[✨ Triage] dotnet/aspire#11697 by thangchung - Generative AI visualizer feature in .NET Aspire 9.5 was not working

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Triage for dotnet/aspire#11697.
Repo filter: area-dashboard issues.
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This is a test triage report generated by AI, aimed at helping the triage team quickly identify past issues/PRs that may be related.
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Tool logs

dotnet/aspire#11697: Generative AI visualizer feature in .NET Aspire 9.5 was not working by thangchung
[Tool] Searching for Generative AI visualizer exception, GenAI visualizer JsonException, GenAI visualizer not working, GenAI visualizer System.Text.Json.JsonException, GenAI visualizer Semantic Kernel, GenAI visualizer OTel (IncludeOpen=True, IncludeClosed=True, IncludeIssues=True, IncludePullRequests=False, Repository=dotnet/aspire)
[Tool] Searching for Aspire.Dashboard.Model.GenAI.GenAIVisualizerDialogViewModel.DeserializeBody, GenAI visualizer dashboard error (IncludeOpen=True, IncludeClosed=True, IncludeIssues=True, IncludePullRequests=False, Repository=dotnet/aspire)
[Tool] Found 59 issues, 130 comments, 40 returned results (4510 ms)
[Tool] Found 26 issues, 87 comments, 20 returned results (6892 ms)

Here are related issues and discussions for issue #11697 ("Generative AI visualizer feature in .NET Aspire 9.5 was not working"):

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1. Issue #5902 (September 2024) - Improved rendering for Gen AI Telemetry signals in Aspire Dashboard

• Summary: This feature request discusses the need for better visualization of Generative AI (GenAI) telemetry in the Aspire dashboard, including conversational tree views, token usage, and more user-friendly rendering of LLM spans. The discussion includes requests for specific UI improvements and references to market solutions like Arize and Langfuse.
• Relevance: The comments show that GenAI visualization was a highly requested feature, and several improvements were made for Aspire 9.5. Notably, a comment from September 2025 by davidfowlstates: "This is in 9.5. JamesNKare you going to close this issue?" indicating the feature was shipped in 9.5.
• Takeaway: The GenAI visualizer is new in 9.5 and was developed in response to community feedback. However, this issue does not discuss runtime errors or exceptions.

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2. No direct matches for your specific JsonException error in GenAI visualizer, but similar dashboard/JSON issues:

a. Issue #2339 (February 2024) - Json issue at launch

• Summary: Reports a System.Text.Json.JsonException due to a misconfigured launchSettings.json. The root cause was a string value where a boolean was expected.
• Relevance: While not about the GenAI visualizer, it shows that JSON parsing errors in Aspire are often due to unexpected or malformed JSON input.

b. Issue #9368 (May 2025) - CLI searching for templates failed with JsonReaderException

• Summary: The Aspire CLI crashed with a JsonReaderException due to a bad server response.
• Relevance: Again, not GenAI-specific, but demonstrates that unhandled or unexpected JSON can cause similar exceptions in other parts of Aspire.

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3. No direct matches for Semantic Kernel or OTel GenAI visualizer errors:

• No issues were found that specifically mention the combination of Semantic Kernel, OTel GenAI semantic conventions, and the GenAI visualizer in Aspire 9.5 resulting in a System.Text.Json.JsonException.

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4. Related Feature/Integration Issues:

a. Issue #5451 (August 2024) - OpenAI component doesn't setup telemetry correctly

• Summary: Discusses the need to enable experimental OpenTelemetry (OTel) switches for OpenAI telemetry, and how Aspire should make this easier for users.
• Relevance: Shows ongoing work to ensure OTel signals (including GenAI) are properly emitted and visualized, but does not mention dashboard exceptions.

b. Issue #7931 (March 2025) - Tracing for OpenAI integrations

• Summary: Discusses the overlap between OpenAI's and Microsoft.Extensions.AI's experimental tracing and whether both should be enabled by default.
• Relevance: Related to OTel and GenAI, but not about dashboard errors.

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5. No Known Duplicates or Confirmed Bugs for GenAI Visualizer JsonException:

• No other issues or comments were found that report the same stack trace or error message (System.Text.Json.JsonException: 'C' is an invalid start of a value...) when using the GenAI visualizer in Aspire 9.5.

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Summary & Guidance

• Your issue appears to be the first report of a runtime JsonException in the GenAI visualizer in Aspire 9.5.
• The GenAI visualizer is a new feature in 9.5, developed in response to community requests (see #5902).
• Similar JSON exceptions in Aspire are typically due to malformed or unexpected JSON input, but there are no prior reports of this in the GenAI visualizer.
• You are using Semantic Kernel with OTel GenAI semantic conventions, which is the recommended setup, but there may be a mismatch between the emitted telemetry and what the dashboard expects to parse.
• No workarounds or fixes are documented for this specific error.

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Suggested Next Steps

• This issue should be triaged as a potential bug in the GenAI visualizer's JSON parsing logic. It may not be robust to all valid OTel GenAI signals emitted by Semantic Kernel.
• The team should investigate the structure of the telemetry being emitted and compare it to what the dashboard expects.
• Reference #5902 for the feature background and community demand.
• If possible, request a sample of the actual JSON payload that caused the exception to help reproduce and fix the bug.

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No direct duplicates or prior fixes exist for this specific error. This is a new, actionable bug report for the Aspire team.