the debugger attached and navigate to http://localhost:50061 when my application emits Now listening on: http://localhost:50061

Actual behavior

The browser doesn't open at all because my launch profile in launchSettings.json did not have applicationUrl set
applicationUrl doesn't support tokens/interpolation so I can't have it automatically launch to the port DCP chose for the frontend

Root causes

Hard-coded serverReadyAction
Dependence on applicationUrl from launchSettings.json

Hard-coded `serverReadyAction`

User supplied serverReadyAction on the Aspire launch config is being overwritten by an over-simplistic hard-coded default in launchProfiles.ts

let uriFormat = applicationUrl.includes(';') ? applicationUrl.split(';')[0] : applicationUrl;

    return {
        action: "openExternally",
        pattern: "\\bNow listening on:\\s+https?://\\S+",
        uriFormat: uriFormat
    };

That prevented browser breakpoint debugging and custom URL capture patterns. In this PR we honor the supplied serverReadyAction, so browser debugging can be triggered correctly (e.g., debugWithChrome / debugWithEdge) with a custom pattern and uriFormat.

Dependence on `applicationUrl` from `launchSettings.json`

In my scenario, Aspire is dynamically assigning ports to the frontend (so I can have multiple worktrees going for maximum vibing) but applicationUrl from launchSettings.json is not expanded to support any sort of tokens/interpolation from env vars and must have valid URI syntax (aside from splitting on ;).

We could simply adjust pattern to actually capture the emitted URL and use uriFormat: "%s" instead, which would be better but you'd still be hardcoding other properties like action: "openExternally" and not honoring the user's specifications.

Changes

Add a typed ServerReadyAction to DCP types and expose it on AspireExtendedDebugConfiguration.
Note that VS Code does not export ServerReadyAction and link to its canonical definition.
Centralize serverReadyAction inheritance/selection inside determineServerReadyAction.
Pass parentDebugConfiguration (the user's supplied launch configuration) into determineServerReadyAction from the .NET debugger and use it if available and only fall-back to the existing hard-coded one if it doesn't exist.
Update tests for the new behavior and URL-capture pattern.

Tests

launchProfiles.test.ts
dotnetDebugger.test.ts

github-actions · 2026-01-15T14:04:16Z

🚀 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/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.sh | bash -s -- 13930

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 13930"

dkattan · 2026-01-15T14:05:40Z

@dkattan please read the following Contributor License Agreement(CLA). If you agree with the CLA, please reply with the following information.
@dotnet-policy-service agree [company="{your company}"]
Options:

(default - no company specified) I have sole ownership of intellectual property rights to my Submissions and I am not making Submissions in the course of work for my employer.
@dotnet-policy-service agree
(when company given) I am making Submissions in the course of work for my employer (or my employer has intellectual property rights in my Submissions by contract or applicable law). I have permission from my employer to make Submissions and enter into this Agreement on behalf of my employer. By signing below, the defined term “You” includes me and my employer.
@dotnet-policy-service agree company="Microsoft"
Contributor License Agreement

@dotnet-policy-service agree

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR refactors the serverReadyAction handling in the VS Code extension to honor user-specified server ready actions from the Aspire launch configuration, enabling browser debugger attachment (e.g., debugWithChrome, debugWithEdge) and custom URL patterns. Previously, a hard-coded default configuration would overwrite any user-supplied settings.

Changes:

Added ServerReadyAction type definition and exposed it on AspireExtendedDebugConfiguration
Refactored determineServerReadyAction to accept options and inherit from parent debug configuration
Updated pattern to use capture groups ((https?://\\S+)) for proper URL substitution with %s format

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
extension/src/dcp/types.ts	Added ServerReadyAction type and parentDebugConfiguration field to LaunchOptions and AspireExtendedDebugConfiguration
extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts	Refactored determineServerReadyAction to accept options object and support parent configuration inheritance
extension/src/debugger/languages/dotnet.ts	Updated call to determineServerReadyAction to pass parentDebugConfiguration from launchOptions
extension/src/test/launchProfiles.test.ts	Updated tests to use new API and added cross-platform path handling
extension/src/test/dotnetDebugger.test.ts	Updated assertions to match new serverReadyAction behavior with capture groups

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

extension/src/dcp/types.ts

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

extension/src/dcp/types.ts

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

dkattan · 2026-01-15T15:33:24Z

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

+export function determineServerReadyAction(
+    options: ServerReadyActionOptions = {}
+): ServerReadyAction | undefined {
+    if (!options.launchBrowser) {


Should we actually gate this on launchSettings.json's launchBrowser property?

launchSettings.json (IMO) is a relic from Visual Studio

launch.json (IMO) is the "VS Code" way

I know that's an over-simplification and that we are conceptually layering them so launch.json -> launchSettings.json -> target project

I guess my point is it took me a while to realize that both applicationUrl and launchBrowser both needed to be specified before I could have the privilege of using the hardcoded serverReadyAction.

I don't want other VS Code purists to get frustrated that their serverReadyAction isn't working because a setting for Visual Studio isn't specified.

It seems reasonable to not need launchBrowser specified if there is not a launchSettings.json input. I'll make the change

You know, I thought about this some more and it occurred to me that in the absence of launchBrowser: true, we may end up attaching a serverReadyAction to multiple projects that don't need it. My understanding is that the serverReadyAction uses an expensive call to vscode.window.onDidWriteTerminalData so we might actually want to keep this and document it.

I like the idea that specifying serverReadyAction on the entire debug session will apply to all started resources in the application.

We are going to expose a hook to apply debugger properties to specific resources, if that's the behavior you're looking for - #12711

adamint · 2026-01-16T16:56:42Z

extension/src/dcp/types.ts

    debugSessionId: string;
    isApphost: boolean;
    debugSession: AspireDebugSession;
+    parentDebugConfiguration?: AspireExtendedDebugConfiguration;


Strangely, this added line in the diff does not show up in the actual branch code.

adamint · 2026-01-16T16:58:10Z

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

 ): LaunchProfileResult {
+    const debugMessage =
+        `[launchProfile] determineBaseLaunchProfile:
+  disable_launch_profile=${launchConfig.disable_launch_profile === true}


nit: !! instead of true equality check

adamint · 2026-01-16T17:00:51Z

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

+export function determineServerReadyAction(
+    options: ServerReadyActionOptions = {}
+): ServerReadyAction | undefined {
+    if (!options.launchBrowser) {


It seems reasonable to not need launchBrowser specified if there is not a launchSettings.json input. I'll make the change

adamint · 2026-01-16T17:54:24Z

Ok, I've wrapped my head around the problem here. The solution presented seems incomplete (ie, launchOptions.parentDebugConfiguration is never set) so doesn't fix the issue at hand, which is that server ready actions cannot be provided on the aspire launch configuration itself.

Short term, to provide a workaround, if it is then we should override any existing server ready action. Longer term, overlaps with #12711 as the explicit launch.json serverReadyAction should also replace any serverReadyAction provided in a resource's debugger_properties.

…present.

adamint · 2026-01-16T18:24:03Z

@dkattan how do my changes look to you?

adamint · 2026-01-16T18:50:44Z

I've been thinking more about this, and would like to move these changes into #12711, closing this PR for now.

dkattan · 2026-01-16T22:34:50Z

I've been thinking more about this, and would like to move these changes into #12711, closing this PR for now.

I very much like the idea of configuring the debugger on each resource in the AppHost. That fixes some of the behavioral ambiguity. I'll focus my efforts on #12711

dkattan · 2026-01-23T16:19:30Z

I'm reopening this because the changes here work with and don't seem to overlap with #12711 and it would at least unstick me and allow debugging without waiting for that other PR @adamint @davidfowl

Refactor serverReadyAction handling

64e43f5

dotnet-policy-service bot added the community-contribution Indicates that the PR has been added by a community member label Jan 15, 2026

dkattan added 4 commits January 15, 2026 08:29

Align ServerReadyAction with VS Code

5d62f62

Document ServerReadyAction source

402c00e

Simplify determineServerReadyAction signature

cb74424

tests: make determineWorkingDirectory cross-platform

7a26f87

dkattan marked this pull request as ready for review January 15, 2026 15:16

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 15, 2026 15:17

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of dkattan January 15, 2026 15:18 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

extension/src/dcp/types.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

dkattan and others added 4 commits January 15, 2026 09:22

Update extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

a3db71b

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Update extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

2917c81

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Update extension/src/dcp/types.ts

1dc1de6

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Update extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts

d9d219f

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

dkattan requested a review from Copilot January 15, 2026 15:23

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of dkattan January 15, 2026 15:24 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts Show resolved Hide resolved

extension/src/dcp/types.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

extension/src/debugger/launchProfiles.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

dkattan commented Jan 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Jan 15, 2026

[pull requests] Review required #13834

Open

eerhardt requested a review from adamint January 15, 2026 19:18

adamint reviewed Jan 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

adamint added 2 commits January 16, 2026 12:31

Merge branch 'main' into pr/dkattan/13930

be28829

nits

04bdeea

Use aspire debug configuration's serverReadyAction on a resource, if …

b915482

…present.

update test expectations

d92e765

dkattan closed this Jan 16, 2026

dotnet-policy-service bot added this to the 13.2 milestone Jan 16, 2026

dkattan reopened this Jan 23, 2026

Conversation

dkattan commented Jan 15, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Motivation

Expectation

Actual behavior

Root causes

Hard-coded serverReadyAction

Dependence on applicationUrl from launchSettings.json

Changes

Tests

Uh oh!

github-actions bot commented Jan 15, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

dkattan commented Jan 15, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

dkattan Jan 15, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

dkattan Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint Jan 16, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

adamint commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

adamint commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

adamint commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

dkattan commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

dkattan commented Jan 23, 2026

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

2 participants

dkattan commented Jan 15, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Hard-coded `serverReadyAction`

Dependence on `applicationUrl` from `launchSettings.json`

github-actions bot commented Jan 15, 2026 •

edited

Loading