aspire destroy command

Name

aspire destroy - Tear down a previously deployed Aspire environment.

Synopsis

aspire destroy [options] [[--] <additional arguments>...]

Description

The aspire destroy command tears down an environment that was previously deployed with aspire deploy. It completes the deployment lifecycle: aspire publish → aspire deploy → aspire destroy.

The Aspire CLI uses the following logic, in order, to determine which AppHost project to process:

The --apphost option.

This option specifies the path to the Aspire AppHost project file to process.
The rooted aspire.config.json file.

If the rooted config exists in the current directory, it’s used. If not, the CLI walks up the directory structure looking for it. If Aspire finds the rooted config, it uses the recorded AppHost information to determine which project to process. Legacy .aspire/settings.json files are still read during migration.
Searches the current directory and subdirectories.

Starting in the current directory, the CLI gathers all AppHost projects from that directory and below. If a single project is discovered, it’s automatically selected. If multiple projects are discovered, they’re printed to the terminal for the user to manually select one of the projects.

Once a project is selected, either automatically or manually, Aspire records that selection in the rooted configuration so later commands can reuse it.

Each compute environment implements its own destroy step with contextual confirmation:

Azure (ACA/App Service): Discovers resources in the resource group via ARM, shows them to the user, confirms, then deletes the resource group.
Docker Compose: Confirms, then runs docker compose down using persisted deployment state.
Kubernetes (Helm): Confirms, then runs helm uninstall using the persisted release name and namespace.

The AppHost and selected compute environment must provide a destroy pipeline step. If no destroy step is registered, the command fails without deleting resources.

Before performing the destroy operation, the command displays contextual information about what will be removed and prompts for confirmation. Use the --yes flag to skip the confirmation prompt in automated or non-interactive scenarios.

Non-interactive usage

When you use --non-interactive, also pass --yes to explicitly confirm the destructive operation. Omitting --yes when using --non-interactive is an error:

aspire destroy --non-interactive --yes

If you specify --non-interactive without --yes, the command exits with an error:

The destroy command requires --yes when the --non-interactive option is specified.

Output

Before running the destroy pipeline, aspire destroy displays contextual information about the deployed resources or deployment state that the selected compute environment plans to remove, unless --yes is specified. For example, Docker Compose environments prompt before running docker compose down:

Shut down Docker Compose environment 'compose'? This will stop and remove all containers, networks, and volumes.
Confirm:  [y/N]:

After confirmation, the command runs the destroy pipeline and prints a result summary. The exact step names depend on the selected compute environment.

12:51:48 (destroy-compose-compose) → Running compose down for compose using Docker
12:51:49 (destroy-compose-compose) ✓ Compose shutdown complete for compose (Docker) (1.3s)
12:51:49 (destroy) i [INF] Deployment state cleared: <deployment-state-path>\production.json

------------------------------------------------------------
✅ 8/8 steps succeeded • Total time: 1.64s

Steps Summary:
                Step timeline:                 0s                       1.61s
                                               │───────┬──────┬─────┬───────│
      2.10ms  ✓ validate-compute-environments  │╴                           │
       1.60s  ✓ pipeline-execution             │╶──────────────────────────╴│
       1.60s  ✓   destroy-compose-compose      │╶──────────────────────────╴│
       2.07ms ✓     destroy                    │                           ╴│

✅ Pipeline succeeded  🗑️ Compose: compose
------------------------------------------------------------

Options

The following options are available:

-y, --yes

Skip the confirmation prompt and proceed with the destroy operation without user interaction. Use this flag in CI/CD pipelines or scripted environments.
--

Delimits arguments to aspire destroy from arguments for the AppHost. All arguments after this delimiter are passed to the AppHost.
--apphost <apphost>

The path to the Aspire AppHost project file.
-o, --output-path

The output path containing deployment artifacts to destroy. Defaults to the aspire-output folder relative to the AppHost.
--pipeline-log-level

Set the minimum log level for pipeline logging. Valid values are: trace, debug, information, warning, error, critical. The default is information.
-e, --environment

The environment to use for the operation. The default is Production.
--include-exception-details

Include exception details (stack traces) in pipeline logs.
--list-steps

List the pipeline steps that would be executed, without running them. Useful for inspecting what a pipeline command will do before invoking it for real.
--no-build

Don’t build or restore the AppHost project before running the command. Use this when you’ve already built the AppHost (for example, in a CI step) and want to skip the implicit build.
-?, -h, --help

Prints help and usage documentation for the available commands and options.
-l, --log-level <Critical|Debug|Error|Information|None|Trace|Warning>

Set the minimum log level for console output. Use this option to increase diagnostics while troubleshooting or reduce output in scripted runs.
--non-interactive

Run the command in non-interactive mode, disabling all interactive prompts and spinners.
--nologo

Suppress the startup banner and telemetry notice.
--banner

Display the animated Aspire CLI welcome banner.
--wait-for-debugger

Wait for a debugger to attach before running a command.

Examples

Search the current directory structure for AppHost projects and destroy the deployed environment:
Aspire CLI
```
aspire destroy
```
Destroy the deployed environment without prompting for confirmation:
Aspire CLI
```
aspire destroy --yes
```

Destroy a specific AppHost project’s deployed environment:

aspire destroy --apphost './projects/apphost/orchestration.AppHost.csproj'

Destroy a specific environment (non-default) without prompting:
Aspire CLI
```
aspire destroy --environment Staging --yes
```
Destroy in a CI/CD pipeline or automation script (non-interactive, requires --yes):
Aspire CLI
```
aspire destroy --non-interactive --yes
```

Destroy using a specific output path:

aspire destroy --output-path './aspire-output'