Getting help on dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator debug output - asp.net-core

Question

I am scaffolding a local login identity page in into a asp.net core solution that already has default identity. I am doing this in order to customize my login page.
I have successfully done this using two test apps which use the same base code with progressively more packages installed) before attempting this on my final.
For my app, when I issue the following command, I'm getting this error:
PM> dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext
Failed to get Project Context for C:\Users\...\rollbase.csproj.
To see more information, enable tracing by setting environment variable 'codegen_trace' = 1
There is no information about 'codegen_trace' in docs.
I have searched and found a lot of references to this error. But can't find anything for:
What is the 'Project Context'
How do I use a 'codegen_trace'
The solution builds successfully.
I have been very careful keeping track of the packages involved
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design
Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.EntityFrameworkCore
Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UI
Azure.Identity
Using
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator' (version '5.0.0')
dotnet sdk 5.0.403
Microsoft.NETCore.App 5.0.12
Most posts talk of rolling back the tool version/packages etc. I was wanting to know if anyone out there can actually point to a solid debug strategy.
I am adding info to this question below
Using help provided - output from codegen_trace
Microsoft.Extensions.ProjectModel.MsBuildProjectContextBuilder.Build()
/_/src/Ext.ProjectModel.MsBuild.Sources/MsBuildProjectContextBuilder.cs:line 56
At Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools.Program
.GetProjectInformation(String projectPath, String configuration) in
/_/src/dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator/Program.cs:line 290
At Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools.Program
.BuildAndDispatchDependencyCommand(String[] args,
String projectPath, String buildBasePath, String configuration, Boolean noBuild, ILogger logger)
in /_/src/dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator/Program.cs:line 173
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools.Program
.<>c__DisplayClass19_0.<Execute>b__0() in
/_/src/dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator/Program.cs:line 129
From this output it looks like a problem in the installed package Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Tools 5.0.2
I have tried to update the package to 6.0,0 in Visual Studio 2019 (latest) but get the following:
NU1202: Package Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design 6.0.0 is not compatible with net5.0 (.NETCoreApp,Version=v5.0). Package Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design 6.0.0 supports: net6.0 (.NETCoreApp,Version=v6.0)
I looked at the github repo for this project but could not find any documentation regarding compatibility with .NETCoreApp,Version=v5.0
With reference to the original error message:
PM> dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext
Failed to get Project Context for C:\Users\...\rollbase.csproj
I have compared the .csproj files for the project where codegenerator works against the one where codegenerator fails to get Project Context.
The main difference is in the Property Group.
The codegnerator works:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
<UserSecretsId>aspnet-testbase1-57C4221E-46E9-4653-A734-4C412F7C523D</UserSecretsId>
</PropertyGroup>
Where Project Context not found:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
<UserSecretsId>aspnet-rollbase-6D7D2449-EB25-45CE-A8D3-EDAB69CDCAB3</UserSecretsId>
<RootNamespace></RootNamespace>
<RunAnalyzersDuringBuild>false</RunAnalyzersDuringBuild>
<AssemblyName />
<PackageId />
<EnableNETAnalyzers>false</EnableNETAnalyzers>
</PropertyGroup>

Answer 1

The best way to understanding the codegen_trace environment variable and it's output is reading the source code.
To enable the Trace logs, set the codegen_trace environment variable before you run dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator:
Command Prompt
SET codegen_trace=1
PowerShell
$env:codegen_trace=1
Bash/Zsh/Fish
export codegen_trace=1
The Project Context means the context of the project information. Most of the project information included in *.csproj file. Your problem is very possible that your project can't build successfully. You have to make sure your project is buildable.
For your dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext command, you at least need to install the following packages to get things right.
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design
dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Identity.UI
dotnet add package Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design

Answer 2

Please check the version of your code generator CLI tool version is the same as with your.NET version. You need to set the codegen_trace as an Environmental variable like this if you're in Linux or mac
codegen_trace=1
If you're using Powershell you can set it like this.
$env:codegen_trace=1
There is a GitHub open issue related to this. Please check the solutions on that as well. - https://github.com/dotnet/Scaffolding/issues/1388

Answer 3

I edited the project file PropertyGroup section. From what it was (see additional info in question above) to:
<PropertyGroup>
<TargetFramework>net5.0</TargetFramework>
<UserSecretsId>aspnet-rollbase-6D7D2449-EB25-45CE-A8D3-EDAB69CDCAB3</UserSecretsId>
</PropertyGroup>
Identity files were scaffolded using:
dotnet-aspnet-codegenerator identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext
[Trace]: Command Line: identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext
Building project ...
[Trace]: Command Line: --no-dispatch --port-number 52819 identity --dbContext ApplicationDbContext --dispatcher-version 5.0.0+a93dad81ee7f820d8e33d3f91e066ef68053d004
Finding the generator 'identity'...
Running the generator 'identity'...
...etc...