Unable to build VueJS project in Azure Pipeline build - azure

Question

I have a large .NET website solution that has more than 30 projects in it, with some of them including VueJS. We have no problem building in any development environment, once we install all of the dependencies. However, Azure Pipeline is another thing...
The solution includes legacy webforms, MVC, DLL library, and the Vue projects (that are also webforms/core/mvc).
How can we adjust our Azure Pipeline to build the client apps the same way that local instances of Visual Studio does/can?
We can just build in debug/release mode without issue, by including the following commands in the build commands (in the project file, or included MSBuild script).
<Target Name="BuildVueClientApp">
<Message Text="Performing VueJS build." Importance="high"></Message>
<CreateItem Include="$(FullModulePath)\Scripts\client-app\**;">
<Output TaskParameter="Include" ItemName="deleteVueFiles" />
</CreateItem>
<Delete ContinueOnError="true" Files="#(deleteVueFiles)"></Delete>
<Exec Condition="$(Configuration) == 'Debug'" Command="npm run build-dev" />
<Exec Condition="$(Configuration) == 'Release'" Command="npm run build --prod" />
</Target>
I'm very new to Azure Pipelines, so please be descriptive. :)
Here is our current script:
trigger:
- development
pool:
vmImage: 'windows-latest'
variables:
solution: '**/*.sln;-:**\Examples*.sln'
buildPlatform: 'Any CPU'
buildConfiguration: 'Release'
steps:
- task: NuGetToolInstaller#1
- task: NuGetCommand#2
inputs:
restoreSolution: '$(solution)'
- task: VSBuild#1
inputs:
solution: '$(solution)'
msbuildArgs: '/p:DeployOnBuild=true /p:WebPublishMethod=Package /p:PackageAsSingleFile=true /p:SkipInvalidConfigurations=true /p:BuildInParallel=true /p:PackageLocation="$(build.artifactStagingDirectory)"'
platform: '$(buildPlatform)'
configuration: '$(buildConfiguration)'
- task: VSTest#2
inputs:
platform: '$(buildPlatform)'
configuration: '$(buildConfiguration)'
Here is the package.json, just in case you need to know it.
{
"name": "client-app",
"version": "0.1.0",
"private": true,
"scripts": {
"serve": "vue-cli-service serve",
"build": "vue-cli-service build",
"build-dev": "vue-cli-service build --mode development",
"lint": "vue-cli-service lint"
},
"dependencies": {
"core-js": "^3.6.4",
"vue": "^2.6.11"
},
"devDependencies": {
"#vue/cli-plugin-babel": "~4.3.0",
"#vue/cli-plugin-eslint": "~4.3.0",
"#vue/cli-service": "~4.3.0",
"babel-eslint": "^10.1.0",
"eslint": "^6.7.2",
"eslint-plugin-vue": "^6.2.2",
"vue-template-compiler": "^2.6.11"
},
"eslintConfig": {
"root": true,
"env": {
"node": true
},
"extends": [
"plugin:vue/essential",
"eslint:recommended"
],
"parserOptions": {
"parser": "babel-eslint"
},
"rules": {
"no-fallthrough": "off",
"no-undef": "warn",
"no-unused-vars": "warn"
}
},
"browserslist": [
"> 1%",
"last 2 versions",
"not dead"
]
}
If I need to provide any additional details to help you create an answer, please let me know. :)