In an AI-native world, human attention is a scarce resource. As @davidfowl.com pointed out, coding agents make software faster to produce, but they also make code harder to review, debug, and trust when the context disappears.
David Fowler
@davidfowl.com
Distinguished Engineer @ Microsoft 🧐. Creator of NuGet, SignalR and ASP.NET Core, Barbadian 🇧🇧, Tennis Player.
The hidden cost of agentic coding is code review. When producing code is trivial, human attention becomes a scarce resource. @davidfowl.com explains why review became the first bottleneck his team experienced as agents changed the scale of development.
Aspire 13.4 brings more of the local development loop into @VSCode.dev: AppHost CodeLens actions, live resource state, dashboard shortcuts, typed resource command prompts, TypeScript AppHost support, and multi-language debugging. devblogs.microsoft.com/aspire/aspir... #AspireDev
devblogs.microsoft.com
I needed a SQL Server database to test something. VS Code mssql extension could create a local sql server container for me but it does not work with podman. The wizard to create an Azure SQL Database was glitchy. In the end, best solution was to use aspire, in few minutes I had my database ready.
TypeScript devs no longer need to tangle with C# to use Aspire dev stack after Microsoft update
TypeScript devs no longer need to tangle with C# to use Aspire dev stack after Microsoft update
Aspire is a powerful tool for developers but not well understood – and pure TypeScript AppHost may broaden its appeal
theregister.com
ICYMI: Catch the replay of the Aspire session by @maddy.fm and @davidfowl.com at #MSBuild! 💫 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge5P...
Aspire for agents: Transform how you build and deploy distributed apps | BRK205
Aspire is an open-source cloud and agent-ready developer toolchain transforming how you build, run, and deploy observable, production-ready distributed apps. Its code centric approach streamlines…
youtube.com
Happy #msbuild Day 1! Come stop by the Aspire booth in the Expert Meetup area to say hi to @bethmassi.net @davidfowl.com and @maddy.fm (and grab a sticker!) 💫
Going LIVE NOW from #msbuild - @davidfowl.com and @maddy.fm showing a preview of their breakout session later today!! youtube.com/@aspiredotdev
Aspire
Your stack, streamlined 💫
youtube.com
Doing some test deployments via our AKS integration in #aspire 13.4 and just saw this content served up from our starter template app. Whatever place this weather is for I don't want to live there! 51c is rated as "Cool" :P
What is an apphost? A gentle introduction to @aspire.dev by @maddy.fm youtu.be/JLlnk3NrvRo
Aspire Bytes: What is the apphost?
YouTube video by Aspire
youtu.be
In this post, @davidfowl.com shows us how Aspire turns a development team's scattered tribal knowledge into an explicit, incrementally adoptable app model that humans, scripts, and AI agents can all use. devblogs.microsoft.com/aspire/dev-l... #AspireDev
devblogs.microsoft.com
Lots of people in the .NET ecosystem use Spectre Console (because it is awesome) and I am sure like others they are watching the development of Spectre TUI with interest. I wondered what would happen if I attached Spectre's IAnsiConsole as a workload to #hex1b. /cc @patriksvensson.se
@davidfowl.com nerd sniped me over the weekend with a bunch of bugs. One was a feature request to support select behavior on arbitrary areas of a #hex1b app. Here is an example of where it ended up:
I don't know what @maddy.fm @damianedwards.com and @davidfowl.com are going to do on #aspirifridays anymore. I just tried @maddy.fm 's /aspirify skill that is shipping in Aspire 13.3 and it just one shot migrated the Mealie app to use Aspire:
Git worktrees are the new hotness now that agents can work on parallel instances of your codebase. What they don’t solve is the port conflict problem, that’s where aspire run/start —isolated comes! By @james.newtonking.com devblogs.microsoft.com/aspire/aspir... #aspiredev @aspire.dev
Running Multiple Instances of an Aspire AppHost Without Port Conflicts
Aspire 13.2 introduces isolated mode, letting you run multiple instances of the same AppHost in parallel without port conflicts.
devblogs.microsoft.com
Agents can write code all day, but running and iterating on it? Different story🫠 Aspire 13.2 adds structure and a real feedback loop for agents with code, not Markdown. @maddy.fm is here to share how Aspire gives your agent some bumpers 🎳 🔗 devblogs.microsoft.com/aspire/agent...
devblogs.microsoft.com
🎥 Now (re)playing on YouTube - the #AspireConf 2026 Keynote! Come meet the new Aspire with @damianedwards.com, @davidfowl.com, and @maddy.fm. youtu.be/6uGwVUWtWss #aspiredev #typescript #python #dotnet #githubcopilot #agenticdev
Keynote: Come Meet the New Aspire - Aspire Conf 2026
Come meet the new Aspire. Discover how Aspire can transform the way you build and deploy your distributed apps and agents. With code-centric control, orchestrate and observe simple or complex systems…
youtu.be
🎉 Starting soon! #AspireConf 2026 kicks off in just 1 hour 💫 Join us at 9AM PT to learn all the amazing new things you can do with Aspire. Join us LIVE: conf.aspire.dev?cid=aspireco... Follow the conversation: #AspireDev #AspireConf
L'estensione di David Fowler @davidfowl.com per Aspire è davvero interessante per chi deve fare deploy su Docker. Può semplificare notevolmente il processo di distribuzione su server remoti. github.com/davidfowl/as... #aspire #dotnet #docker
GitHub - davidfowl/aspire-ssh-deploy: An extension of the docker compose integration for deploying to a docker host via SSH
An extension of the docker compose integration for deploying to a docker host via SSH - davidfowl/aspire-ssh-deploy
github.com
Just shipped an update to #hex1b today which adds a `WithDockerContainer` API to Hex1bTerminaBuilder. The idea is that you attach a running container to your terminal to help with test isolation. Works fairly well although not very visual. Was @davidfowl.com's idea. github.com/mitchdenny/h...
Feature: WithDockerContainer() for isolated terminal testing · Issue #214 · mitchdenny/hex1b
Problem When using Hex1b for CLI end-to-end testing (e.g. the Aspire CLI E2E tests), tests run directly on the host via WithPtyProcess("/bin/bash", ...). This means tests share the host filesystem,...
github.com
I built a thing: tallyai.money I wanted a fully offline way to track spending. Mint was fine, but categorizing transactions was always the worst part. There are really two problems: 1. Getting transaction data (hard) 2. Categorizing it the way you actually think about money (medium)
Tally - Let AI Classify Your Transactions
tallyai.money
📣 It's happening! 📣 Come meet the new Aspire at #AspireConf on March 23. Join our livestream at 9am PT for a packed day of sessions for all developers, no matter your skill, language, or stack. Save the date: aspire.dev/aspireconf?c... #Python #TypeScript #JavaScript #dotnet #AI #AspireDev
if you aren’t subscribed to youtube.com/@aspiredotdev, now would be a good time, because @davidfowl.com is on vacation so @damianedwards.com and @maddymontaquila.net will be going rogue in a little bit 😈
Aspire
youtube.com
I just shared with the rest of the @aspire.dev team a proof of concept for a TUI interface in the Aspire CLI. It is built with #Hex1b using a few features that I've been cooking over the weekend. This specific UX might not make it but it shows you what is possible.
After 7 years, my time at Microsoft has come to a close. I grew from a green dev into a bonafide engineer, shipped work I’m proud of, and learned what it takes to build software that lasts from amazing people. Taking a short breather then on to the next adventure! 🚀
shout out to @davidfowl.com who gave me the idea of tallyai.money but for blood sugar!
Tally - AI-Powered Transaction Classification Tool
Automatically categorize bank transactions with AI. Works with Claude, Copilot, and Codex. Open source, local-first, no cloud required.
tallyai.money
