Advanced .NET Core Middleware & Pipelines
Master the ASP.NET Core middleware pipeline — custom middleware, request/response transformation, error handling, and building cross-cutting concerns.
50 min•By Priygop Team•Last updated: Feb 2026
Middleware Pipeline Deep Dive
- Pipeline Order Matters: Exception handling → HTTPS redirect → Static files → Routing → CORS → Authentication → Authorization → Endpoints. Order is critical for security
- Custom Middleware: Implement RequestDelegate or IMiddleware — access HttpContext to inspect/modify requests and responses at any pipeline stage
- Request Logging: Log every request with method, path, status code, duration — use Serilog RequestLogging middleware for structured, performant logging
- Rate Limiting (.NET 7+): Built-in rate limiting middleware — fixed window, sliding window, token bucket, concurrency limiter. Per-endpoint or global policies
- Response Compression: Gzip/Brotli compression middleware — reduce response sizes by 60-80% for text content. Configure minimum size and MIME types
- Exception Handling: Global exception handler middleware — catch unhandled exceptions, log with correlation ID, return standardized ProblemDetails responses
Minimal APIs Deep Dive
- Route Handlers: app.MapGet('/api/orders/{id}', handler) — concise, low-ceremony endpoints. Perfect for microservices and small APIs
- Parameter Binding: Automatic binding from route, query, header, body — [FromQuery], [FromRoute], [FromBody], [FromServices] attributes
- Endpoint Filters: Middleware-like filters per-endpoint — logging, validation, authentication. Similar to MVC action filters but for minimal APIs
- Route Groups: app.MapGroup('/api/orders').RequireAuthorization() — group related endpoints with shared configuration (auth, rate limiting, tags)
- TypedResults: Return Results.Ok(data), Results.NotFound(), Results.Created() — strongly-typed, self-documenting, OpenAPI-friendly responses
- OpenAPI Integration: Automatic Swagger generation from minimal API definitions — AddEndpointsApiExplorer() + WithTags(), WithDescription()