The .NET Aspire plugin provides a special run configuration for the .NET Aspire Host projects. It discovers such projects by the <IsAspireHost>true</IsAspireHost> MSBuild property. For each launchSettings.json profile of this project, the corresponding run configuration will be generated.
Item
Description
Project
.NET Aspire host project (defined by the IsAspireHost property).
Profile
A profile name from the launchSettings.json file. After changing the profile, the Environment Variables and URL fields will be updated accordingly.
Environment variables
List of environment variables. The list is defined by the environmentVariables property from the launchSettings.json file.
URL
The URL that will be opened after a successful launch. By default, this value is filled with the applicationUrl property from the launchSettings.json file.
This run configuration allows you to run or debug multiple projects registered in the Host project.
note
Usually, run configurations with the .NET Launch Settings Profile type will also be created for the Aspire Host project. By default, they will have the same name and a different icon. These can be useful if you don't want to debug your services and just run them as is (similar to the dotnet run experience). In this case, the plugin will not participate in the run and all its features will not be available.
A separate node will also be created in the Services tool window. It allows you to monitor resources while Aspire Host is running. For example, you can find resource properties, endpoints, environment variables, and read logs there.
