Default to Terminal view for live terminal resources in dashboard console logs by mitchdenny · Pull Request #18867 · microsoft/aspire

mitchdenny · 2026-07-23T01:36:13Z

Description

Resources that opt into WithTerminal() expose an interactive terminal (PTY) alongside their console logs on the dashboard's Console logs page. Previously, selecting such a resource always landed the user on the Console view, and they had to open the ⋯ menu and pick Terminal every time — even when the terminal was already live and was the surface they came to use.

Now, when you navigate to the Console logs page for a terminal-enabled resource that is live (its state is Running, so the PTY is active), the page defaults to the Terminal view. This makes the interactive terminal the first thing you see for a running resource, matching what most users expect when they click through to a resource with a terminal.

Terminal-enabled resources that are not live still default to the Console view, so the useful output remains immediately visible:

Not started yet (Waiting/Starting): pre-PTY hosting messages such as WaitFor and startup failures.
Already stopped (Exited/Finished/FailedToStart): post-PTY exit output.

Both views remain mounted at once (as before), so this only changes which pane is shown first — nothing is torn down or rebuilt, and the user can still flip between Console and Terminal from the ⋯ menu at any time.

User-facing usage

In an AppHost, apply WithTerminal() to a resource:

builder.AddContainer("myapp", "myimage")
       .WithTerminal();

Run the AppHost and open the dashboard.
Click the resource's Console logs:
- While the resource is Running → the Terminal view is selected by default.
- While it is Waiting/Starting or after it has exited → the Console view is selected by default.

The default is evaluated at selection time (i.e. when you navigate to the resource). A later Waiting → Running transition does not auto-flip the view, which also avoids overriding a view you picked manually.

Screenshots / Recordings

This PR includes UI changes. Please add screenshots or screen recordings so reviewers can evaluate the visual changes without running locally.

For before/after comparisons, place them side-by-side or label them clearly.

For interactive changes (animations, transitions, new flows), prefer a short screen recording (GIF or video).

If you cannot capture visuals now, note what scenario to test and mark this section as TODO.

Implementation

The default-view selection lives in ConsoleLogs.SubscribeAsync, which runs only on resource-selection change. After it detects a terminal-enabled resource, it now flips _activeView to ConsoleLogsView.Terminal when selectedResource.IsRunningState(); otherwise the default stays Console.

Checklist

Is this feature complete?
- Yes. Ready to ship.
- No. Follow-up changes expected.
Are you including unit tests for the changes and scenario tests if relevant?
- Yes
- No
Did you add public API?
- Yes
  - If yes, did you have an API Review for it?
    - Yes
    - No
  - Did you add <remarks /> and <code /> elements on your triple slash comments?
    - Yes
    - No
- No
Does the change make any security assumptions or guarantees?
- Yes
  - If yes, have you done a threat model and had a security review?
    - Yes
    - No
- No

…sole When navigating to the console page for a resource with WithTerminal() applied, the dashboard now defaults to the Terminal view when the resource is live (Running) so the active PTY is shown immediately. Non-running terminal resources stay on the Console view so pre-PTY hosting messages and post-PTY exit output remain visible. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 3d677385-2441-4093-b928-4d75a9ea599c

github-actions · 2026-07-23T01:36:28Z

🚀 Dogfood this PR with:

⚠️ WARNING: Do not do this without first carefully reviewing the code of this PR to satisfy yourself it is safe.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.sh | bash -s -- 18867

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 18867"

Copilot

Pull request overview

Defaults running terminal-enabled resources to Terminal while retaining Console for inactive resources.

Changes:

Selects Terminal when the resource state is Running.
Adds tests for live and non-live defaults.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/Aspire.Dashboard/Components/Pages/ConsoleLogs.razor.cs`	Implements state-based default selection.
`tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Components.Tests/Pages/ConsoleLogsTerminalTests.cs`	Verifies Terminal and Console defaults.

Review details

Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
Comments generated: 1
Review effort level: Medium

SubscribeAsync runs both on resource selection (via OnParametersSetAsync when needsNewSubscription) and on filter changes (via ConsoleLogsManager.OnFiltersChanged, e.g. clearing console logs). The default-view logic unconditionally reset _activeView on every call, so a user who manually switched a running terminal resource to Console and then cleared the logs was snapped back to Terminal, overriding their choice. Add a resetView flag so the Console default and the Running -> Terminal flip only apply on actual selection changes; filter refreshes now preserve the current view. Add a regression test covering a filter update after a manual Console selection on a live terminal resource. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 3d677385-2441-4093-b928-4d75a9ea599c

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
Comments generated: 1
Review effort level: Medium

github-actions · 2026-07-23T02:42:26Z

Retrying the failed CI jobs for this pull request from the CI run attempt. The rerun is being tracked in the rerun attempt.

mitchdenny · 2026-07-23T03:08:08Z

PR Testing Report

PR Information

PR Number: #18867
Title: Default to Terminal view for live terminal resources in dashboard console logs
Head Commit: ebf9974a398afc13370f905a36e6abb324d7c58d
Tested At: 2026-07-23T02:43:52Z

Artifact Version Verification

Expected Commit: ebf9974a398afc13370f905a36e6abb324d7c58d
Installed Version: 13.5.0-pr.18867.gebf9974a (dogfood PR CLI, isolated install)
Status: ✅ Verified — installed CLI version embeds the PR head short SHA gebf9974a, and the running dashboard is served by this PR build (port 17015).

Changes Analyzed

Files Changed

src/Aspire.Dashboard/Components/Pages/ConsoleLogs.razor.cs — Modified (view-default logic)
tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Components.Tests/Pages/ConsoleLogsTerminalTests.cs — Modified (added regression test)

Change Categories

Behavior under test

When navigating to a resource's Console page, the dashboard should default to the Terminal view only when the resource has a live (Running) terminal attached. A manual switch to Console must be respected and must survive a subsequent ConsoleLogsManager.OnFiltersChanged (e.g. clearing logs), which also calls SubscribeAsync.

Test Environment

Execution target: Local temp directory (full dogfood E2E).
AppHost: single-file apphost.cs (SDK Aspire.AppHost.Sdk@13.5.0-pr.18867.gebf9974a) with two long-running resources:
- shell — AddExecutable(...).WithTerminal() running while true; do date; sleep 2; done (live, streaming terminal).
- plain — AddExecutable(...) running while true; do echo hello; sleep 5; done (no terminal).
Driver: Playwright (Chromium, headless), reading the active view from the DOM. For a terminal-enabled resource both views are mounted; the active one's wrapper <div> is display: contents, the inactive is display: none. .terminal-container = Terminal view; .log-overflow = Console (LogViewer) view.
Both resources confirmed Running on the Resources page (00-resources.png).

Test Scenarios Executed

Scenario 1: Live terminal resource defaults to Terminal

Objective: Navigating to shell (live terminal, Running) defaults to the Terminal view.
Coverage Type: Happy path
Status: ✅ Passed

Steps:

Log in to the PR dashboard.
Navigate to /consolelogs/resource/shell.
Read the active view from the DOM.

Evidence:

Screenshot: shell.png — live terminal streaming date output.
DOM state: terminalWrapperDisplay=contents, logWrapperDisplay=none → activeView=Terminal.

Observations: The terminal emulator is selected by default and is visibly live (streaming timestamps).

Scenario 2: Non-terminal resource defaults to Console

Objective: Navigating to plain (no terminal, Running) defaults to the Console logs view (behavior unchanged).
Coverage Type: Happy path / regression guard
Status: ✅ Passed

Steps:

Navigate to /consolelogs/resource/plain.
Read the active view from the DOM.

Evidence:

Screenshot: plain.png — Console logs view with streaming hello output.
DOM state: .terminal-container absent, Console log viewer visible → activeView=Console.

Observations: A resource without a terminal still defaults to Console logs, so the change is correctly scoped to terminal-enabled resources.

Scenario 3: Manual Console selection survives a clear-logs filter change (regression)

Objective: Verify the specific bug found in code review — because ConsoleLogsManager.OnFiltersChanged also calls SubscribeAsync, clearing logs must not re-force a live terminal resource back to the Terminal view after the user manually chose Console.
Coverage Type: Unhappy path / regression
Status: ✅ Passed

Steps:

Navigate to /consolelogs/resource/shell → defaults to Terminal (activeView=Terminal).
Open the page Settings (Options) menu → click Console logs → view switches to Console (activeView=Console, screenshot s3-2-console.png).
Open the Remove data (clear) menu → click Remove telemetry for shell (#clear-menu-resource). This fires ClearConsoleLogs → UpdateFiltersAsync → OnFiltersChanged → SubscribeAsync(resetView: false).
Re-read the active view.

Evidence:

Screenshots: s3-2-console.png (after manual switch — Console), s3-3-after-clear.png (after clear — still Console, "No logs found").
DOM state sequence: Terminal → Console → Console (terminalWrapperDisplay=none, logWrapperDisplay=contents after the clear).

Expected Unhappy-Path Outcome: The view remains Console after clearing logs. Without the fix, the clear would flip the view back to Terminal because SubscribeAsync re-evaluated the Running-terminal default. Confirmed the view stays Console. ✅

Complementary Automated Coverage

The PR adds/keeps a bUnit component suite in ConsoleLogsTerminalTests.cs (5 tests, all passing), including the new regression test TerminalResource_Live_ManualConsoleSelection_SurvivesFilterChange, which was proven to fail if the fix is reverted. The browser E2E above independently validates the same behavior against the real PR dashboard build.

Summary

Scenario	Status	Notes
1. Live terminal → Terminal default	✅ Passed	Live `date` stream in terminal emulator
2. Non-terminal → Console default	✅ Passed	Scope correctly limited to terminal resources
3. Manual Console survives clear-logs	✅ Passed	Regression fix verified end-to-end

Overall Result

✅ PR VERIFIED

Recommendations

No issues found. The feature works as intended and the code-review regression (manual Console being overridden by a filter-triggered SubscribeAsync) is fixed and verified both in bUnit and in a live browser session.

The field comment still described the pre-change behavior (view purely user-controlled, always defaults to Console on selection, no auto-switching). Update it to reflect that a live terminal resource now defaults to Terminal on selection while all other cases default to Console, and that later filter/clear refreshes preserve the current view. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 3d677385-2441-4093-b928-4d75a9ea599c

Copilot

Review details

Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
Comments generated: 0 new
Review effort level: Medium

github-actions · 2026-07-23T06:21:33Z

Tests selector (audit mode)

The full test matrix and all jobs still run in audit mode. The tests and jobs below are what selective CI would run under enforcement.

7 / 100 test projects · 4 jobs, from 2 changed files.

Selected test projects (7 / 100)

Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests, Aspire.Dashboard.Components.Tests, Aspire.Dashboard.Tests, Aspire.Hosting.DotnetTool.Tests, Aspire.Hosting.RemoteHost.Tests, Aspire.Managed.Tests, Aspire.Playground.Tests

Selected jobs (4)

cli-starter, deployment-e2e, extension-e2e, polyglot

How these were chosen — grouped by what changed

🔧 src/Aspire.Dashboard/Components/Pages/ConsoleLogs.razor.cs (changed source)
→ 5 via the project graph: Aspire.Dashboard.Tests, Aspire.Hosting.DotnetTool.Tests (2 hops), Aspire.Hosting.RemoteHost.Tests (2 hops), Aspire.Managed.Tests (2 hops), Aspire.Playground.Tests (2 hops)

📦 affected project Aspire.Managed
→ 1 test: Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests

🧪 tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Components.Tests/Pages/ConsoleLogsTerminalTests.cs (changed test)
→ 1 directly: Aspire.Dashboard.Components.Tests

Job reasons

Job	Triggered by
`cli-starter`	• affected project `Aspire.Managed` • selected test `Aspire.Cli.EndToEnd.Tests`
`deployment-e2e`	affected project `Aspire.Managed`
`extension-e2e`	• `src/Aspire.Dashboard/Components/Pages/ConsoleLogs.razor.cs` • affected project `Aspire.Dashboard`
`polyglot`	affected project `Aspire.Managed`

Selection computed for commit 4c8400d.

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 23, 2026 01:36

mitchdenny requested review from JamesNK and adamint as code owners July 23, 2026 01:36

github-actions Bot added the area-dashboard label Jul 23, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of mitchdenny July 23, 2026 01:36 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jul 23, 2026

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Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 23, 2026 02:17

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of mitchdenny July 23, 2026 02:18 View session

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mitchdenny self-assigned this Jul 23, 2026

mitchdenny added the area-terminal Terminal/PTY support — TerminalHost, WithTerminal, dashboard terminal view label Jul 23, 2026

mitchdenny added this to the 13.5 milestone Jul 23, 2026

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings July 23, 2026 06:18

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of mitchdenny July 23, 2026 06:19 View session

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github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Jul 24, 2026

[repo-pulse] 📊 Repo Pulse — Daily Activity Dashboard #16404

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Default to Terminal view for live terminal resources in dashboard console logs#18867

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mitchdenny commented Jul 23, 2026

Description

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mitchdenny commented Jul 23, 2026

PR Testing Report

PR Information

Artifact Version Verification

Changes Analyzed

Files Changed

Change Categories

Behavior under test

Test Environment

Test Scenarios Executed

Scenario 1: Live terminal resource defaults to Terminal

Scenario 2: Non-terminal resource defaults to Console

Scenario 3: Manual Console selection survives a clear-logs filter change (regression)

Complementary Automated Coverage

Summary

Overall Result

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github-actions Bot commented Jul 23, 2026

Tests selector (audit mode)

Selected test projects (7 / 100)

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