YAML transform a task to another version - yaml

Question

With Microsoft breaking 2 tasks this week and breaking many pipelines until the fix was released, I am looking into workarounds. I already documented a few here.
One option I'm investigating is the use of a YAML transformation in a Pipeline Decorator.
I've crafted the following YAML transformation to try and replace the version of the npmAuthenticate#0 task to be exactly and always: 0.200.0:
- steps:
- ${{ each step in job.steps }}:
- ${{ if in(step.task.id, 'npmAuthenticate', 'ad884ca2-732e-4b85-b2d3-ed71bcbd2788')}}
- ${{ each task in step }}:
- ${{ each pair in task }}:
${{ if eq(pair.key, 'version') }}:
${{ pair.key }}: 0.200.0
${{ if ne(pair.key, 'version') }}:
${{ pair.key }}: ${{ pair.value }}
But it's not working. Unfortunately I haven't found a way to locally debug these transformers, so the current process of trying out new versions takes forever.
My ask:
Is this even possible from a pipeline decorator?
What's wrong with the syntax above?
Is there a way to debug these things locally?
Here's the Pipeline Decoractor Context debug information:
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6524788Z job={
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6525354Z "steps": [
...
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6538541Z {
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6539075Z "task": {
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6539824Z "id": "ad884ca2-732e-4b85-b2d3-ed71bcbd2788",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6540412Z "name": "npmAuthenticate",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6541005Z "version": "0.208.1"
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6542056Z },
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6542581Z "env": {},
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6543177Z "inputs": {
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6545385Z "workingFile": "npmrc",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6545995Z "customEndpoint": ""
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6546519Z },
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6547100Z "condition": "succeeded()",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6547694Z "continueOnError": false,
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6548265Z "name": "npmAuthenticate",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6548890Z "displayName": "npm Authenticate npmrc",
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6549457Z "enabled": true
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6549971Z },
...
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6786723Z ]
2023-01-13T09:38:23.6787219Z }
2023-01-13T09:38:23.7641252Z ##[section]Finishing: Pipeline decorator context (Windows)
No dice either:
- steps:
- ${{ each task in job.steps.*.task }}:
- ${{ if eq(task.id, 'ad884ca2-732e-4b85-b2d3-ed71bcbd2788')}}
${{ if eq(pair.key, 'version') }}:
${{ pair.key }}: 0.200.0
${{ if ne(pair.key, 'version') }}:
${{ pair.key }}: ${{ pair.value }}
nor:
- steps:
- ${{ each step in job.steps.* }}:
- ${{ if eq(step.task.id, 'ad884ca2-732e-4b85-b2d3-ed71bcbd2788')}}:
- ${{ each prop in step.task }}:
${{ if eq(prop.key, 'version') }}:
${{ prop.key }}: 0.200.0
${{ if ne(prop.key, 'version') }}:
${{ prop.key }}: ${{ prop.value }}
The vss-extension.json:
{
"manifestVersion": 1,
"id": "replace-npmauthenticate-decorator",
"publisher": "jessehouwing",
"version": "1.0.0",
"name": "replace-npmauthenticate-decorator",
"description": "Azure DevOps Extension",
"categories": [
"Azure Pipelines"
],
"icons": {
"default": "logo.png"
},
"targets": [
{
"id": "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Services"
}
],
"contributions": [
{
"id": "replace-npmauthenticate-decorator",
"type": "ms.azure-pipelines.pipeline-decorator",
"targets": [
"ms.azure-pipelines-agent-job.pre-job-tasks"
],
"properties": {
"template": "replace-npmauthenticate-decorator.yml"
}
}
],
"files": [
{
"path": "replace-npmauthenticate-decorator.yml",
"addressable": true,
"contentType": "text/plain"
}
]
}

Answer 1

It is not possible to debug a decorator, since the debugging of agents is removed:
https://github.com/microsoft/azure-pipelines-agent/issues/2479
Alternatives are:
split up and peal off the loop
Use your own pre / post AzDo task instead

Answer 2

I've experimented with over 40 different versions of YAML transformations, tried 8 suggestions by ChatGTP, but ultimately must conclude that this approach does not seem to be viable.
I've seen many different tools to validate YAML structures, but nothing that validates a transform template or allows me to run one with a given context.
Azure DevOps' feedback towards errors is about none existent. If the yaml is syntactically correct it will say there is an error, but won't tell you what the error is, as such I must conclude that most of my 40 attempts are valid YAML, but that they don't work for some other undisclosed reason.
I've looked most of Azure DevIps Server in IlSpy to see if there is a place I could hook into to locally run the decorator, but so far no such luck, the code that interprets YAML is firmly embedded in the execution context of the pipeline and would require quite a bit if work to run locally out-of-server.