I’ve found that this hits anytime my APPX package is invalid.
For example, including an invalid capability or having duplicate extensions. Once I fix those errors, F5 works again. You can verify your APPX by installing the loose files manually:
cd /my/output/dir
add-appxpackage -register ./AppXManifest.xml
I was getting clearer errors like:
Add-AppxPackage: Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80080204, The Appx package’s manifest is invalid.
error 0x80080204: App manifest validation error: Line 73, Column 27, Reason: The field “[local-name()=’Extensions’]/[local-name()=’Extension’]/[local-name()=’InProcessServer’]/[local-name()=’ActivatableClass’]” with value “MyApp.XamlMetaDataProvider” must only be declared once. A duplicate exists on Line 51, Column 27.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] ffb3a6e7-89f9-0003-08d4-0600fa89db01 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID ffb3a6e7-89f9-0003-08d4-0600fa89db01
And:
Add-AppxPackage: Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF6, Package could not be registered.
Authorization of capabilities for MyApp_1.0.0.0_x64__ab5n1h2txxxxxx failed with error code 0x800701C5.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] ffb3a6e7-89f9-0002-3d4e-0100fa89db01 in the Event Log or use the command line Get-AppPackageLog -ActivityID ffb3a6e7-89f9-0002-3d4e-0100fa89db01
Once I fixed those errors, Add-AppXPackage began working & so did F5 deploy. See my comment in a related GitHub issue.