Aspire custom resources

Creating custom resources allows you to extend Aspire to model components that aren’t covered by built-in integrations. This guide covers the patterns and APIs for building your own resource types.

Resource fundamentals

All Aspire resources implement the IResource interface, which requires a Name property. The base Resource class provides a simple implementation you can inherit from.

Basic resource definition

The simplest custom resource is a class that inherits from Resource:

public sealed class MailDevResource(string name) : Resource(name);

This creates a resource that can be added to the app model but doesn’t have any special behavior. You’ll typically want to implement additional interfaces to add capabilities.

Common resource interfaces

Aspire provides several interfaces that give resources specific capabilities:

Interface	Purpose
`IResourceWithConnectionString`	Resource exposes a connection string for consumers
`IResourceWithEndpoints`	Resource has network endpoints
`IResourceWithEnvironment`	Resource can configure environment variables
`IResourceWithArgs`	Resource accepts command-line arguments
`IResourceWithWaitSupport`	Resource supports `WaitFor` orchestration
`IResourceWithParent`	Resource has a parent resource (lifecycle binding)

Implementing IResourceWithConnectionString

Resources that expose connection strings for client applications should implement IResourceWithConnectionString:

public sealed class MailDevResource(string name, EndpointReference smtpEndpoint)
    : Resource(name), IResourceWithConnectionString
{
    public ReferenceExpression ConnectionStringExpression =>
        ReferenceExpression.Create(
            $"smtp://{smtpEndpoint.Property(EndpointProperty.Host)}:{smtpEndpoint.Property(EndpointProperty.Port)}");
}

For resources with authentication, include credentials in the connection string:

public sealed class InfluxDbResource : Resource, IResourceWithConnectionString
{
    private readonly EndpointReference _endpoint;
    private readonly ParameterResource _token;

    public InfluxDbResource(
        string name,
        EndpointReference endpoint,
        ParameterResource token) : base(name)
    {
        _endpoint = endpoint;
        _token = token;
    }

    public ReferenceExpression ConnectionStringExpression =>
        ReferenceExpression.Create(
            $"Endpoint={_endpoint.Property(EndpointProperty.UriString)};" +
            $"Token={_token}");
}

Creating extension methods

By convention, resources are added to the app model via extension methods on IDistributedApplicationBuilder:

public static class MailDevExtensions
{
    public static IResourceBuilder<MailDevResource> AddMailDev(
        this IDistributedApplicationBuilder builder,
        [ResourceName] string name,
        int? smtpPort = null)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(builder);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(name);

        var resource = new MailDevResource(name);

        return builder.AddResource(resource)
            .WithImage("maildev/maildev", "2.1.0")
            .WithHttpEndpoint(targetPort: 1080, name: "http")
            .WithEndpoint(targetPort: 1025, port: smtpPort, name: "smtp");
    }
}

The [ResourceName] attribute enables IDE tooling and validation for resource names.

Adding resource behavior

Resources are data containers by default. To add runtime behavior, use one of these approaches:

Using eventing subscribers

The recommended approach for adding lifecycle behavior is implementing IDistributedApplicationEventingSubscriber:

public sealed class MailDevEventingSubscriber(
    ResourceNotificationService notification,
    ResourceLoggerService loggerService)
    : IDistributedApplicationEventingSubscriber
{
    public Task SubscribeAsync(
        IDistributedApplicationEventing eventing,
        DistributedApplicationExecutionContext context,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        eventing.Subscribe<AfterResourcesCreatedEvent>(async (@event, ct) =>
        {
            foreach (var resource in context.Model.Resources.OfType<MailDevResource>())
            {
                var logger = loggerService.GetLogger(resource);
                logger.LogInformation("MailDev server ready at {Name}", resource.Name);

                await notification.PublishUpdateAsync(resource, s => s with
                {
                    State = KnownResourceStates.Running,
                    StartTimeStamp = DateTime.UtcNow
                });
            }
        });

        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

For the full list of available events and advanced patterns, see AppHost eventing.

public static IResourceBuilder<MailDevResource> AddMailDev(
    this IDistributedApplicationBuilder builder,
    [ResourceName] string name,
    int? smtpPort = null)
{
    builder.Services.TryAddEventingSubscriber<MailDevEventingSubscriber>();

    var resource = new MailDevResource(name);
    return builder.AddResource(resource);
}

Using inline event subscriptions

For simpler cases, you can subscribe to events directly on the resource builder:

public static IResourceBuilder<MailDevResource> AddMailDev(
    this IDistributedApplicationBuilder builder,
    [ResourceName] string name)
{
    var resource = new MailDevResource(name);

    builder.Eventing.Subscribe<AfterResourcesCreatedEvent>(resource, async (@event, ct) =>
    {
        // Initialize mail server, create test mailboxes, etc.
    });

    return builder.AddResource(resource);
}

Resource state management

Use ResourceNotificationService to publish state updates that appear in the dashboard:

await notification.PublishUpdateAsync(resource, state => state with
{
    State = KnownResourceStates.Running,
    StartTimeStamp = DateTime.UtcNow
});

Well-known states

Aspire provides several well-known states in KnownResourceStates:

NotStarted - Resource hasn’t started yet
Starting - Resource is initializing
Running - Resource is operational
Stopping - Resource is shutting down
Exited - Resource has stopped
FailedToStart - Resource failed during startup
Waiting - Resource is waiting for dependencies
Hidden - Resource is hidden from the dashboard

Custom states

You can create custom states using ResourceStateSnapshot:

await notification.PublishUpdateAsync(resource, state => state with
{
    State = new ResourceStateSnapshot("Indexing", KnownResourceStateStyles.Info)
});

Initial state configuration

Set the initial dashboard appearance using WithInitialState:

return builder.AddResource(resource)
    .WithInitialState(new CustomResourceSnapshot
    {
        ResourceType = "MailDev",
        CreationTimeStamp = DateTime.UtcNow,
        State = KnownResourceStates.NotStarted,
        Properties = [
            new(CustomResourceKnownProperties.Source, "MailDev SMTP Server")
        ]
    });

Excluding from manifest

If your resource is for local development only, exclude it from deployment manifests:

return builder.AddResource(resource)
    .ExcludeFromManifest();

Resource relationships

Use relationships to organize how resources appear in the dashboard:

WithRelationship

Create custom relationships between resources for visual organization:

var api = builder.AddProject<Projects.Api>("api");
var worker = builder.AddProject<Projects.Worker>("worker")
    .WithRelationship(api.Resource, "publishes-to");

WithChildRelationship

Group related resources under a parent in the dashboard:

var postgres = builder.AddPostgres("postgres");
var catalogDb = postgres.AddDatabase("catalog");

// Custom resources can establish parent-child relationships:
var mailDev = builder.AddMailDev("mail")
    .WithChildRelationship(catalogDb);

For more on how the Aspire Dashboard displays resources, see Dashboard overview.

Custom icons

Use WithIconName to display a custom icon for your resource in the dashboard. Any Fluent UI system icon can be used:

return builder.AddResource(resource)
    .WithIconName("mail");  // Uses the "mail" Fluent UI icon

// Or specify a variant (Filled is default, Regular is outline-only)
return builder.AddResource(resource)
    .WithIconName("mail", IconVariant.Regular);