Local setup

Requirements

• .NET 10 SDK, not just the runtime.
• Node.js 22.22.2+ on 22.x, 24.15+ on 24.x, or 26+, and npm.
• Git. PowerShell 7 is needed for the optional scripts; Aspire itself also runs on macOS and Linux.
• The Aspire CLI (recommended).

No Azure account, Docker, external database, or social keys are required for demo mode.

Install the Aspire CLI

The Aspire CLI is the easiest way to run, inspect, and stop the local stack:

Windows

irm https://aspire.dev/install.ps1 | iex

macOS / Linux

curl -sSL https://aspire.dev/install.sh | bash

Homebrew, npm, NuGet, and WinGet packages, plus the Aspire VS Code extension, are listed in the install guide. Open a new terminal, then confirm with aspire --version.

Run the stack

git clone https://github.com/jamesmontemagno/event-social-post-wall.git
cd event-social-post-wall
npm ci --prefix src\EventWall.Web
aspire run

aspire run finds the repository's single AppHost, builds it, starts all resources, and prints the tokenized dashboard link. Without the CLI, the equivalent is dotnet run --project src\EventWall.AppHost.

While the repository is private, cloning requires an invited GitHub account. On macOS/Linux, use / in shell paths, for example npm ci --prefix src/EventWall.Web.

Open the three sites

Resource	URL
Wall	http://127.0.0.1:5173
Staff console	http://127.0.0.1:5174
Questions	http://127.0.0.1:5082
Public API	http://127.0.0.1:5080
Admin API	http://127.0.0.1:5081
Aspire dashboard	Tokenized http://localhost:15888 URL printed at startup

Aspire starts Admin first so local migrations finish before the other APIs start. The question site is Blazor Server: there is no third Vite server.

In the dashboard, reveal staff-passcode, then sign in as admin. Aspire generates and persists that secret in its own local user-secrets store. To choose your own, use at least 12 characters:

dotnet user-secrets set "Parameters:staff-passcode" "replace-with-a-long-local-passcode" --project src\EventWall.AppHost

The example is not a production credential. Never reuse it in a hosted deployment. Local user-secrets are outside the repository but are not an encrypted vault.

Submit a question, approve it in the console, then refresh the wall. Newly seeded demo events start with intake open; an existing staff decision to pause intake is preserved. Demo posts are fictional, and no provider API calls are made.

Your event

Pass common branding to the AppHost after --:

aspire run -- --Event:Slug=my-meetup --Event:Name="My Meetup" --Event:QuestionHashtag="#mymeetup"

The same arguments work with dotnet run --project src\EventWall.AppHost -- ....

Use a new database for a different event slug. The app deliberately refuses to silently add another event to the same database. See configuration.

To leave demo mode:

aspire run -- --Demo:Enabled=false

This switches from src/EventWall.Api/App_Data/eventwall-demo.db to eventwall.db; it does not delete or merge anything. All real connectors remain disabled until configured. New non-demo events start with intake closed.

Set local provider settings in the AppHost's user-secrets store using the Social:<Provider>:<Setting> names in the provider guides. Aspire forwards that section only to Admin. Restart after changing settings.

Stop, reset, and troubleshoot

Ctrl+C stops the stack. Other handy Aspire CLI commands, run from the repository root:

Command	Purpose
aspire stop	Stop a running AppHost from another terminal
aspire ps	List running AppHosts
aspire logs admin-api -f	Stream one resource's logs (public-api, submission-api, public-web, admin-web)
aspire doctor	Diagnose local Aspire setup problems

This AppHost is local-only: it refuses aspire publish and aspire deploy. Use the Azure deployment guide for hosted releases.

Do not run Aspire and the standalone demo launcher at the same time: they use the same local databases and overlapping ports. The standalone demo and its guarded reset are described in demo and branding.

Local listeners bind to loopback. Do not expose Vite, the dashboard, or these Development servers directly to the internet. Use the deployment guide for hosted packages.