microsoft/aspire · error · DistributedApplicationException

string.Format(LaunchProfileStrings.LaunchSettingsFileDoesNot…

Error message

string.Format(LaunchProfileStrings.LaunchSettingsFileDoesNotContainProfileExceptionMessage, launchProfileName)

What it means

GetLaunchProfile looks up the named profile in the resource's launchSettings.json profiles. When the profile name is not found and throwIfNotFound is true, it throws DistributedApplicationException with LaunchSettingsFileDoesNotContainProfileExceptionMessage formatted with the requested profile name.

Solutions

Open the project's Properties/launchSettings.json and use one of the existing profile names, or add the missing profile.
Check for a LaunchProfileAnnotation/WithLaunchProfile call naming a stale profile and update it.
If the profile is genuinely optional, call with throwIfNotFound: false and handle null.
Verify you are reading the right project's launch settings (each project resource has its own file).

Example fix

// before
builder.AddProject<Projects.Api>("api").WithLaunchProfile("https-stale");

// after
builder.AddProject<Projects.Api>("api").WithLaunchProfile("https"); // profile exists in launchSettings.json

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

var settings = resource.GetLaunchSettings();
if (settings?.Profiles.ContainsKey(profileName) != true)
{
    // profile absent — fall back or surface a clear error before calling GetLaunchProfile(throwIfNotFound: true)
}

Try / catch

try { var p = resource.GetLaunchProfile(name, throwIfNotFound: true); }
catch (DistributedApplicationException ex)
{ logger.LogError(ex, "Launch profile '{Profile}' not found in launchSettings.json", name); }

Prevention

Keep profile names in WithLaunchProfile/LaunchProfileAnnotation in sync with each project's launchSettings.json.
Log available profile names from GetLaunchSettings().Profiles.Keys when a lookup misses.
Use throwIfNotFound: false when a missing profile is an acceptable fallback case.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling resource.GetLaunchProfile(name, throwIfNotFound: true) (or GetEffectiveLaunchProfile with throwIfNotFound) where the launchSettings.json for the project exists but contains no profile with that exact name.

Common situations: Passing the apphost's profile name for a service project whose launchSettings.json has different profiles; renaming/deleting a profile in Visual Studio while code still references the old name; CI agents where profiles were pruned.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/aspire@25830f84bd (2026-09-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/98df5d295ef50c5e. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/Shared/LaunchProfiles/LaunchProfileExtensions.cs:62

            return null;
        }

        return new NamedLaunchProfile(launchProfileName, launchProfile);
    }

    internal static LaunchProfile? GetLaunchProfile(this IResource projectResource, string launchProfileName, bool throwIfNotFound = false)
    {
        var profiles = projectResource.GetLaunchSettings()?.Profiles;
        if (profiles is null)
        {
            return null;
        }

        var found = profiles.TryGetValue(launchProfileName, out var launchProfile);
        if (!found && throwIfNotFound)
        {
            var message = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, LaunchProfileStrings.LaunchSettingsFileDoesNotContainProfileExceptionMessage, launchProfileName);
            throw new DistributedApplicationException(message);
        }

        return launchProfile;
    }

    private static LaunchSettings? GetLaunchSettings(this IProjectMetadata projectMetadata, string resourceName)
    {
        // For testing
        if (projectMetadata.LaunchSettings is { } launchSettings)
        {
            return launchSettings;
        }

        if (!File.Exists(projectMetadata.ProjectPath))
        {
            var message = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, LaunchProfileStrings.ProjectFileNotFoundExceptionMessage, projectMetadata.ProjectPath);
            throw new DistributedApplicationException(message);
        }

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