microsoft/aspire · error · InvalidOperationException

Generated Deno Dockerfiles do not support

Error message

Generated Deno Dockerfiles do not support {publishMethod}. Use AddJavaScriptApp(...).WithDeno() or provide a custom Dockerfile.

What it means

Aspire's auto-generated Deno Dockerfiles only support running a Deno app directly; they cannot serve a static website or a Node-style server build output. When the resource carries a JavaScriptPublishModeAnnotation of StaticWebsite or NodeServer, the library throws to stop an image that would not work. You must instead configure the resource via AddJavaScriptApp(...).WithDeno() or supply a custom Dockerfile.

Solutions

  1. Remove the PublishAsStaticWebsite()/PublishAsNodeServer() call from the Deno resource.
  2. Reconfigure the resource with AddJavaScriptApp(...).WithDeno() so the generated Dockerfile matches Deno semantics.
  3. Provide a custom Dockerfile (e.g. WithDockerFile/WithDockerfileBuilder) that handles static website or Node-server output yourself.

Example fix

// before
var deno = builder.AddJavaScriptApp("web", "main.ts")
    .PublishAsStaticWebsite();
// after
var deno = builder.AddJavaScriptApp("web", "main.ts")
    .WithDeno();
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// before publishing a Deno resource, verify no incompatible publish mode was set
if (resource.TryGetLastAnnotation<JavaScriptPublishModeAnnotation>(out var mode) &&
    mode.Mode is JavaScriptPublishMode.StaticWebsite or JavaScriptPublishMode.NodeServer)
{
    throw new InvalidOperationException("StaticWebsite/NodeServer publish modes are unsupported for generated Deno Dockerfiles.");
}

Try / catch

try
{
    builder.AddJavaScriptApp("web", "main.ts").WithDeno();
}
catch (InvalidOperationException ex) when (ex.Message.Contains("Generated Deno Dockerfiles do not support"))
{
    // remove PublishAsStaticWebsite/PublishAsNodeServer or switch to a custom Dockerfile
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling PublishAsStaticWebsite() or PublishAsNodeServer() on a Deno-based JavaScript app resource, then publishing/generating its Dockerfile, so ThrowIfUnsupportedDenoDockerfileOptions (invoked from resourceBuilder) sees the incompatible JavaScriptPublishModeAnnotation.

Common situations: Copying a publish configuration from an npm/Node project onto a Deno app; a shared extension method that applies PublishAsStaticWebsite to every JavaScript resource; switching a resource's package manager to Deno after it was already set up as a static website.

Understand the failure class

Background: Conflicting config options: "cannot be used together" — configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 162 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/aspire@25830f84bd (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c3dac45eb461b02e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Aspire.Hosting.JavaScript/DenoHostingExtensions.cs:954

            entrypoint.Add("--allow-net");
            entrypoint.Add("--allow-env");
            entrypoint.Add("--cached-only");
            entrypoint.Add(containerScriptPath);
        }

        NormalizeDenoContainerPathArguments(entrypoint);
        return [.. entrypoint];
    }

    private static void ThrowIfUnsupportedDenoDockerfileOptions(IResource resource)
    {
        if (resource.TryGetLastAnnotation<JavaScriptPublishModeAnnotation>(out var publishMode) &&
            publishMode.Mode is JavaScriptPublishMode.StaticWebsite or JavaScriptPublishMode.NodeServer)
        {
            var publishMethod = publishMode.Mode == JavaScriptPublishMode.StaticWebsite
                ? nameof(PublishAsStaticWebsite)
                : nameof(PublishAsNodeServer);
            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Generated Deno Dockerfiles do not support {publishMethod}. Use AddJavaScriptApp(...).WithDeno() or provide a custom Dockerfile.");
        }

        if (resource.TryGetLastAnnotation<JavaScriptPackageManagerAnnotation>(out var packageManager) &&
            !string.Equals(packageManager.ExecutableName, "deno", StringComparison.Ordinal))
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException($"Generated Deno Dockerfiles do not support alternate package manager '{packageManager.ExecutableName}'. Use WithDeno() or provide a custom Dockerfile.");
        }

        if (resource.TryGetLastAnnotation<DenoCommandLineAnnotation>(out var deno) &&
            deno.NodeModulesDirSet &&
            deno.NodeModulesDirMode == DenoNodeModulesDirMode.Manual)
        {
            throw new InvalidOperationException("The 'manual' node_modules mode is not supported by generated Deno Dockerfiles because node_modules is excluded from the build context. Use the 'auto' mode or provide a custom Dockerfile.");
        }

        if (deno is not null)
        {
            if (deno.RuntimeArgs.Any(argument =>

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