Refuse 'staging' channel synthesis on daily/local/pr CLI builds

src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/NewCommand.cs

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public NewCommand(
 
         // Customize description based on whether staging channel is enabled
         var isStagingEnabled = KnownFeatures.IsStagingChannelEnabled(_features, configuration)
-            || string.Equals(ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            || string.Equals(ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparisons.ChannelName);
         _channelOption = new Option<string?>("--channel")
         {
             Description = isStagingEnabled
@@ -333,20 +333,39 @@ private async Task<ResolveTemplateVersionResult> ResolveCliTemplateVersionAsync(
                     !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel))
                 {
                     identityChannelMatch = channels.FirstOrDefault(c =>
-                        string.Equals(c.Name, ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                        string.Equals(c.Name, ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, StringComparisons.ChannelName));
                 }
 
                 var selectedChannel = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(configuredChannelName)
                     ? identityChannelMatch
                         ?? channels.FirstOrDefault(c => c.Type is PackageChannelType.Implicit)
                         ?? channels.FirstOrDefault()
-                    : channels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, configuredChannelName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                    : channels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, configuredChannelName, StringComparisons.ChannelName));
 
                 if (selectedChannel is null)
                 {
-                    var errorMessage = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(configuredChannelName)
-                        ? "No package channels are available."
-                        : $"No channel found matching '{configuredChannelName}'. Valid options are: {string.Join(", ", channels.Select(c => c.Name))}";
+                    string errorMessage;
+                    if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(configuredChannelName))
+                    {
+                        errorMessage = NewCommandStrings.NoPackageChannelsAvailable;
+                    }
+                    else if (string.Equals(configuredChannelName, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparisons.ChannelName)
+                        && _packagingService.GetStagingChannelUnavailableReason() is { } stagingReason)
+                    {
+                        // Surface the actionable packaging-service reason (e.g. "daily CLI cannot
+                        // synthesize a staging channel; set overrideStagingFeed") instead of the
+                        // generic channel list, mirroring UpdateCommand's behavior.
+                        // See https://github.com/microsoft/aspire/issues/16652.
+                        errorMessage = stagingReason;
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        errorMessage = string.Format(
+                            CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
+                            NewCommandStrings.NoChannelFoundMatching,
+                            configuredChannelName,
+                            string.Join(", ", channels.Select(c => c.Name)));
+                    }
 
                     return new ResolveTemplateVersionResult { ErrorMessage = errorMessage };
                 }

src/Aspire.Cli/Commands/UpdateCommand.cs

@@ -208,8 +208,31 @@ protected override async Task<CommandResult> ExecuteAsync(ParseResult parseResul
             if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(channelName))
             {
                 // Try to find a channel matching the provided channel/quality
-                channel = allChannels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, channelName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
-                    ?? throw new ChannelNotFoundException($"No channel found matching '{channelName}'. Valid options are: {string.Join(", ", allChannels.Select(c => c.Name))}");
+                var matchedChannel = allChannels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, channelName, StringComparisons.ChannelName));
+                if (matchedChannel is null)
+                {
+                    // When the user explicitly asked for the 'staging' channel and the packaging
+                    // service refused to synthesize it (daily/local/pr-N CLI without an override),
+                    // surface the packaging-service reason instead of the generic "no channel
+                    // matching" message — the generic message hides the actual fix from the user.
+                    // See https://github.com/microsoft/aspire/issues/16652.
+                    if (string.Equals(channelName, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparisons.ChannelName))
+                    {
+                        var stagingUnavailableReason = _packagingService.GetStagingChannelUnavailableReason();
+                        if (stagingUnavailableReason is not null)
+                        {
+                            throw new ChannelNotFoundException(stagingUnavailableReason);
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    throw new ChannelNotFoundException(string.Format(
+                        CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
+                        UpdateCommandStrings.NoChannelFoundMatching,
+                        channelName,
+                        string.Join(", ", allChannels.Select(c => c.Name))));
+                }
+
+                channel = matchedChannel;
 
                 if (channelFromConfig)
                 {
@@ -240,9 +263,9 @@ protected override async Task<CommandResult> ExecuteAsync(ParseResult parseResul
                 var identityChannel = ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel;
                 PackageChannel? identityMatch = null;
                 if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(identityChannel)
-                    && !string.Equals(identityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Local, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+                    && !string.Equals(identityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Local, StringComparisons.ChannelName))
                 {
-                    identityMatch = allChannels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, identityChannel, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
+                    identityMatch = allChannels.FirstOrDefault(c => string.Equals(c.Name, identityChannel, StringComparisons.ChannelName));
                 }
 
                 if (identityMatch is not null)
@@ -362,7 +385,7 @@ protected override async Task<CommandResult> ExecuteAsync(ParseResult parseResul
     private bool IsStagingChannelAvailable()
     {
         return KnownFeatures.IsStagingChannelEnabled(_features, _configuration)
-            || string.Equals(ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            || string.Equals(ExecutionContext.IdentityChannel, PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparisons.ChannelName);
     }
 
     private async Task<CommandResult> ExecuteSelfUpdateAsync(ParseResult parseResult, CancellationToken cancellationToken, string? selectedChannel = null)

src/Aspire.Cli/KnownFeatures.cs

@@ -127,6 +127,6 @@ public static IEnumerable<string> GetAllFeatureNames()
     public static bool IsStagingChannelEnabled(IFeatures features, IConfiguration configuration)
     {
         return features.IsFeatureEnabled(StagingChannelEnabled, false)
-            || string.Equals(configuration["channel"], PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            || string.Equals(configuration["channel"], PackageChannelNames.Staging, StringComparisons.ChannelName);
     }
 }