Add troubleshooting link to dashboard resource service connection error logs

[JamesNK]

Description

When the dashboard fails to connect to the resource service, users see error log messages but have no guidance on how to troubleshoot the problem. This change appends a troubleshooting link (https://aka.ms/aspire/dashboard-apphost-connection-failed) to the error log messages emitted during connection failures, so users can quickly find relevant documentation.

The URL is defined as a private const string to avoid repetition across the three error paths:

• Initial connection retry failures (ConnectWithRetryAsync)
• Overall connection task failure (ConnectAndWatchAsync)
• Watch stream disconnections (WatchWithRecoveryAsync)

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

[github-actions]

🚀 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 -- 18194

Or

• Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 18194"

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR adds a troubleshooting link (https://aka.ms/aspire/dashboard-connection-failed) to error log messages emitted by DashboardClient when it fails to connect to the resource service. This gives users immediate guidance when they see connection error logs in the dashboard.

Changes:

• Appended the troubleshooting URL to three error log messages in DashboardClient.cs covering all connection failure paths (initial retry, overall connection failure, watch stream disconnection)
• Added a new unit test verifying the troubleshooting link appears in error log output
• Simplified a redundant timeout in an existing test (WaitAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)) → WaitAsync() since .DefaultTimeout() already provides the timeout)

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
src/Aspire.Dashboard/ServiceClient/DashboardClient.cs	Appends troubleshooting URL to three error log messages in connection failure paths
tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Tests/Model/DashboardClientTests.cs	Adds test for troubleshooting link in error logs, adds FailOnGetApplicationInformation mock option, simplifies existing test timeout

[JamesNK]

PR Testing Report

Result: ✅ PR #18194 verified successfully

PR Information

• PR Number: Add troubleshooting link to dashboard resource service connection error logs #18194
• Title: Add troubleshooting link to dashboard resource service connection error logs
• Head Commit: fbcff1f
• Tested At: 2026-06-13T13:10:20Z

Changes Analyzed

• src/Aspire.Dashboard/ServiceClient/DashboardClient.cs - Added https://aka.ms/aspire/dashboard-connection-failed to 3 error log messages
• tests/Aspire.Dashboard.Tests/Model/DashboardClientTests.cs - Added unit test verifying the link appears in connection error logs

Test Scenarios Executed

Scenario: DashboardClientTests (full class)

Objective: Verify the troubleshooting link appears in error logs and no regressions in existing connection state tests
Status: ✅ Passed

Results:

• 18 tests executed, 18 passed, 0 failed
• ConnectWithRetry_LogsErrorWithTroubleshootingLink confirms the aka.ms link is present in error log output

Summary

Scenario	Status	Notes
DashboardClientTests (18 tests)	✅ Passed	Includes new link assertion test

Overall Result

✅ PR VERIFIED - Low-risk string addition to existing log messages, fully covered by unit test.

[github-actions]

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

[github-actions]

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

[github-actions]

❓ CLI E2E Tests unknown — 115 passed, 0 failed, 2 unknown (commit 960dbe3)

View all recordings

-	Test	Detail
✅	AddPackageInteractiveWhileAppHostRunningDetached	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AddPackageWhileAppHostRunningDetached	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentCommands_AllHelpOutputs_AreCorrect	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentInitCommand_DefaultSelection_InstallsDefaultSkills	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentInitCommand_MigratesDeprecatedConfig	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentInit_NonInteractive_BundleOnlySkillsNotInCatalog	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentMcpListResources_ExcludesResourceMarkedWithExcludeFromMcp	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp_DevLocalhost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AgentMcpListStructuredLogsReturnsLogsFromStarterApp_Isolated	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AllPublishMethodsBuildDockerImages	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireAddAndStartWorkAgainstLegacyAppHostTs	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireAddPackageVersionToDirectoryPackagesProps	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireInitSingleFileAppHostRunsViaDotnetRunAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireInit_ExistingAppHostDir_RecreatesNuGetConfigKeepsFiles	Recording · Job · CLI logs
❔	AspireInit_SolutionFile_BuildsAgainstChannelHive	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireStartUpdatesStaleTypeScriptAppHostPath	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireUpdateRemovesAppHostPackageVersionFromDirectoryPackagesProps	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	AspireUpdateRemovesOrphanAppHostPackageVersionWhenSdkAlreadyCurrent	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	Banner_DisplayedOnFirstRun	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	Banner_DisplayedWithExplicitFlag	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	Banner_NotDisplayedWithNoLogoFlag	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CertificatesClean_RemovesCertificates	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CertificatesTrust_WithNoCert_CreatesAndTrustsCertificate	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CertificatesTrust_WithUntrustedCert_TrustsCertificate	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	ConfigSetGet_CreatesNestedJsonFormat	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunAspireStarterProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunAspireStarterProjectWithBundle	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunEmptyAppHostProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunJavaEmptyAppHostProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunJsReactProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunPolyglotAppHostWithDevLocalhostUrls	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunPythonReactProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunTypeScriptEmptyAppHostProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateAndRunTypeScriptStarterProject	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateJavaAppHostWithViteApp	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	CreateTypeScriptAppHostWithViteApp_UsesConfiguredToolchain	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DashboardRunWithAgentMcpListTracesReturnsNoTraces	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DashboardRunWithAgentMcpListTracesReturnsNoTraces_DevLocalhost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DashboardRunWithOtelTracesReturnsNoTraces	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DashboardRunWithOtelTracesReturnsNoTraces_DevLocalhost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sBasicApiService	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithExternalHelmChart	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithGarnet	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithMongoDB	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithMySql	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithPostgres	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithRabbitMQ	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithRedis	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithSqlServer	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployK8sWithValkey	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DeployTypeScriptAppToKubernetes	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DescribeCommandResolvesReplicaNames	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DescribeCommandShowsRunningResources	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DetachFormatJsonProducesValidJson	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DetachFormatJsonProducesValidJsonWhenRestartingExistingInstance	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DoPublishAndDeployListStepsWork	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DocsCommand_RendersInteractiveMarkdownFromLocalSource	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DoctorCommand_DetectsDeprecatedAgentConfig	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DoctorCommand_TypeScriptAppHostReportsMissingConfiguredToolchain	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DoctorCommand_WithSslCertDir_ShowsTrusted	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DoctorCommand_WithoutSslCertDir_ShowsPartiallyTrusted	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DotNetRunFileBasedAppHostUsesAspireCliBundle	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	DotNetRunProjectAppHostUsesAspireCliBundle	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GatewayWithoutExternalEndpoint_FailsPublishWithGuidance	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GeneratedAspireDevScript_StartsWatchMode_WithConfiguredToolchain	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GlobalMigration_HandlesCommentsAndTrailingCommas	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GlobalMigration_HandlesMalformedLegacyJson	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GlobalMigration_PreservesAllValueTypes	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GlobalMigration_SkipsWhenNewConfigExists	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	GlobalSettings_MigratedFromLegacyFormat	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	IngressWithoutExternalEndpoint_FailsPublishWithGuidance	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	InitTypeScriptAppHost_AugmentsExistingViteRepoInWorkspaceSubdirectory	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	InteractiveCSharpInitCreatesExpectedFiles	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	InvalidAppHostPathWithComments_IsHealedOnRun	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	JavaScriptHostingApisRunFromTypeScriptAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	LatestCliCanStartStableChannelAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	LatestCliCanStartStableChannelTypeScriptAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	LegacySettingsMigration_AdjustsRelativeAppHostPath	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	LogsCommandShowsResourceLogs	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	OtelLogsReturnsStructuredLogsFromStarterApp	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	OtelLogsReturnsStructuredLogsFromStarterAppIsolated	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	ProcessCommandCallbackReceivesCliArguments	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PsCommandListsRunningAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PsFormatJsonOutputsOnlyJsonToStdout	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PublishJavaScriptPatternsGeneratesExpectedDockerComposeArtifacts	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PublishWithConfigureEnvFileUpdatesEnvOutput	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PublishWithDockerComposeServiceCallbackSucceeds	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	PublishWithoutOutputPathUsesAppHostDirectoryDefault	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	ResourceCommand_FailedExec_ShowsLogPathAndLogHasEntries	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	ResourceCommand_SetAndDeleteParameterUpdatesDescribeOutput	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RestoreGeneratesSdkFiles	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RestoreGeneratesSdkFiles_WithConfiguredToolchain	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RestoreRefreshesGeneratedSdkAfterAddingIntegration	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RestoreSupportsConfigOnlyHelperPackageAndCrossPackageTypes	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RunFromParentDirectory_UsesExistingConfigNearAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RunReportsSyntaxErrorsForDotNetAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	RunReportsSyntaxErrorsForTypeScriptAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	SecretCrudOnDotNetAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	SecretCrudOnTypeScriptAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StagingChannel_ConfigureAndVerifySettings_ThenSwitchChannels	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StartAndWaitForTypeScriptSqlServerAppHostWithNativeAssets	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StartReportsSyntaxErrorsForDotNetAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StartReportsSyntaxErrorsForTypeScriptAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StopAllAppHostsFromAppHostDirectory	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StopJavaPolyglotAppHostUsingApphostDirectory	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StopNonInteractiveSingleAppHost	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StopTypeScriptPolyglotAppHostUsingApphostDirectory	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	StopWithNoRunningAppHostExitsSuccessfully	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	TerminalAttachFrontend_ShowsViteHelpAndDetaches	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	TypeScriptAppHostRunDoesNotDeadlockWhenLazyOptionsInvokeAsyncCallback	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	TypeScriptAppHostWithVite_AllowsDifferentGuestPkgManager	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	UnAwaitedChainsCompileWithAutoResolvePromises	Recording · Job · CLI logs
❔	UpdateToStable_CSharpEmptyAppHost_KeepsConfigChannel	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	UpdateToStable_CSharpSingleFileInit_KeepsConfigChannel	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	UpdateToStable_TypeScriptSingleFileInit_KeepsConfigChannel	Recording · Job · CLI logs
✅	UpdateToStable_TypeScript_PreviewsStablePkgsAndKeepsChannel	Recording · Job · CLI logs

---

_{📹 Recordings uploaded automatically from CI run #27457944040}