Add automated workflow for templates localization strings updates #12707

Copilot · 2025-11-05T18:31:06Z

Description

This PR implements an automated workflow to detect and commit localization string updates from building the Aspire.ProjectTemplates project.

Changes

Created .github/workflows/update-templates-localization-strings.yml
- Runs daily at 05:00 UTC via cron schedule or on manual workflow dispatch
- Restores dependencies and builds the ProjectTemplates project
- Automatically creates or updates a PR with changes to src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*templatestrings.*.json files only
- Labels PR with area-templates and area-engineering-systems
- Uses dotnet/actions-create-pull-request action with path filters to include only templatestrings files

How It Works

Scheduled Execution: Runs daily to check for localization updates
Build ProjectTemplates: Runs restore and builds the ProjectTemplates project, which may update templatestrings files as part of the localization process
Create PR: If any templatestrings files are modified, creates or updates a PR with those changes only using path filters
Review & Merge: Maintainers can review and merge the automated PR

Benefits

Automated Updates: Localization string updates are automatically detected and proposed via PRs
Minimal Permissions: Uses standard PR creation permissions without requiring broad comment permissions
Clear Attribution: Changes are isolated in dedicated automated PRs
Reviewable: Maintainers can review changes before merging
Non-blocking: Doesn't fail CI builds, just creates PRs for review when updates are needed
Consistent Pattern: Follows the same approach as other automated update workflows in the repository

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 (Workflow will be tested via scheduled runs and manual dispatch)
Did you add public API?
- Yes
- No
Does the change make any security assumptions or guarantees?
- Yes
- No
Does the change require an update in our Aspire docs?
- Yes
- No

Original prompt

Update the repository build pipeline so that if any files in the path src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/templatestrings..json have been modified locally by the build (i.e., after invoking the build, the working directory has changed for these files), the build should fail immediately with a clear message. This enforces that builds do not leave uncommitted changes for these template string JSON files, ensuring consistency and reproducibility. The solution should work both for local developer builds and CI builds, and should provide helpful output identifying changed files if there is a failure.

This pull request was created as a result of the following prompt from Copilot chat.

Update the repository build pipeline so that if any files in the path src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/templatestrings..json have been modified locally by the build (i.e., after invoking the build, the working directory has changed for these files), the build should fail immediately with a clear message. This enforces that builds do not leave uncommitted changes for these template string JSON files, ensuring consistency and reproducibility. The solution should work both for local developer builds and CI builds, and should provide helpful output identifying changed files if there is a failure.

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

- Added MSBuild target CheckTemplateStringsNotModified that runs after build - Target uses PowerShell script to detect uncommitted changes to templatestrings files - Build fails with clear error message if any templatestrings files are modified - Includes instructions on how to fix the issue - Works in both local and CI environments - Committed the templatestrings file changes that were generated by the build Co-authored-by: sebastienros <1165805+sebastienros@users.noreply.github.com>

- Removed MSBuild target from Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj - Added check_templatestrings job to .github/workflows/tests.yml - Check runs after build_packages job - Added as dependency to Final Test Results job - Uses bash script to check for modified templatestrings files - Fails CI if any templatestrings files have uncommitted changes Co-authored-by: sebastienros <1165805+sebastienros@users.noreply.github.com>

github-actions · 2025-11-05T18:59:42Z

🚀 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/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.sh | bash -s -- 12707

Or

Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 12707"

radical · 2025-11-05T19:51:09Z

.github/workflows/tests.yml

          path: extension/out/aspire-extension.vsix

+  check_templatestrings:
+    name: Check templatestrings files not modified


@copilot this should be conditioned to run only for PRs.

Done in commit 619fe78. Added condition if: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request' }} to the job so it only runs for PRs.

radical · 2025-11-05T19:51:40Z

.github/workflows/tests.yml

+          
+          # Check failed - there are modified files
+          echo ""
+          echo "================================================================================"


@copilot This whole message should be posted as a comment on the PR too.

Done in commit 619fe78. The error message is now captured in GITHUB_OUTPUT and posted as a PR comment using github-script action when the check fails. The message is formatted as markdown for better readability.

… failure - Added condition to run check_templatestrings only for pull_request events - Modified check to capture error message in GITHUB_OUTPUT - Added github-script step to post error message as PR comment on failure - Error message formatted as markdown for better readability in PR comments Co-authored-by: radical <1472+radical@users.noreply.github.com>

radical · 2025-11-05T20:25:42Z

.github/workflows/tests.yml

+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
+
+      - name: Check for modified templatestrings files


@copilot before this step, run ./restore.sh and then ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog. This build would make any localization updates if needed, which would allow the next step to run correctly. Also, add a step at the end to upload the binlog .

Done in commit ec284ce. Added:

./restore.sh step before the check

Build step: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog

Upload binlog step at the end (runs always with if: always())

- Added ./restore.sh step before checking files - Added build step for ProjectTemplates project with binlog output - Added step to upload binlog artifact (always runs) - This ensures the build runs and can modify templatestrings before checking Co-authored-by: radical <1472+radical@users.noreply.github.com>

radical · 2025-11-05T20:36:44Z

.github/workflows/tests.yml

+  check_templatestrings:
+    name: Check templatestrings files not modified
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: build_packages


Suggested change

needs: build_packages

@copilot the dependency is not required.

Done in commit d003d3a. Removed the needs: build_packages dependency since the job now runs its own restore and build steps.

The check_templatestrings job runs its own restore and build steps, so it doesn't need to wait for build_packages to complete. This allows the check to run in parallel with other jobs. Co-authored-by: radical <1472+radical@users.noreply.github.com>

radical · 2025-11-05T21:12:10Z

@copilot the check fails with:

SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier 'src'
    at new AsyncFunction (<anonymous>)
    at callAsyncFunction (/home/runner/work/_actions/actions/github-script/60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea/dist/index.js:35424:16)
    at main (/home/runner/work/_actions/actions/github-script/60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea/dist/index.js:35522:26)
    at /home/runner/work/_actions/actions/github-script/60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea/dist/index.js:35497:1
    at /home/runner/work/_actions/actions/github-script/60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea/dist/index.js:35553:3
    at Object.<anonymous> (/home/runner/work/_actions/actions/github-script/60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea/dist/index.js:35556:12)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1521:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1623:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1266:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1091:12)
Error: Unhandled error: SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier 'src'

The error message was being directly embedded in a JavaScript template literal, which caused syntax errors when the message contained backticks or other special characters. Now passing it through the env context and accessing via process.env.ERROR_MESSAGE. Co-authored-by: radical <1472+radical@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2025-11-05T21:16:39Z

@copilot the check fails with:
SyntaxError: Unexpected identifier 'src'

...

Fixed in commit 280ad5b. The error was caused by embedding the error message directly in a JavaScript template literal. When the message contained backticks (from the markdown formatting), it broke the JavaScript syntax. Now passing the message through the env context and accessing it via process.env.ERROR_MESSAGE.

radical · 2025-11-05T21:37:06Z

@copilot we need to rework this because posting a comment from the PR needs permissions which are too broad. Instead do this:

create a new workflow similar to update-github-models.yml called update-templates-localization-strings.yml
Follow the steps from this PR to build the src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates project
Then open a PR with changes matching files src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*templatestrings.*.json only
And drop the changes to tests.yml .

- Reverted all changes to .github/workflows/tests.yml - Created new workflow .github/workflows/update-templates-localization-strings.yml - New workflow builds ProjectTemplates and creates PR with templatestrings.*.json changes - Runs on schedule (daily) and manual dispatch - Uses dotnet/actions-create-pull-request with path-filters for templatestrings files only Co-authored-by: radical <1472+radical@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2025-11-05T21:42:25Z

@copilot we need to rework this because posting a comment from the PR needs permissions which are too broad. Instead do this:

create a new workflow similar to update-github-models.yml called `u...

Done in commit e139d4a. Created new workflow update-templates-localization-strings.yml that:

Runs on schedule (daily) and workflow_dispatch
Builds ProjectTemplates to trigger localization updates
Creates automated PR with changes to *templatestrings.*.json files only using path-filters
Reverted all changes to tests.yml

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR adds a new GitHub Actions workflow that automatically generates and updates template localization strings on a daily schedule. The workflow builds the ProjectTemplates project to regenerate localization files and creates/updates a pull request with any changes.

Key Changes:

Adds automated daily workflow to update template localization strings
Configures PR creation with appropriate labels and targeting for localization file changes

Copilot · 2025-11-05T23:10:49Z

.github/workflows/update-templates-localization-strings.yml

+        run: ./restore.sh
+
+      - name: Build ProjectTemplates to update localization strings
+        run: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog


The binlog path hardcodes 'Debug' configuration, but the build command doesn't specify a configuration. This could cause inconsistency if the build defaults to a different configuration. Consider either adding -c Debug to the build command or using a configuration-agnostic path like ${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/BuildTemplates.binlog.

Suggested change

run: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog

run: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj -c Debug /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog

Copilot · 2025-11-05T23:10:50Z

.github/workflows/update-templates-localization-strings.yml

+          title: "[Automated] Update templates localization strings"
+          body: "Auto-generated update of template localization strings (templatestrings.*.json files)."
+          path-filters: |
+            src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*templatestrings.*.json


The path filter pattern uses a single wildcard which may not match files in subdirectories. According to the custom coding guidelines, localization files match the pattern */localize/templatestrings.*.json. The current pattern templates/*templatestrings.*.json may not correctly capture files in the localize subdirectories. Consider using src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*/localize/templatestrings.*.json to match the actual file structure.

Suggested change

src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*templatestrings.*.json

src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/*/localize/templatestrings.*.json

Initial plan

6b67890

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and sebastienros Nov 5, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of sebastienros November 5, 2025 18:31 View session

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Update build pipeline to fail on modified template strings~~ Add CI check for uncommitted templatestrings modifications during build Nov 5, 2025

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revert templatestrings changes so the new check can be tested

2b53da5

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~Add CI check for uncommitted templatestrings modifications during build~~ Add automated workflow for templates localization strings updates Nov 5, 2025

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	run: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog
	run: ./dotnet.sh build ${{ github.workspace }}/src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/Aspire.ProjectTemplates.csproj -c Debug /bl:${{ github.workspace }}/artifacts/log/Debug/BuildTemplates.binlog

	src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates/templatestrings..json
	src/Aspire.ProjectTemplates/templates//localize/templatestrings..json

Add automated workflow for templates localization strings updates #12707

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