ASP.NET Core

Trigger On

• working on ASP.NET Core apps, services, or middleware
• changing auth, routing, configuration, hosting, or deployment behavior
• deciding between ASP.NET Core sub-stacks such as Blazor, Minimal APIs, or controller APIs
• debugging request pipeline issues
• modernizing legacy ASP.NET to ASP.NET Core

Documentation

• ASP.NET Core Overview
• ASP.NET Core Middleware
• ASP.NET Core Best Practices
• Configuration in ASP.NET Core
• Authentication and Authorization

References

• patterns.md - Detailed middleware patterns, security patterns, configuration patterns, DI patterns, error handling patterns, and logging patterns
• anti-patterns.md - Common ASP.NET Core mistakes including HttpClient misuse, async anti-patterns, configuration errors, DI issues, middleware ordering problems, and security vulnerabilities

Workflow

1. Detect the real hosting shape first:

• top-level Program.cs structure
• middleware order and registration
• auth model (Identity, JWT, OAuth, cookies)
• endpoint registrations and routing

1. Follow the correct middleware order:

ExceptionHandler → HttpsRedirection → Static Files → Routing → CORS → Authentication → Authorization → Rate Limiting → Response Caching → Custom Middleware → Endpoints

1. Use built-in patterns correctly:

• Prefer IOptions<T> / IOptionsSnapshot<T> for configuration
• Use ILogger<T> for structured logging
• Use IHttpClientFactory for HTTP clients (never new HttpClient())
• Use IHostedService / BackgroundService for background work

1. Route specialized work to specific skills:

• UI and components → blazor
• Real-time → signalr
• RPC → grpc
• New HTTP APIs → minimal-apis (prefer unless controllers needed)
• Controller APIs → web-api

1. Validate with build, tests, and targeted endpoint checks.

Current Upstream Notes

• ASP.NET Core v10.0.11 is a servicing release rather than a new programming model. It updates OpenAPI to 2.7.5, fixes restoration of expired client-persisted Blazor circuit state, and refreshes servicing dependencies. Keep the existing middleware and endpoint architecture, then rerun focused OpenAPI, interactive-rendering, auth, and startup tests.
• The August 2026 Microsoft Learn overview for aspnetcore-10.0 remains the routing entry point for choosing between Blazor, Minimal APIs, controller APIs, SignalR, and gRPC; the refresh does not justify changing an existing app model by itself.

Middleware Patterns

Correct Order Matters

csharp
var app = builder.Build();

app.UseExceptionHandler("/error");      // 1. Catch all exceptions
app.UseHsts();                          // 2. Security headers
app.UseHttpsRedirection();              // 3. HTTPS redirect
app.UseStaticFiles();                   // 4. Serve static files
app.UseRouting();                       // 5. Route matching
app.UseCors();                          // 6. CORS policy
app.UseAuthentication();                // 7. Who are you?
app.UseAuthorization();                 // 8. Can you access?
app.UseRateLimiter();                   // 9. Rate limiting
app.UseResponseCaching();               // 10. Response cache
app.MapControllers();                   // 11. Endpoints

Custom Middleware Pattern

csharp
public class RequestTimingMiddleware
{
    private readonly RequestDelegate _next;
    private readonly ILogger<RequestTimingMiddleware> _logger;

    public RequestTimingMiddleware(RequestDelegate next, ILogger<RequestTimingMiddleware> logger)
    {
        _next = next;
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public async Task InvokeAsync(HttpContext context)
    {
        var sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
        await _next(context);
        _logger.LogInformation("Request {Path} completed in {Elapsed}ms",
            context.Request.Path, sw.ElapsedMilliseconds);
    }
}

Configuration Patterns

Strongly-Typed Options

csharp
// appsettings.json
{
  "EmailSettings": {
    "SmtpServer": "smtp.example.com",
    "Port": 587
  }
}

// Registration
builder.Services.Configure<EmailSettings>(
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("EmailSettings"));

// Usage
public class EmailService(IOptions<EmailSettings> options)
{
    private readonly EmailSettings _settings = options.Value;
}

Environment-Based Configuration

csharp
builder.Configuration
    .AddJsonFile("appsettings.json", optional: false)
    .AddJsonFile($"appsettings.{builder.Environment.EnvironmentName}.json", optional: true)
    .AddEnvironmentVariables()
    .AddUserSecrets<Program>(optional: true);

Security Patterns

Authentication Setup

csharp
builder.Services.AddAuthentication(JwtBearerDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
    .AddJwtBearer(options =>
    {
        options.TokenValidationParameters = new TokenValidationParameters
        {
            ValidateIssuer = true,
            ValidateAudience = true,
            ValidateLifetime = true,
            ValidateIssuerSigningKey = true,
            ValidIssuer = builder.Configuration["Jwt:Issuer"],
            ValidAudience = builder.Configuration["Jwt:Audience"],
            IssuerSigningKey = new SymmetricSecurityKey(
                Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(builder.Configuration["Jwt:Key"]!))
        };
    });

Authorization Policies

csharp
builder.Services.AddAuthorization(options =>
{
    options.AddPolicy("AdminOnly", policy =>
        policy.RequireRole("Admin"));
    options.AddPolicy("MinAge18", policy =>
        policy.RequireClaim("Age", "18", "19", "20")); // simplified
});

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

| Anti-Pattern | Why It's Bad | Better Approach | |--------------|--------------|-----------------| | new HttpClient() | Socket exhaustion | IHttpClientFactory | | Sync-over-async (Task.Result) | Thread pool starvation | await properly | | Storing secrets in appsettings.json | Security risk | User Secrets, Key Vault | | Catching all exceptions silently | Hides bugs | Use IExceptionHandler | | async void in middleware | Crashes process | async Task | | Missing HTTPS redirect | Security risk | UseHttpsRedirection() |

Performance Best Practices

1. Use async/await everywhere — avoid sync blocking calls
2. Pool DbContext properly — use scoped lifetime
3. Enable response compression — UseResponseCompression()
4. Use output caching — UseOutputCache() for .NET 7+
5. Profile with diagnostic tools — Visual Studio Diagnostic Tools, PerfView
6. Avoid allocations in hot paths — use Span<T>, pooling

Deliver

• production-credible ASP.NET Core code and config
• a clear request pipeline and hosting story
• verification that matches the affected endpoints and middleware
• security headers and HTTPS configured correctly

Validate

• middleware order is intentional and documented
• security and configuration changes are explicit
• endpoint behavior is covered by tests or smoke checks
• no blocking calls in async context
• secrets are not committed to source control
• health checks are implemented for production readiness