`localstack/localstack:latest` will require auth token from March 23 — docs & configuration update needed

[HarshCasper]

Hey folks 👋

I'm Harsh from the LocalStack team. Wanted to flag an upcoming change that will directly affect users of this integration.

What's changing: Starting March 23, 2026, localstack/localstack:latest on Docker Hub will consolidate into a single unified image that requires authentication via a LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN. The free Community image, as it exists today, will no longer be available under that tag without an auth token set.

What this means for this repo:

The AddLocalStack() integration pulls localstack/localstack by default to spin up the LocalStack container inside the Aspire AppHost. After March 23, any user who hasn't set LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN will get an authentication error when Aspire tries to start the LocalStack container, breaking local development and CI pipelines entirely.

The places most likely to need updating:

• The README and Configuration Documentation, which don't currently mention auth token setup as a prerequisite
• The playground examples (playground/provisioning and playground/lambda), which users run directly to get started
• The CI/CD pipeline (.github/workflows/ci-cd.yml) if it pulls the community image without an auth token

What users will need to do:

1. Sign up for a free LocalStack account at localstack.cloud
2. Generate an auth token from the LocalStack Web App
3. Pass LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN to the LocalStack container via AdditionalEnvironmentVariables — which the integration already supports natively:

builder.AddLocalStack(configureContainer: container =>
{
    container.AdditionalEnvironmentVariables = new Dictionary<string, string>
    {
        ["LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN"] = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN") ?? string.Empty
    };
});

For CI pipelines, store the token as a secret and inject it as an environment variable — the above snippet will pick it up automatically.

The good news: A free tier is staying — no one has to pay. CI credits are now unlimited on all plans, including free, and open-source projects like this one can apply for free access to paid plans.

Full details in our announcements:

• https://blog.localstack.cloud/the-road-ahead-for-localstack/
• https://blog.localstack.cloud/localstack-single-image-next-steps/
• https://blog.localstack.cloud/2026-upcoming-pricing-changes/

Happy to help with any doc updates, review PRs, or answer questions. Let us know if there's anything we can do to make this easier — and thanks for building and maintaining this integration for the .NET Aspire community! 🙏