ASP.NET Core Configuration

This skill provides guidance for configuration management in ASP.NET Core applications using appsettings.json, environment-specific settings, user secrets, and the options pattern.

Table of Contents

1. [Configuration Files](#configuration-files)
2. [Environment-Specific Configuration](#environment-specific-configuration)
3. [Accessing Configuration](#accessing-configuration)
4. [Options Pattern](#options-pattern)
5. [User Secrets](#user-secrets)
6. [Best Practices](#best-practices)
7. [Quick Reference](#quick-reference)

Configuration Files

appsettings.json

Both projects have appsettings.json:

• src/ClaudeStack.Web/appsettings.json
• src/ClaudeStack.API/appsettings.json

Standard structure:

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*"
}

Configuration Hierarchy

ASP.NET Core loads configuration in this order (later sources override earlier):

1. appsettings.json
2. appsettings.{Environment}.json
3. User Secrets (Development only)
4. Environment variables
5. Command-line arguments

Environment-Specific Configuration

appsettings.Development.json

Overrides appsettings.json in Development environment:

• src/ClaudeStack.Web/appsettings.Development.json
• src/ClaudeStack.API/appsettings.Development.json

Example:

{
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Information"
    }
  }
}

Determining Environment

Set via environment variable:

# Windows
$env:ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT="Development"

# Linux/macOS
export ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Development

Check in code:

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.MapOpenApi();  // Only in development
}

Creating Environment-Specific Files

# Create production settings
# src/ClaudeStack.Web/appsettings.Production.json

Automatically loaded when ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT=Production.

Accessing Configuration

IConfiguration Interface

In Program.cs (Minimal API):

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Access configuration from builder
var connectionString = builder.Configuration["ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection"];

var app = builder.Build();

// Access configuration in endpoint
app.MapGet("/config", (IConfiguration config) =>
{
    var value = config["MySettings:MyValue"];
    return value;
});

In MVC Controller:

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    private readonly IConfiguration _configuration;

    public HomeController(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        _configuration = configuration;
    }

    public IActionResult Index()
    {
        var value = _configuration["MySettings:MyValue"];
        return View();
    }
}

Nested Configuration

appsettings.json:

{
  "Database": {
    "ConnectionString": "Server=localhost;Database=MyDb",
    "Timeout": 30
  }
}

Access:

var connectionString = config["Database:ConnectionString"];
var timeout = config.GetValue<int>("Database:Timeout");

Options Pattern

Strongly-Typed Configuration

1. Define options class:

public class DatabaseOptions
{
    public string ConnectionString { get; set; }
    public int Timeout { get; set; }
}

2. Bind configuration:

// In Program.cs
builder.Services.Configure<DatabaseOptions>(
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("Database"));

3. Use in services/controllers:

public class UserService
{
    private readonly DatabaseOptions _options;

    public UserService(IOptions<DatabaseOptions> options)
    {
        _options = options.Value;
    }

    public void Connect()
    {
        var conn = _options.ConnectionString;
    }
}

IOptions vs IOptionsSnapshot vs IOptionsMonitor

IOptions<T>          // Singleton, never reloads
IOptionsSnapshot<T>  // Scoped, reloads per request
IOptionsMonitor<T>   // Singleton, reloads on change

Use IOptions for most cases. Use IOptionsSnapshot if configuration changes between requests. Use IOptionsMonitor to react to configuration changes in real-time.

User Secrets

Overview

User Secrets stores sensitive configuration outside the project directory. Used in Development only.

For:

• API keys
• Connection strings
• Passwords

Not for:

• Production secrets (use Azure Key Vault, etc.)
• Non-sensitive settings

Initialize User Secrets

cd src/ClaudeStack.Web
dotnet user-secrets init

Adds <UserSecretsId> to .csproj:

<PropertyGroup>
  <UserSecretsId>guid-here</UserSecretsId>
</PropertyGroup>

Set Secrets

# Set individual secret
dotnet user-secrets set "ApiKey" "secret-value-123"

# Set nested secret
dotnet user-secrets set "Database:ConnectionString" "Server=..."

# List all secrets
dotnet user-secrets list

# Remove secret
dotnet user-secrets remove "ApiKey"

# Clear all secrets
dotnet user-secrets clear

Access Secrets

Same as regular configuration:

var apiKey = builder.Configuration["ApiKey"];

Location:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Microsoft\UserSecrets\<usersecretsid>\secrets.json
• Linux/macOS: ~/.microsoft/usersecrets/<usersecretsid>/secrets.json

Best Practices

1. Never Commit Secrets

# .gitignore already includes:
appsettings.Development.json  # Sometimes
**/secrets.json

Use User Secrets for local development secrets.

2. Use Options Pattern

Prefer:

builder.Services.Configure<MyOptions>(
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("MySettings"));

Over:

var value = builder.Configuration["MySettings:Value"];  // Weakly-typed

3. Validate Options

builder.Services.AddOptions<DatabaseOptions>()
    .Bind(builder.Configuration.GetSection("Database"))
    .ValidateDataAnnotations()
    .ValidateOnStart();

public class DatabaseOptions
{
    [Required]
    public string ConnectionString { get; set; }

    [Range(1, 300)]
    public int Timeout { get; set; }
}

4. Environment-Specific Settings

// appsettings.json - defaults
{
  "Database": {
    "ConnectionString": "Server=localhost"
  }
}

// appsettings.Production.json - production overrides
{
  "Database": {
    "ConnectionString": "Server=prod-server"
  }
}

5. Connection Strings

Special section:

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Server=localhost;Database=MyDb"
  }
}

Access:

var connStr = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");

Quick Reference

Configuration Access

// Simple value
config["MyKey"]

// Nested value
config["Section:SubSection:Key"]

// Typed value
config.GetValue<int>("Section:IntKey")

// Connection string
config.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection")

// Entire section
var section = config.GetSection("MySection")

Options Pattern

// Register
builder.Services.Configure<MyOptions>(
    builder.Configuration.GetSection("MySection"));

// Use (constructor injection)
public MyService(IOptions<MyOptions> options)
{
    var value = options.Value.Property;
}

User Secrets Commands

dotnet user-secrets init
dotnet user-secrets set "Key" "Value"
dotnet user-secrets list
dotnet user-secrets remove "Key"
dotnet user-secrets clear

Environment Setup

# Set environment
$env:ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT="Development"

# Check in code
if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment()) { }
if (app.Environment.IsProduction()) { }

Related Skills

• dotnet-minimal-apis: Using configuration in minimal APIs
• dotnet-cli-essentials: Running applications with different environments

Additional Resources

• Configuration in ASP.NET Core
• Options Pattern
• User Secrets
• Environment Variables

Version Information

• ASP.NET Core: 10.0 RC 2
• .NET SDK: 10.0.100-rc.2.25502.107

Configuration system is stable across .NET versions. This project uses .NET 10 RC 2 patterns.