Aspire Init

First-run only. This skill owns the skeleton drop and template choice for repositories
that do not yet have an Aspire AppHost. Once the skeleton is in place, hand off to
[aspireify](../aspireify/SKILL.md) for the actual resource wiring.

Prerequisites

Aspire ships the CLI as a NativeAOT .NET global tool — instant startup, no JIT warmup.
The curl/PowerShell installer remains supported for environments without .NET 10.

Detection

Activate only when adding Aspire to a workspace that does not yet have one. Confirm ALL of the following before running aspire init:

If any AppHost signal is already present, do not run aspire init. Route to [aspireify](../aspireify/SKILL.md) (re-wire) or [aspire-orchestration](../aspire-orchestration/SKILL.md) (lifecycle).

Decision: aspire new vs aspire init

See [references/templates.md](references/templates.md) for the complete template list and options.

Workflow A — aspire new <template> (new project)

For brand-new projects in an empty or non-existent directory:

1. Confirm prerequisites with aspire doctor if the CLI install is uncertain.
2. Pick a template from [references/templates.md](references/templates.md).
3. Run the template, append --non-interactive for agent flows:

``bash aspire new aspire-starter --name MyApp --output ./MyApp --non-interactive ``

1. The new directory is fully wired by the template — no aspireify handoff needed.
2. Route to [aspire-orchestration](../aspire-orchestration/SKILL.md) for first run

(aspire start).

Workflow B — aspire init (existing repo)

For repositories that already contain services (Express API, .NET API, Python service, etc.) and need an AppHost added alongside them:

1. Verify the [Detection](#detection) table — confirm no AppHost is present.
2. Run aspire init, choosing language explicitly for non-interactive flows:

``bash aspire init --language csharp --non-interactive # or aspire init --language typescript --non-interactive ``

1. aspire init drops:

- The AppHost skeleton (apphost.cs with #:sdk directives, or apphost.ts with the generated .aspire/modules/ folder) - AppHost configuration describing language + AppHost path - The aspireify agent skill into the project's skill directory (same one aspire agent init uses)

1. Hand off to aspireify — aspire init does not wire resources, projects, or

integrations on its own.

1. After aspireify finishes wiring, validate via aspire start

([aspire-orchestration](../aspire-orchestration/SKILL.md)).

See [references/init-workflow.md](references/init-workflow.md) for the full sequence including what aspire.config.json contains and what to do if aspire init fails partway.

Handoff Rules

Project-Local Skill Override

If .agents/skills/aspire-init/SKILL.md exists project-locally (legacy install from an older aspire init run), warn the user and defer to it. The legacy project-local skill may carry repo-specific guidance that should not be overridden by this in-plugin skill.

The project-local aspireify skill (installed by aspire init) takes precedence over this plugin's in-plugin aspireify for the same reason — defer to the project-local copy and warn.

Error Handling

References

• [templates.md](references/templates.md) — aspire new templates and options
• [init-workflow.md](references/init-workflow.md) — aspire init flow, aspire.config.json

layout, and aspireify handoff