Aspire Apphost Wiring

Secret parameters

Use builder.AddParameter("name", secret: true) for secrets that containers need:

.WithEnvironment("RCON_PASSWORD", builder.AddParameter("rcon-password", secret: true))

This integrates with user secrets in dev and proper stores in production.

Service wiring pattern

Services call builder.AddServiceDefaults() plus their specific Aspire client integrations:

builder.AddNpgsqlDbContext<MyDbContext>("connectionName");
builder.AddRedisClient("redis");

The connection name must match what the AppHost defines (e.g., .AddDatabase("bridgedb") → "bridgedb").

EF Core Design package placement

Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design must be in BOTH the data class library AND the startup project for dotnet ef migrations to work.

Examples

See src/AppHost/AppHost.cs in the Discord-Minecraft project for a complete multi-service, multi-container orchestration.

Anti-Patterns

• Don't hardcode connection strings — let Aspire inject them via service discovery
• Don't use aspire-starter if you need custom project layouts — scaffold individual projects instead
• Don't forget WaitFor() chains — services that depend on infrastructure should wait for it
• Don't mix EF Core package versions between the Aspire integration and your data library — pin explicitly if needed