Template not exposing options in VSCode

[timheuer]

Description

When using Visual Studio with the template, it shows the additional options:

In VS Code, the "show template options" should be exposing these as well but does not:

Reproduction Steps

In VS Code:

1. Launch new project command
2. choose AI Web Chat
3. Navigate through first step
4. Choose "show template options"

Expected behavior

Upon clicking show additional options it would show the other fields that are selectable/changeable

Actual behavior

No additional options are shown

Regression?

No

Known Workarounds

No response

Configuration

No response

Other information

No response

[makazeu]

This should be the problem of C# Dev Kit for VS Code
microsoft/vscode-dotnettools#1639

[timheuer]

This should be the problem of C# Dev Kit for VS Code

This is slightly different. The options (model choice, etc) are not even shown as options when you choose 'Show all options' -- that's a template authoring issue.

[makazeu]

This should be the problem of C# Dev Kit for VS Code

This is slightly different. The options (model choice, etc) are not even shown as options when you choose 'Show all options' -- that's a template authoring issue.

After you install the template in dotnet CLI, you can see those options by running dotnet new aichatweb --help. So I believe the options should be okay.

I also tried to create a .NET SDK template from official tutorial, and it's working as expected in VS and dotnet CLI. However, its options are NOT discovered by VS Code C# Dev Kit, which is annoying.

So, I believe it's C# Dev Kit for VS Code's problem.

You can follow this tutorial to create your own custom templates for testing purpose.

Step 1: Set Up the Template Structure

Folder structure:

MyCustomTemplate/
├── .template.config/
│   └── template.json
├── Program.cs
└── MyCustomTemplate.csproj

Step 2: Define template.json

{
  "$schema": "http://json.schemastore.org/template",
  "author": "YourName",
  "classifications": [ "Console", "Custom" ],
  "identity": "MyCustomTemplate",
  "name": "My Custom Console App",
  "shortName": "myconsole",
  "tags": {
    "language": "C#",
    "type": "project"
  },
  "sourceName": "MyCustomTemplate", // Placeholder to replace in files
  "symbols": {
    "Framework": {
      "type": "parameter",
      "description": "The target framework for the project.",
      "datatype": "choice",
      "choices": [
        { "choice": "net6.0", "description": "Target .NET 6.0" },
        { "choice": "net8.0", "description": "Target .NET 8.0" }
      ],
      "defaultValue": "net8.0"
    },
    "AddGreeting": {
      "type": "parameter",
      "description": "Whether to add a greeting message.",
      "datatype": "bool",
      "defaultValue": "false"
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Use Parameters in Files

Program.cs

Console.WriteLine("Hello from MyCustomTemplate!");
#if AddGreeting
Console.WriteLine("Greetings enabled!");
#endif

MyCustomTemplate.csproj

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>$(Framework)</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Step 4: Install the Template

dotnet new install .

After install the test custom template, you will notice this template is not working as expected in VS Code.

[timheuer]

@makazeu
Okay did a quick test. The fastest fix is in the template here:

extensions/src/ProjectTemplates/Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Templates/src/ChatWithCustomData/.template.config/template.json

Line 40 in 6dec70a

"framework": {

Change that to a capital F as Framework -- the template engine in ide hosting appears to have some case sensitivity here. But this is the fastest fix and matches all our other template name casing as well (which is likely why we haven't hit this before)

/cc @phenning this may be in AnyMatchCondition in template engine.

[makazeu]

Ok cool, your investigation is so impressive!

[jmatthiesen]

Closing out this issue now that the bug is fixed - thank you!