aspire
Helps your agent manage distributed applications with Aspire. It can create, run, debug, and deploy these applications.
What it does
Aspire is a toolkit for building and managing complex distributed applications. It helps organize different parts of your app (like APIs, databases, and UIs) so they work together, even if written in different languages.
When to use it
- ✓When you need to create a new distributed application.
- ✓When configuring or connecting different services in an application.
- ✓To run, debug, or deploy complex applications.
Example of what to ask your AI
“How do I configure Aspire to use a PostgreSQL database?”
Want more? Open the sections below.
How to use
The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.
Skill link
Ready-to-paste message
How it works
Aspire uses a central file called 'AppHost' which acts like a conductor. It defines which services exist, how they communicate, and what resources (like databases) they need. The AppHost takes care of starting everything in the right order and ensuring services can find each other.
Installation
Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.
In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:
npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill aspireOr download just the file:
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/skills/aspire/SKILL.md -o SKILL.mdTechnical content (original SKILL.md)
Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.
Aspire — Polyglot Distributed-App Orchestration
Aspire is a code-first, polyglot toolchain for building observable, production-ready distributed applications. It orchestrates containers, executables, and cloud resources from a single AppHost project — regardless of whether the workloads are C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Java, Rust, Bun, Deno, or PowerShell.
Mental model: The AppHost is a conductor — it doesn't play the instruments, it tells every service when to start, how to find each other, and watches for problems.
Detailed reference material lives in the references/ folder — load on demand.
References
| Reference | When to load |
|---|---|
| CLI Reference | Command flags, options, or detailed usage |
| MCP Server | Setting up MCP for AI assistants, available tools |
| Integrations Catalog | Discovering integrations via MCP tools, wiring patterns |
| Polyglot APIs | Method signatures, chaining options, language-specific patterns |
| Architecture | DCP internals, resource model, service discovery, networking, telemetry |
| Dashboard | Dashboard features, standalone mode, GenAI Visualizer |
| Deployment | Docker, Kubernetes, Azure Container Apps, App Service |
| Testing | Integration tests against the AppHost |
| Troubleshooting | Diagnostic codes, common errors, and fixes |
1. Researching Aspire Documentation
The Aspire team ships an MCP server that provides documentation tools directly inside your AI assistant. See MCP Server for setup details.
Aspire CLI 13.2+ (recommended — has built-in docs search)
If running Aspire CLI 13.2 or later (aspire --version), the MCP server includes docs search tools:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
list_docs |
Lists all available documentation from aspire.dev |
search_docs |
Performs weighted lexical search across indexed documentation |
get_doc |
Retrieves a specific document by its slug |
These tools were added in PR #14028. To update: aspire update --self --channel daily.
For more on this approach, see David Pine's post: https://davidpine.dev/posts/aspire-docs-mcp-tools/
Aspire CLI 13.1 (integration tools only)
On 13.1, the MCP server provides integration lookup but not docs search:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
list_integrations |
Lists available Aspire hosting integrations |
get_integration_docs |
Gets documentation for a specific integration package |
For general docs queries on 13.1, use Context7 as your primary source (see below).
Fallback: Context7
Use Context7 (mcp_context7) when the Aspire MCP docs tools are unavailable (13.1) or the MCP server isn't running:
Step 1 — Resolve the library ID (one-time per session):
Call mcp_context7_resolve-library-id with libraryName: ".NET Aspire".
| Rank | Library ID | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | /microsoft/aspire.dev |
Primary source. Guides, integrations, CLI reference, deployment. |
| 2 | /dotnet/aspire |
API internals, source-level implementation details. |
| 3 | /communitytoolkit/aspire |
Non-Microsoft polyglot integrations (Go, Java, Node.js, Ollama). |
Step 2 — Query docs:
libraryId: "/microsoft/aspire.dev", query: "Python integration AddPythonApp service discovery"
libraryId: "/communitytoolkit/aspire", query: "Golang Java Node.js community integrations"
Fallback: GitHub search (when Context7 is also unavailable)
Search the official docs repo on GitHub:
- Docs repo:
microsoft/aspire.dev— path:src/frontend/src/content/docs/ - Source repo:
dotnet/aspire - Samples repo:
dotnet/aspire-samples - Community integrations:
CommunityToolkit/Aspire
2. Prerequisites & Install
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| .NET SDK | 10.0+ (required even for non-.NET workloads — the AppHost is .NET) |
| Container runtime | Docker Desktop, Podman, or Rancher Desktop |
| IDE (optional) | VS Code + C# Dev Kit, Visual Studio 2022, JetBrains Rider |
# Linux / macOS
curl -sSL https://aspire.dev/install.sh | bash
# Windows PowerShell
irm https://aspire.dev/install.ps1 | iex
# Verify
aspire --version
…
FAQ
What does 'polyglot' mean in the context of Aspire?
'Polyglot' means Aspire supports multiple programming languages. You can use C#, Python, JavaScript, Go, Java, and others together in the same application.
Do I need to know how to program in all supported languages?
No. Aspire manages the orchestration. You only need to know how to program in the languages that make up the services you are developing.
What is the AppHost?
The AppHost is the heart of Aspire. It's a project that describes your distributed application, defining the services, their dependencies, and how they should run. Think of it as the conductor coordinating all the musicians (services).
Details
Original description by the author
Aspire skill covering the Aspire CLI, AppHost orchestration, service discovery, integrations, MCP server, VS Code extension, Dev Containers, GitHub Codespaces, templates, dashboard, and deployment. Use when the user asks to create, run, debug, configure, deploy, or troubleshoot an Aspire distributed application.
repo: github/awesome-copilot
Popularity
- GitHub stars
- 40k
- Ranking position
- #5009
- License
- MIT
- Updated
- 10/15/2026
Comments
- …
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