[release/13.4] Remove duplicated profiles block from empty C# AppHost aspire.config.json

[aspire-repo-bot]

Backport of #17781 to release/13.4

/cc @mitchdenny

Customer Impact

Customers running aspire new aspire-empty for a C# (.NET) project on 13.4 get an aspire.config.json whose profiles block duplicates the same content already in apphost.run.json. Reported externally as #17660 (regression vs 13.3.5, where only aspire.config.json was emitted and contained the profiles). The duplication is confusing and gives the impression that the two files could drift; it isn't a runtime failure, but it ships visible noise in every newly-scaffolded empty C# project.

Testing

• Existing NewCommandTests updated to assert the new shape (aspire.config.json minimal; profiles only in apphost.run.json); 77/77 pass locally.
• The runtime CI E2E Cli.EndToEnd-EmptyAppHostTemplateTests.CreateAndRunEmptyAppHostProject (scaffold → aspire start → curl dashboard for HTTP 200 → aspire stop) passes on the PR.
• Dogfood-tested the PR build on macOS: scaffolded plain + --localhost-tld variants (verified file shapes), then aspire start → dashboard bound at the port from apphost.run.json → HTTP 200 → clean aspire stop.

Risk

Very low. Content-only change to the embedded empty-apphost/aspire.config.json template — no code paths altered. DotNetAppHostProject already reads apphost.run.json first and only falls back to aspire.config.json#profiles if the run.json is missing, so the removed block was dead for newly-scaffolded projects. Existing on-disk projects are not modified.

Regression?

Yes. Works in 13.3.5; regressed in 13.4 when #16828 re-added apphost.run.json alongside aspire.config.json (deliberate defense-in-depth for dotnet run apphost.cs compatibility, but it left the profiles block duplicated across both files).

[Copilot]

Copilot encountered an error and was unable to review this pull request. You can try again by re-requesting a review.

[github-actions]

🚀 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 -- 17820

Or

• Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 17820"

[mitchdenny]

Force-pushed the backport branch after rebasing onto current release/13.4 head (753568500).

The previous CI failures (Kubernetes deploy tests + ChannelUpdateWorkflowTests) were caused by the branch being out of date: it was based on 3cbbeb234, which predates #17819 (the 13.4.0 → 13.4.1 version bump). The Garnet K8s test log showed the smoking gun:

error: NU1102: Unable to find package Aspire.StackExchange.Redis with version (>= 13.4.0)
[Nearest version: 13.4.0-pr.17820.g29c7ec81]

NuGet treats the prerelease 13.4.0-pr.XXX as less than 13.4.0 in semver ordering, so the constraint failed even with --prerelease. After #17819 merged, all new release/13.4 branches build at 13.4.1-pr.XXX and the constraint resolves cleanly.

After the rebase the diff is unchanged (32+/-43 in empty-apphost/aspire.config.json and NewCommandTests.cs).

[github-actions]

❓ CLI E2E Tests unknown — 110 passed, 0 failed, 2 unknown (commit 714fa58)

View all recordings

Status	Test	Recording	Job	Artifacts
✅	AddPackageInteractiveWhileAppHostRunningDetached	Recording	#79004403649	Logs
✅	AddPackageWhileAppHostRunningDetached	Recording	#79004403649	Logs
✅	AgentCommands_AllHelpOutputs_AreCorrect	Recording	#79004403066	Logs
✅	AgentInitCommand_DefaultSelection_InstallsDefaultSkills	Recording	#79004403066	Logs
✅	AgentInitCommand_MigratesDeprecatedConfig	Recording	#79004403066	Logs
✅	AgentInitCommand_NonInteractive_BundleOnlySkillsBeyondCliCatalog_AreInstallable	Recording	#79004403066	Logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp	Recording	#79004403486	Logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp_DevLocalhost	Recording	#79004403486	Logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp_Isolated	Recording	#79004403486	Logs
✅	AllPublishMethodsBuildDockerImages	Recording	#79004403362	Logs
✅	AspireAddAndStartWorkAgainstLegacyAppHostTs	Recording	#79004403167	Logs
✅	AspireAddPackageVersionToDirectoryPackagesProps	Recording	#79004403502	Logs
✅	AspireInitSingleFileAppHostRunsViaDotnetRunAppHost	Recording	#79004402977	Logs
✅	AspireInitWithExistingAppHostDirRecreatesMissingNuGetConfigAndPreservesFiles	Recording	#79004403565	Logs
❔	AspireInitWithSolutionFileGeneratesAppHostThatBuildsAgainstChannelHive	Recording	#79004403565	Logs
✅	AspireStartUpdatesStaleTypeScriptAppHostPath	Recording	#79004403002	Logs
✅	AspireUpdateRemovesAppHostPackageVersionFromDirectoryPackagesProps	Recording	#79004403502	Logs
✅	AspireUpdateRemovesOrphanAppHostPackageVersionWhenSdkAlreadyCurrent	Recording	#79004403502	Logs
✅	Banner_DisplayedOnFirstRun	Recording	#79004403416	Logs
✅	Banner_DisplayedWithExplicitFlag	Recording	#79004403416	Logs
✅	Banner_NotDisplayedWithNoLogoFlag	Recording	#79004403416	Logs
✅	CertificatesClean_RemovesCertificates	Recording	#79004403058	Logs
✅	CertificatesTrust_WithNoCert_CreatesAndTrustsCertificate	Recording	#79004403058	Logs
✅	CertificatesTrust_WithUntrustedCert_TrustsCertificate	Recording	#79004403058	Logs
✅	ConfigSetGet_CreatesNestedJsonFormat	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunAspireStarterProject	Recording	#79004403443	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunAspireStarterProjectWithBundle	Recording	#79004403514	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunEmptyAppHostProject	Recording	#79004403573	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunJavaEmptyAppHostProject	Recording	#79004403500	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunJsReactProject	Recording	#79004403541	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunPolyglotAppHostWithDevLocalhostUrls	Recording	#79004403443	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunPythonReactProject	Recording	#79004403262	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunTypeScriptEmptyAppHostProject	Recording	#79004403622	Logs
✅	CreateAndRunTypeScriptStarterProject	Recording	#79004403414	Logs
✅	CreateJavaAppHostWithViteApp	Recording	#79004403119	Logs
✅	CreateTypeScriptAppHostWithViteApp_AllowsGuestAppPackageManagerToDiffer	Recording	#79004403137	Logs
✅	CreateTypeScriptAppHostWithViteApp_UsesConfiguredToolchain	Recording	#79004403137	Logs
✅	DashboardRunWithAgentMcpListTracesReturnsNoTraces	Recording	#79004403006	Logs
✅	DashboardRunWithAgentMcpListTracesReturnsNoTraces_DevLocalhost	Recording	#79004403006	Logs
✅	DashboardRunWithOtelTracesReturnsNoTraces	Recording	#79004403006	Logs
✅	DashboardRunWithOtelTracesReturnsNoTraces_DevLocalhost	Recording	#79004403006	Logs
✅	DeployK8sBasicApiService	Recording	#79004403086	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithExternalHelmChart	Recording	#79004403478	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithGarnet	Recording	#79004403679	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithMongoDB	Recording	#79004403299	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithMySql	Recording	#79004403701	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithPostgres	Recording	#79004403179	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithRabbitMQ	Recording	#79004403440	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithRedis	Recording	#79004403598	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithSqlServer	Recording	#79004403222	Logs
✅	DeployK8sWithValkey	Recording	#79004403191	Logs
✅	DeployTypeScriptAppToKubernetes	Recording	#79004403056	Logs
✅	DescribeCommandResolvesReplicaNames	Recording	#79004403671	Logs
✅	DescribeCommandShowsRunningResources	Recording	#79004403671	Logs
✅	DetachFormatJsonProducesValidJson	Recording	#79004403394	Logs
✅	DetachFormatJsonProducesValidJsonWhenRestartingExistingInstance	Recording	#79004403394	Logs
✅	DoPublishAndDeployListStepsWork	Recording	#79004403033	Logs
✅	DocsCommand_RendersInteractiveMarkdownFromLocalSource	Recording	#79004403333	Logs
✅	DoctorCommand_DetectsDeprecatedAgentConfig	Recording	#79004403066	Logs
✅	DoctorCommand_TypeScriptAppHostReportsMissingConfiguredToolchain	Recording	#79004403127	Logs
✅	DoctorCommand_WithSslCertDir_ShowsTrusted	Recording	#79004403127	Logs
✅	DoctorCommand_WithoutSslCertDir_ShowsPartiallyTrusted	Recording	#79004403127	Logs
✅	GatewayWithoutExternalEndpoint_FailsPublishWithGuidance	Recording	#79004403515	Logs
✅	GeneratedAspireDevScript_StartsWatchMode_WithConfiguredToolchain	Recording	#79004403137	Logs
✅	GlobalMigration_HandlesCommentsAndTrailingCommas	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	GlobalMigration_HandlesMalformedLegacyJson	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	GlobalMigration_PreservesAllValueTypes	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	GlobalMigration_SkipsWhenNewConfigExists	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	GlobalSettings_MigratedFromLegacyFormat	Recording	#79004403708	Logs
✅	IngressWithoutExternalEndpoint_FailsPublishWithGuidance	Recording	#79004403515	Logs
✅	InitTypeScriptAppHost_AugmentsExistingViteRepoInWorkspaceSubdirectory	Recording	#79004403137	Logs
✅	InteractiveCSharpInitCreatesExpectedFiles	Recording	#79004403280	Logs
✅	InvalidAppHostPathWithComments_IsHealedOnRun	Recording	#79004403334	Logs
✅	JavaScriptHostingApisRunFromTypeScriptAppHost	Recording	#79004403362	Logs
✅	LatestCliCanStartStableChannelAppHost	Recording	#79004403443	Logs
✅	LatestCliCanStartStableChannelTypeScriptAppHost	Recording	#79004403443	Logs
✅	LegacySettingsMigration_AdjustsRelativeAppHostPath	Recording	#79004403002	Logs
✅	LogsCommandShowsResourceLogs	Recording	#79004403458	Logs
✅	OtelLogsReturnsStructuredLogsFromStarterApp	Recording	#79004403538	Logs
✅	OtelLogsReturnsStructuredLogsFromStarterAppIsolated	Recording	#79004403538	Logs
✅	PsCommandListsRunningAppHost	Recording	#79004403659	Logs
✅	PsFormatJsonOutputsOnlyJsonToStdout	Recording	#79004403659	Logs
✅	PublishJavaScriptPatternsGeneratesExpectedDockerComposeArtifacts	Recording	#79004403582	Logs
✅	PublishWithConfigureEnvFileUpdatesEnvOutput	Recording	#79004403582	Logs
✅	PublishWithDockerComposeServiceCallbackSucceeds	Recording	#79004403582	Logs
✅	PublishWithoutOutputPathUsesAppHostDirectoryDefault	Recording	#79004403582	Logs
✅	ResourceCommand_FailedExecution_DisplaysAppHostLogPathAndLogContainsEntries	Recording	#79004403150	Logs
✅	ResourceCommand_SetAndDeleteParameterUpdatesDescribeOutput	Recording	#79004403150	Logs
✅	RestoreGeneratesSdkFiles	Recording	#79004403363	Logs
✅	RestoreGeneratesSdkFiles_WithConfiguredToolchain	Recording	#79004403151	Logs
✅	RestoreRefreshesGeneratedSdkAfterAddingIntegration	Recording	#79004403151	Logs
✅	RestoreSupportsConfigOnlyHelperPackageAndCrossPackageTypes	Recording	#79004403043	Logs
✅	RunFromParentDirectory_UsesExistingConfigNearAppHost	Recording	#79004403662	Logs
✅	RunReportsSyntaxErrorsForDotNetAppHost	Recording	#79004403255	Logs
✅	RunReportsSyntaxErrorsForTypeScriptAppHost	Recording	#79004403255	Logs
✅	SecretCrudOnDotNetAppHost	Recording	#79004403004	Logs
✅	SecretCrudOnTypeScriptAppHost	Recording	#79004403278	Logs
✅	StagingChannel_ConfigureAndVerifySettings_ThenSwitchChannels	Recording	#79004403408	Logs
✅	StartAndWaitForTypeScriptSqlServerAppHostWithNativeAssets	Recording	#79004403115	Logs
✅	StartReportsSyntaxErrorsForDotNetAppHost	Recording	#79004403255	Logs
✅	StartReportsSyntaxErrorsForTypeScriptAppHost	Recording	#79004403255	Logs
✅	StopAllAppHostsFromAppHostDirectory	Recording	#79004403457	Logs
✅	StopJavaPolyglotAppHostUsingApphostDirectory	Recording	#79004403338	Logs
✅	StopNonInteractiveSingleAppHost	Recording	#79004403457	Logs
✅	StopTypeScriptPolyglotAppHostUsingApphostDirectory	Recording	#79004403081	Logs
✅	StopWithNoRunningAppHostExitsSuccessfully	Recording	#79004403649	Logs
✅	TypeScriptAppHostRunDoesNotDeadlockWhenLazyOptionsInvokeAsyncCallback	Recording	#79004403622	Logs
✅	UnAwaitedChainsCompileWithAutoResolvePromises	Recording	#79004403151	Logs
❔	UpdateProjectChannelToStable_CSharpEmptyAppHost_PreservesAspireConfigChannel	Recording	#79004403266	Logs
✅	UpdateProjectChannelToStable_CSharpSingleFileInit_PreservesAspireConfigChannel	Recording	#79004403266	Logs
✅	UpdateProjectChannelToStable_TypeScriptSingleFileInit_PreservesAspireConfigChannel	Recording	#79004403266	Logs
✅	UpdateProjectChannelToStable_TypeScript_PreviewsStablePackagesAndPreservesChannel	Recording	#79004403266	Logs

---

_{📹 Recordings uploaded automatically from CI run #26799540403}

[joperezr]

IIRC, last time we looked at the run json file was because we had accidentally broken dotnet run on an apphost.cs single file. I'll go ahead and merge this but can we please do a validation once we have a build ready to ensure that works well after this?

[aspire-repo-bot]

Pull request created: #1192

Generated by PR Documentation Check

[aspire-repo-bot]

📝 Documentation has been drafted in microsoft/aspire.dev#1192 targeting release/13.4.

Updated src/frontend/src/content/docs/whats-new/aspire-13-4.mdx to add a specific bullet in the CLI improvements section documenting that the C# empty AppHost template (aspire new aspire-empty) no longer emits a duplicate profiles block in aspire.config.json — launch profiles now live exclusively in apphost.run.json. This was a user-visible regression introduced in 13.4.

Note

This draft PR needs human review before merging.