CLI: Grouped help, command renames, and ergonomics cleanup

[maddymontaquila]

Summary

Overhauls the Aspire CLI user experience before the 13.2 release by reorganizing commands into logical groups, renaming commands for better discoverability, standardizing options, and cleaning up descriptions.

Grouped Help Output

Replaces the flat alphabetical command list with organized groups:

• App Commands — new, init, add, update, run, stop, ps
• Resource Management — start, stop, restart, wait, command
• Monitoring — describe, logs, otel
• Deployment — publish, deploy, do
• Tools & Configuration — config, cache, doctor, docs, agent

Each command declares its own group via BaseCommand.HelpGroup/HelpGroupOrder virtual properties, so the help writer dynamically reads groups from commands rather than maintaining a static array. A catch-all "Other Commands" section automatically shows any future commands that haven't been placed in a group, preventing silent omission.

GroupedHelpWriter is now testable — it accepts a TextWriter and maxWidth parameter instead of reading from Console directly, and GroupedHelpAction takes IAnsiConsole from DI.

Command Renames

Before	After	Rationale
aspire resources	aspire describe	kubectl-style, more intuitive for showing resource details
aspire telemetry	aspire otel	Clarifies this is OpenTelemetry-specific, not general telemetry

• resources is preserved as a backward-compatible alias on describe (shipped in 13.1)
• telemetry alias removed (never shipped)
• setup remains a separate hidden command (not folded into doctor)
• ResourcesCommand renamed to DescribeCommand (source file, test files, resource strings)
• ResourcesCommandStrings renamed to DescribeCommandStrings (resx, Designer.cs, 13 xlf files)

Option Standardization

• --watch → --follow/-f on describe command — matches logs --follow and docker/kubectl conventions
• --log-level/-l — legacy --debug-level/-v removed (never shipped)
• -v now works for --version — standard CLI convention
• Removed conflicting short aliases: -v from subcommand --version (add/new/init), -l from --language (new/init) — these conflicted with the global -v/-l options
• Standardized --format descriptions — all commands now use "Output format (Table or Json)."
• Hidden feature-gated commands (sdk) from help to avoid confusing users
• --non-interactive description moved from hardcoded string to resource file (RootCommandStrings.resx + 13 xlf files)

Other Improvements

• Word-wrapping for long descriptions (aligned continuation lines)
• Argument syntax display (e.g., start <resource>, add [<integration>])
• Usage line matches gh-style: aspire <command> [options]
• All command descriptions cleaned up for consistency (lowercase "apphost", standardized verb forms, no redundant "Aspire" prefix)
• Fixed stale command name references in eng/scripts, agent applicators, and docs

Tests

• ✅ All 1304 CLI unit tests pass
• ✅ E2E tests updated to use new command names
• ✅ New test: AllVisibleCommands_HaveHelpGroup — ensures no command is missing a group
• ✅ New test: GroupedHelp_ContainsAllVisibleCommands — ensures grouped help output includes every visible command
• ✅ Error messages reference aspire setup --force (not doctor)
• ✅ Spec docs updated (bundle.md)
• ✅ eng/scripts/README.md updated

aspire.dev doc updates

Doc updates for aspire.dev tracked in:

• (see linked issues below)

[github-actions]

🚀 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 -- 14599

Or

• Run remotely in PowerShell:

iex "& { $(irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dotnet/aspire/main/eng/scripts/get-aspire-cli-pr.ps1) } 14599"