Create your first app

Aspire provides templates and tooling to quickly create and configure cloud-native apps in Visual Studio, VS Code, or the CLI. Prefer not to install anything locally? Start your first app in a Dev Container:

Alternatively, assuming you have the prerequisites and Aspire CLI installed, you can create a new Aspire solution.

1. Create a new Aspire solution:

   Create a new aspire solution

   aspire new aspire-starter -n AspireApp -o AspireApp

   CLI options

   The aspire-starter template provides several projects, including an API service, web frontend, and app host.

   • -n: specifies the name of the solution.
   • -o: specifies the output directory.

   If prompted for additional selections, use the Up Arrow ↑ Up Arrow ↑ Up Arrow ↑ and Down Arrow ↓ Down Arrow ↓ Down Arrow ↓ keys to navigate the options. Press Return Return Enter Enter Enter Enter to confirm your selection.

   For further CLI reference, see aspire new command information.

2. Verify the solution was created successfully. The Aspire CLI creates a new folder named AspireApp in the current directory. This folder contains the solution file and several projects, including:

   • AspireApp.sln
   • DizinAspireApp.ApiService

     • DizinProperties/

       • …
     • appsettings.Development.json
     • appsettings.json
     • AspireApp.ApiService.csproj
     • Program.cs
   • DizinAspireApp.AppHost this is your local dev-time orchestrator

     • DizinProperties/

       • …
     • appsettings.Development.json
     • appsettings.json
     • AspireApp.AppHost.csproj
     • AppHost.cs
   • DizinAspireApp.ServiceDefaults

     • Extensions.cs
     • AspireApp.ServiceDefaults.csproj
   • DizinAspireApp.Web

     • DizinProperties/

       • …
     • Dizinwwwroot/

       • …
     • appsettings.Development.json
     • appsettings.json
     • AspireApp.Web.csproj
     • Program.cs
     • WeatherApiClient.cs

   This solution structure is based on the Aspire templates. If they’re not installed already, the CLI will install them for you.

3. Change to the output directory:

   Change directories—stepping into the output directory

   cd ./AspireApp

4. Run the Aspire AppHost project:

   Run dev-time orchestration

   aspire run

   When you run this command, the Aspire CLI automatically finds the AppHost project, builds your solution, and launches dev-time orchestration. Once the dashboard is ready, its URL (with a login token) appears in your console. You’ll also see a live, real-time view of your running resources and their current states.

   Example output of aspire run

   Dashboard:  https://localhost:17244/login?t=9db79f2885dae24ee06c6ef10290b8b2
   
   Logs:  /home/vscode/.aspire/cli/logs/apphost-5932-2025-08-25-18-37-31.log
   
       Press CTRL+C to stop the apphost and exit.

   For further CLI reference, see aspire run command information.

5. Explore the running distributed application. From the dashboard, open the HTTPS endpoint from each resource.

   

6. Stop the AppHost and close the dashboard by pressing ⌘+C ⌘+C Control + C CtrlC Control + C CtrlC .

   🥳 Congratulations! You’ve created your first Aspire app.

Next steps

Next, deepen your understanding of Aspire by learning how the AppHost defines your application’s architecture, and how deployment and app topology are defined once and reused across environments.

The AppHost Discover how to define your application's architecture using Aspire's code-first AppHost approach.

Deployment & App Topology Learn how your development setup translates to production deployments across different platforms.