Add crash/failure telemetry to MSBuild by YuliiaKovalova · Pull Request #13270 · dotnet/msbuild

YuliiaKovalova · 2026-02-19T14:03:28Z

Add CrashTelemetry class that captures rich exception information including exception type, inner exception type, stack trace hash (SHA-256 for bucketing without PII), top stack frame, HResult, exit type classification, criticality flag, MSBuild version, framework name, and host environment.

Crash telemetry is emitted in two places:

XMake.Execute() catch blocks for all handled exception types
ExceptionHandling.UnhandledExceptionHandler for truly unhandled exceptions

The telemetry is recorded via KnownTelemetry.CrashTelemetry and flushed in the finally block of XMake.Execute() using TelemetryManager and the existing IActivity/ActivitySource infrastructure. All telemetry code is best-effort with catch-all guards to prevent secondary failures during crash handling.

Add CrashTelemetry data class and CrashTelemetryRecorder helper that capture rich exception information: exception type, inner exception type, stack trace hash (SHA-256 for bucketing without PII), top stack frame, HResult, exit type classification, criticality flag, MSBuild version, framework name, and host. CrashTelemetryRecorder centralizes recording and flushing logic used by all three crash telemetry emission points: 1. MSBuild.exe (XMake.Execute): - All catch blocks record crash telemetry via RecordCrashTelemetry - FlushCrashTelemetry in the finally block emits via TelemetryManager 2. API mode (BuildManager.EndBuild): - Catch block records crash telemetry for shutdown exceptions - _threadException (node crashes) is recorded before re-throwing - FlushCrashTelemetry emits via TelemetryManager 3. Unhandled exceptions (ExceptionHandling.UnhandledExceptionHandler): - RecordAndFlushCrashTelemetry immediately emits since process is dying All telemetry code is best-effort with catch-all guards to prevent secondary failures during crash handling. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds comprehensive crash and failure telemetry to MSBuild to improve diagnostics and error tracking. The implementation introduces a new CrashTelemetry class that captures rich exception information including exception types, stack trace hashes (SHA-256 for PII-free bucketing), top stack frames, HResult codes, exit type classifications, criticality flags, MSBuild version, framework name, and host environment.

Changes:

Adds CrashTelemetry and CrashTelemetryRecorder classes to capture and emit crash telemetry
Integrates crash telemetry recording into all exception catch blocks in XMake.Execute() and BuildManager.EndBuild()
Adds unhandled exception handler support via ExceptionHandling.UnhandledExceptionHandler

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 7 out of 7 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs	Core telemetry data class with exception information, stack hashing, and property serialization
src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetryRecorder.cs	Centralized helper for recording and flushing crash telemetry with best-effort error handling
src/Framework/Telemetry/TelemetryConstants.cs	Adds "Crash" constant for crash activity naming
src/Framework/Telemetry/KnownTelemetry.cs	Adds static CrashTelemetry property for crash telemetry storage
src/MSBuild/XMake.cs	Integrates crash telemetry recording in all exception catch blocks and finally block flush
src/Build/BackEnd/BuildManager/BuildManager.cs	Adds crash telemetry recording for BuildManager exceptions and thread exceptions
src/Shared/ExceptionHandling.cs	Adds crash telemetry recording for truly unhandled exceptions

src/MSBuild/XMake.cs

src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs

src/Build/BackEnd/BuildManager/BuildManager.cs

…ts, fix exitType - Extract GetHostName() as shared method in XMake.cs and BuildManager.cs to eliminate duplicated host detection logic - Sanitize StackTop to redact file paths that may contain PII (usernames) while preserving method names and line numbers - Use consistent exitType 'EndBuildFailure' in BuildManager instead of exception.GetType().Name - Add CrashTelemetry_Tests with 8 tests covering PopulateFromException, GetProperties, GetActivityProperties, PII redaction, and null handling - Add comment clarifying why Initialize is needed in RecordAndFlushCrashTelemetry Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

JanProvaznik

I think this is the kind of change that would be better with a spec that has a feedback from the team.

JanProvaznik · 2026-02-20T08:47:50Z

src/MSBuild/XMake.cs

                ShowHelpPrompt();

                exitType = ExitType.SwitchError;
+                RecordCrashTelemetry(e, exitType);


is this really interesting to collect the instances when users have typos in switches?

yes, because it helps us to understand if documentation should be updated/other aliases of switches added.

JanProvaznik · 2026-02-20T11:39:38Z

src/Shared/ExceptionHandling.cs

            Exception ex = (Exception)e.ExceptionObject;
            DumpExceptionToFile(ex);
+#if !CLR2COMPATIBILITY && !MICROSOFT_BUILD_ENGINE_OM_UNITTESTS
+            RecordCrashTelemetryForUnhandledException(ex);


will this really avoid sending telemetry in our tests?

It should be, but if our tests crash with unhandled exceptions - it's not a good sign.

JanProvaznik · 2026-02-20T11:41:13Z

src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs

+    /// <summary>
+    /// Timestamp when the crash occurred.
+    /// </summary>
+    public DateTime? CrashTimestamp { get; set; }


why? isn't this already included in the data field in the database on ingestion?

JanProvaznik · 2026-02-20T11:42:48Z

src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs

+    /// <summary>
+    /// The exit type / category of the crash (e.g., "LoggerFailure", "Unexpected", "UnhandledException").
+    /// </summary>
+    public string? ExitType { get; set; }


typing this string seems a bit too liberal?

I don't know!
it's a version 1, before that we haven't had insights in the crashes - once it's available and analyzed by the team, the corresponding adjustments can be made.

YuliiaKovalova · 2026-02-20T12:00:44Z

I think this is the kind of change that would be better with a spec that has a feedback from the team.

it's yet another telemetry event , i don't see why it's can't be iterative and addressed based on feedback later.

…detection (#13289) ## Summary Improves the crash telemetry infrastructure to produce higher-quality, more actionable data and enable Prism dashboard visibility ( continuation of #13270 based on the first results) ## Changes ### Convert ExitType and CrashOrigin from strings to enums ### Remove noise from crash telemetry - Removed `SwitchError` and `InitializationError` from crash telemetry recording — these accounted for ~99.8% of crash events but represent expected user errors (bad CLI args, missing toolsets), not actual crashes ### Remove redundant `CrashTimestamp` - The database ingestion timestamp already captures this; the client-side timestamp added no value ### Deduplicate `GetHostName()` - Consolidated 3 copies of host-detection logic (VS / VSCode / `MSBUILD_HOST_NAME`) into a single `BuildEnvironmentState.GetHostName()` method ### Harden `DebugUtils` static constructor - Wrapped in try/catch to prevent `TypeInitializationException` crashes when environment variable access fails --------- Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Add CrashTelemetry class that captures rich exception information including exception type, inner exception type, stack trace hash (SHA-256 for bucketing without PII), top stack frame, HResult, exit type classification, criticality flag, MSBuild version, framework name, and host environment. Crash telemetry is emitted in two places: - XMake.Execute() catch blocks for all handled exception types - ExceptionHandling.UnhandledExceptionHandler for truly unhandled exceptions The telemetry is recorded via KnownTelemetry.CrashTelemetry and flushed in the finally block of XMake.Execute() using TelemetryManager and the existing IActivity/ActivitySource infrastructure. All telemetry code is best-effort with catch-all guards to prevent secondary failures during crash handling. --------- Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

…detection (dotnet#13289) ## Summary Improves the crash telemetry infrastructure to produce higher-quality, more actionable data and enable Prism dashboard visibility ( continuation of dotnet#13270 based on the first results) ## Changes ### Convert ExitType and CrashOrigin from strings to enums ### Remove noise from crash telemetry - Removed `SwitchError` and `InitializationError` from crash telemetry recording — these accounted for ~99.8% of crash events but represent expected user errors (bad CLI args, missing toolsets), not actual crashes ### Remove redundant `CrashTimestamp` - The database ingestion timestamp already captures this; the client-side timestamp added no value ### Deduplicate `GetHostName()` - Consolidated 3 copies of host-detection logic (VS / VSCode / `MSBUILD_HOST_NAME`) into a single `BuildEnvironmentState.GetHostName()` method ### Harden `DebugUtils` static constructor - Wrapped in try/catch to prevent `TypeInitializationException` crashes when environment variable access fails --------- Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

YuliiaKovalova force-pushed the dev/ykovalova/add_telemetry_to_catch_msbuild_exceptions branch from e5aaf87 to f205d92 Compare February 19, 2026 15:09

YuliiaKovalova force-pushed the dev/ykovalova/add_telemetry_to_catch_msbuild_exceptions branch from f205d92 to 5c4a3f1 Compare February 19, 2026 17:00

YuliiaKovalova marked this pull request as ready for review February 19, 2026 17:09

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 19, 2026 17:09

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of YuliiaKovalova February 19, 2026 17:10 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 19, 2026

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src/MSBuild/XMake.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Framework/Telemetry/CrashTelemetry.cs Show resolved Hide resolved

src/Build/BackEnd/BuildManager/BuildManager.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

MichalPavlik approved these changes Feb 20, 2026

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YuliiaKovalova merged commit 893c824 into main Feb 20, 2026
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YuliiaKovalova deleted the dev/ykovalova/add_telemetry_to_catch_msbuild_exceptions branch February 20, 2026 09:13

dotnet-maestro bot mentioned this pull request Feb 20, 2026

[release/11.0.1xx-preview2] Source code updates from dotnet/msbuild dotnet/dotnet#4985

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JanProvaznik reviewed Feb 20, 2026

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YuliiaKovalova mentioned this pull request Feb 24, 2026

Improve crash telemetry: enums, FaultEvent, remove noise, dedup host detection #13289

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dotnet-maestro bot mentioned this pull request Feb 25, 2026

[main] Source code updates from dotnet/msbuild dotnet/dotnet#5071

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dotnet-maestro bot mentioned this pull request Mar 3, 2026

[release/10.0.3xx] Source code updates from dotnet/msbuild dotnet/dotnet#5204

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Add crash/failure telemetry to MSBuild#13270

Add crash/failure telemetry to MSBuild#13270
YuliiaKovalova merged 2 commits intomainfrom
dev/ykovalova/add_telemetry_to_catch_msbuild_exceptions

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