Solution no longer builds after merging M.E.AI.Evaluation source

[stephentoub]

Previously I was able to get a solution for all AI-related packages with:

.\build -vs AI

and from that solution I could build everything, use Text Explorer to run tests, etc.

Now, I get build failures:

4>D:\repos\extensions\src\Libraries\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\CSharp\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.csproj(43,5): error MSB3073: The command "npm install" exited with code 9009.
4>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.csproj" -- FAILED.
6>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Integration.Tests, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
7>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.Azure, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
8>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Console, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
7>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\netstandard2.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
7>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.Azure.csproj" -- FAILED.
8>Generating D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Console\Debug\net9.0\Constants.g.cs.
7>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net9.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
7>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.Azure.csproj" -- FAILED.
5>Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests -> D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\bin\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests\Debug\net9.0\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests.dll
7>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net462\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
7>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.Azure.csproj" -- FAILED.
8>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net9.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
8>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Console.csproj" -- FAILED.
5>Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests -> D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\bin\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests\Debug\net462\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests.dll
1>ChatWithCustomData.Web -> D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\bin\ChatWithCustomData.Web\Debug\net9.0\ChatWithCustomData.Web.dll
5>Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests -> D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\bin\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests\Debug\net8.0\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Integration.Tests.dll
9>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.OpenAI.Tests, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
10>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Ollama.Tests, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
11>------ Build started: Project: Microsoft.Extensions.AI.AzureAIInference.Tests, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
6>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net9.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
6>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Integration.Tests.csproj" -- FAILED.
8>Generating D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Console\Debug\net8.0\Constants.g.cs.
7>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net8.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
7>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.Azure.csproj" -- FAILED.
8>CSC : error CS0006: Metadata file 'D:\repos\extensions\artifacts\obj\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting\Debug\net8.0\ref\Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting.dll' could not be found
8>Done building project "Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Console.csproj" -- FAILED.

cc: @peterwald, @shyamnamboodiripad, @RussKie

[peterwald]

Building Microsoft.Extensions.AI.Evaluation.Reporting now runs npm/node during the build. Are these installed and on the path where you are building?

[stephentoub]

Can we remove that dependency / make it optional?

[shyamnamboodiripad]

Ah the reporting C# project depends on the TypeScript code which is built using node - an html file produced by this build is included as a resource in the C# project. I don't think we can disable it.

Perhaps we can include a 'default' version of this file and use some flag to rebuild it if its stale... However, having to run two separate builds any time the reporting needs changes can get annoying :)

[peterwald]

I think it makes sense to make it optional, given the extra tooling required, etc...

[shyamnamboodiripad]

Yes, as we discussed offline let's try and make it optional for local builds. This would add an extra step for folks who are changing (and testing) the TypeScript code but hopefully avoid the extra setup for the rest of the folks operating in this repo.

A couple of things that we may need to think about -

• I am guessing we will need a default checked in version of the Index.html file to bypass the TypeScript build locally. It would be great to have some safeguards in place to make sure we never accidentally publish the binary with the default version of this file (that was built locally on someone's machine as opposed to in CI).

• This may just work - but even if we skip the TypeScript build locally, any unit tests that are run by default in the solution should continue to pass.