**ANALYSIS SKILL** - Observe Aspire apps: logs, traces, metrics, resource state, telemetry export, browser telemetry, and the standalone dashboard. Routes between local Aspire CLI, AKS workload diagnostics, and deployed Azure resource health. USE FOR: aspire logs, aspire otel logs, aspire otel trace

Aspire Monitoring Aspire CLI provides full observability locally . For deployed apps, route to platform specific tools. Diagnostics Bridge — Where To Look Need Environment Tool Command / Route Console logs Local dev Aspire CLI aspire logs <resource Structured logs Local dev Aspire CLI aspire otel logs [resource] Distributed traces Local dev Aspire CLI aspire otel traces [resource] Span detail Local dev Aspire CLI aspire otel spans [resource] Running AppHosts Local dev Aspire CLI aspire ps Resource state Local dev Aspire CLI aspire describe (add include hidden if a resource is missing) Telemetry export Local dev Aspire CLI aspire export [resource] Standalone dashboard Any (no AppHost) Aspire CLI aspire dashboard run (foreground/blocking — see below) Browser console / network / diagnostics Local dev (frontend) Aspire CLI + dashboard Discover <frontend browser logs , start its tracked browser, then inspect its console logs AppHost / deployment definition Authoring aspire deployment skill → aspire deployment skill AKS workload (pod logs, pod state) Deployed AKS kubectl + Container Insights kubectl logs <pod , kubectl describe pod <pod , Container Insights in Azure Monitor Azure resource health (App Insights, Front Door, NSP, private endpoint) Deployed Azure azure diagnostics → azure diagnostics skill App Service / Container Apps logs Deployed Azure azure diagnostics → azure diagnostics skill Logs/state Deployed Docker / Compose Docker CLI docker logs <container , docker compose logs <service Decision tree: 1. Is this about AppHost code or deployment definition ? → aspire deployment skill. 2. Is the app running locally via aspire start ? → Aspire CLI. 3. Is it deployed to AKS ? → kubectl + Container Insights for workload; azure diagnostics for the cluster's Azure resources. 4. Is it deployed to other Azure (App Service, Container Apps)? → azure diagnostics . 5. Is it deployed to Docker / Compose ? → docker / docker compose CLI. See [diagnostics bridge.md](references/diagnostics bridge.md) for detailed routing. Investigation Workflow When something is wrong, investigate before editing code: 1. aspire describe — check resource state and endpoints 2. aspire otel logs <resource — structured logs first 3. aspire logs <resource — console output as secondary view 4. aspire otel traces <resource — cross service activity 5. aspire export — zipped telemetry snapshot for deeper analysis Local Commands Reference Command Purpose Example aspire logs <resource Console stdout/stderr aspire logs apiservice aspire logs follow Stream logs in real time aspire logs apiservice follow aspire otel logs Structured OpenTelemetry logs aspire otel logs aspire otel traces Distributed trace data aspire otel traces aspire otel spans Individual span detail aspire otel spans aspire otel logs trace id <id Logs correlated to trace (⚠️ verify flag) aspire otel logs trace id abc123 aspire otel logs dashboard url Query a standalone dashboard (login URL or base URL + api key ) aspire otel logs dashboard url "http://localhost:18888/login?t=TOKEN" follow aspire otel traces dashboard url Query a standalone dashboard aspire otel traces dashboard url "http://localhost:18888/login?t=TOKEN" aspire describe Resource state, endpoints, health aspire describe format Json aspire describe include hidden Include proxies, helper containers, migrations aspire describe include hidden format Json aspire resources Compatibility alias for resource state Prefer aspire describe in new guidance aspire export Portable telemetry bundle aspire export aspire dashboard run Standalone dashboard (foreground/blocking) aspire dashboard run Hidden resources are filtered by default aspire describe and other CLI commands filter out resources marked hidden in the AppHost (proxies, helper containers, migrations). The default output is correct for normal app inspection. Add include hidden when: Debugging proxies, sidecar/helper containers, or migration jobs. An expected resource is "missing" from aspire resources / aspire describe . Triaging connectivity or wiring issues that may involve infrastructure resources. Tips for Agents Version Specific Diagnostics Symptom 13.5.3 guidance Resource missing from aspire describe Re run aspire describe include hidden ; do not use removed aspire ps include hidden . DevTunnel is healthy but has no public URL on 13.5.0 13.5.2 Upgrade the CLI/SDK to 13.5.3 before changing endpoint configuration; 13.5.3 restores the URL. Dashboard Graph crashes for a resource such as Azure Blob Upgrade to 13.5.3; multi path resource icons are fixed there. Resolved in 13.3 : The standalone dashboard workaround for [ 16236](https://github.com/microsoft/aspire/issues/16236) is obsolete — use aspire dashboard run (see below). Standalone Dashboard ( aspire dashboard run ) aspire dashboard run launches the Aspire Dashboard without an AppHost, so any OTLP emitting application (Aspire or not) can stream telemetry into it. ⚠️ Foreground / blocking. aspire dashboard run does not return until you stop it (Ctrl C). Agents must treat it as a long running background process — start it with the bash tool's mode="async" , capture the dashboard URL and token from initial output, and leave it running. Do not invoke it as a one shot synchronous command, and do not wait for it to "finish". Connect the Aspire CLI to a standalone dashboard aspire otel logs and aspire otel traces accept dashboard url . The simplest form passes the full login URL printed by aspire dashboard run — the CLI normalizes it automatically: For dashboards configured with API key authentication (e.g., the standalone container image with a separate API key), pass api key alongside the base dashboard url : The container image standalone dashboard still works for environments where the CLI isn't available. Browser Logs ( Aspire.Hosting.Browsers ) When a frontend has already opted into WithBrowserLogs() , Aspire creates a child resource named <frontend browser logs . Browser console messages, errors, exceptions, and network diagnostics are sent to that child resource's console log stream, not to the frontend's OpenTelemetry logs. 1. Begin with normal aspire describe or aspire resources output to find <frontend browser logs ; aspire ps no longer lists resources. It is a normal child resource, so retry with aspire describe include hidden only if unavailable. 2. Correlate it to the frontend through its parent relationship and Source property. 3. Start a tracked browser session with: 4. Inspect the browser diagnostics with: Do not use aspire otel logs <frontend for browser output; it does not return that child resource's browser diagnostics. Need Action Inspect existing browser diagnostics Discover <frontend browser logs , start open tracked browser , then run aspire logs <frontend browser logs Confirm the browser resource belongs to a frontend Check the child resource's parent relationship and Source property Confirm a frontend has browser logging enabled Check the AppHost for .WithBrowserLogs() on the resource Add WithBrowserLogs() to a resource → aspireify skill (AppHost authoring) — do not edit the AppHost from this skill Dashboard UX Features Agents inspecting a running dashboard should know: Notification center (bell icon, top right) — surfaces results of resource commands and lifecycle events. Inline command responses appear here instead of being scraped from the logs panel. Rebuild command — available on container and project resources; rebuilds the image and restarts the resource without restarting the whole AppHost. Result lands in the notification center. Structured command results — custom resource commands return ExecuteCommandResult with a Message payload that the dashboard renders inline; HTTP commands set HttpCommandResultMode.Auto Json Text None to control how the response body is shown. 13.5 filtering — filter telemetry by timestamp, use == / != for exact numeric values, and search console log text while streams continue updating. Terminal view — resources configured with experimental WithTerminal() open as interactive sessions in the dashboard. No dashboard AI Assistant — it was removed in 13.5. Use aspire agent init and the AppHost/CLI agent integration instead. VS Code launch is opt in — the Aspire extension no longer opens the dashboard automatically. Use its in editor dashboard or configure dashboardBrowser / launch.json . Authoring custom commands or WithBrowserLogs() calls is AppHost work — route to aspireify . This skill is for observing what those features surface in the dashboard. Why Aspire CLI Can't Do Remote Diagnostics The Aspire CLI talks to a running AppHost through a local backchannel socket at ~/.aspire/backchannels/ . This is by design — there is no remote backchannel. For deployed apps, route to platform specific tools (azure diagnostics, kubectl, docker). Exception : if a Dashboard is reachable (deployed alongside the app, or running standalone), aspire otel logs and aspire otel traces can query it via dashboard url (login URL form) and optional api key (see the Standalone Dashboard section above). This does not apply to aspire logs or aspire describe . Handoff Rules Scenario Route To Start/stop/wait/rebuild lifecycle → aspire orchestration skill Deploy, publish, pipeline steps, AppHost compute environment binding → aspire deployment skill AppHost code changes ( WithBrowserLogs() , custom commands, WithHttpCommand ) → aspireify skill Deployed Azure resource health (App Insights, Front Door, NSP, private endpoint, ACA, App Service) → azure diagnostics skill (azure skills) AKS workload diagnostics (pod logs, pod state, Container Insights) → kubectl + Azure Monitor Container Insights Docker / Compose container logs → docker logs / docker compose logs Project Local Skill Routing If .agents/skills/aspire/SKILL.md exists (from aspire agent init ), see its references/monitoring.md for deeper telemetry workflow guidance. References [diagnostics bridge.md](references/diagnostics bridge.md) — Local vs deployed routing detail [monitoring.md](references/monitoring.md) — Telemetry inspection and export patterns [playwright handoff.md](references/playwright handoff.md) — Find the correct Aspire frontend URL before browser testing

aspire-monitoring