Set default OutputPath and add IntermediateOutputPath at PipelineContext level

src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/PublishCommand.cs

@@ -49,11 +49,10 @@ protected override string[] GetRunArguments(string? fullyQualifiedOutputPath, st
     {
         var baseArgs = new List<string> { "--operation", "publish", "--step", "publish" };
 
-        var targetPath = fullyQualifiedOutputPath is not null
-            ? fullyQualifiedOutputPath
-            : Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "aspire-output");
-
-        baseArgs.AddRange(["--output-path", targetPath]);
+        if (fullyQualifiedOutputPath is not null)
+        {
+            baseArgs.AddRange(["--output-path", fullyQualifiedOutputPath]);
+        }
 
         // Add --log-level and --envionment flags if specified
         var logLevel = parseResult.GetValue(_logLevelOption);

src/Aspire.Hosting.Azure/AzureEnvironmentResource.cs

@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ private Task PublishAsync(PipelineStepContext context)
         var azureProvisioningOptions = context.Services.GetRequiredService<IOptions<AzureProvisioningOptions>>();
         var activityReporter = context.PipelineContext.Services.GetRequiredService<IPipelineActivityReporter>();
         var publishingContext = new AzurePublishingContext(
-            context.OutputPath ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("OutputPath is required for Azure publishing."),
+            context.OutputPath,
             azureProvisioningOptions.Value,
             context.Services,
             context.Logger,

src/Aspire.Hosting.Docker/Aspire.Hosting.Docker.csproj

@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)ResourceNameComparer.cs" LinkBase="Shared" />
-    <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)PublishingContextUtils.cs" LinkBase="Shared" />
     <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)PortAllocator.cs" LinkBase="Shared" />
     <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)Yaml\*.cs" LinkBase="Shared\Yaml" />
   </ItemGroup>

src/Aspire.Hosting.Docker/DockerComposeEnvironmentResource.cs

@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 using Aspire.Hosting.Docker.Resources;
 using Aspire.Hosting.Pipelines;
 using Aspire.Hosting.Publishing;
-using Aspire.Hosting.Utils;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 
 namespace Aspire.Hosting.Docker;
@@ -87,7 +86,11 @@ ReferenceExpression IComputeEnvironmentResource.GetHostAddressExpression(Endpoin
 
     private Task PublishAsync(PipelineStepContext context)
     {
-        var outputPath = PublishingContextUtils.GetEnvironmentOutputPath(context, this);
+        // Inline logic from PublishingContextUtils.GetEnvironmentOutputPath
+        var outputPath = context.Model.Resources.OfType<IComputeEnvironmentResource>().Count() > 1
+            ? Path.Combine(context.OutputPath, Name)
+            : context.OutputPath;
+
         var activityReporter = context.PipelineContext.Services.GetRequiredService<IPipelineActivityReporter>();
         var imageBuilder = context.Services.GetRequiredService<IResourceContainerImageBuilder>();
 

src/Aspire.Hosting.Docker/DockerComposePublishingContext.cs

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ internal sealed class DockerComposePublishingContext(
         UnixFileMode.OtherRead | UnixFileMode.OtherWrite;
 
     public readonly IResourceContainerImageBuilder ImageBuilder = imageBuilder;
-    public readonly string OutputPath = outputPath ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("OutputPath is required for Docker Compose publishing.");
+    public readonly string OutputPath = outputPath;
 
     internal async Task WriteModelAsync(DistributedApplicationModel model, DockerComposeEnvironmentResource environment)
     {

src/Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes/Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes.csproj

@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)PublishingContextUtils.cs" LinkBase="Shared" />
     <Compile Include="$(SharedDir)Yaml\*.cs" LinkBase="Shared\Yaml" />
   </ItemGroup>
 

src/Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes/KubernetesEnvironmentResource.cs

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 using Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
 using Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes.Extensions;
 using Aspire.Hosting.Pipelines;
-using Aspire.Hosting.Utils;
 
 namespace Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes;
 
@@ -112,7 +111,10 @@ ReferenceExpression IComputeEnvironmentResource.GetHostAddressExpression(Endpoin
 
     private Task PublishAsync(PipelineStepContext context)
     {
-        var outputPath = PublishingContextUtils.GetEnvironmentOutputPath(context, this);
+        // Inline logic from PublishingContextUtils.GetEnvironmentOutputPath
+        var outputPath = context.Model.Resources.OfType<IComputeEnvironmentResource>().Count() > 1
+            ? Path.Combine(context.OutputPath, Name)
+            : context.OutputPath;
 
         var kubernetesContext = new KubernetesPublishingContext(
             context.ExecutionContext,

src/Aspire.Hosting.Kubernetes/KubernetesPublishingContext.cs

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ internal sealed class KubernetesPublishingContext(
     ILogger logger,
     CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
 {
-    public readonly string OutputPath = outputPath ?? throw new InvalidOperationException("OutputPath is required for Kubernetes publishing.");
+    public readonly string OutputPath = outputPath;
 
     private readonly Dictionary<string, Dictionary<string, object>> _helmValues = new()
     {

src/Aspire.Hosting/Pipelines/PipelineContext.cs

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 using System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis;
 using Aspire.Hosting.ApplicationModel;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 
 namespace Aspire.Hosting.Pipelines;
@@ -53,5 +55,24 @@ public sealed class PipelineContext(
     /// <summary>
     /// Gets the output path for deployment artifacts.
     /// </summary>
-    public string? OutputPath { get; } = outputPath;
+    public string OutputPath { get; } = outputPath ?? Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "aspire-output");
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the intermediate output path for temporary build artifacts.
+    /// </summary>
+    public string IntermediateOutputPath { get; } = GetIntermediateOutputPath(serviceProvider);
+
+    private static string GetIntermediateOutputPath(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
+    {
+        var configuration = serviceProvider.GetRequiredService<IConfiguration>();
+        var appHostSha = configuration["AppHost:PathSha256"];
+
+        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(appHostSha))
+        {
+            return Directory.CreateTempSubdirectory($"aspire-{appHostSha}").FullName;
+        }
+
+        // Fallback if AppHost:PathSha256 is not available
+        return Directory.CreateTempSubdirectory("aspire").FullName;
+    }
 }

src/Aspire.Hosting/Pipelines/PipelineStepContext.cs

@@ -62,7 +62,12 @@ public sealed class PipelineStepContext
     /// <summary>
     /// Gets the output path for deployment artifacts.
     /// </summary>
-    public string? OutputPath => PipelineContext.OutputPath;
+    public string OutputPath => PipelineContext.OutputPath;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the intermediate output path for temporary build artifacts.
+    /// </summary>
+    public string IntermediateOutputPath => PipelineContext.IntermediateOutputPath;
 }
 
 /// <summary>