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title	author	description	ms.author	ms.custom	ms.date	uid
ASP.NET Core Middleware	rick-anderson	Learn about ASP.NET Core middleware and the request pipeline.	riande	mvc	02/17/2019	fundamentals/middleware/index

ASP.NET Core Middleware

By Rick Anderson and Steve Smith

Middleware is software that's assembled into an app pipeline to handle requests and responses. Each component:

Chooses whether to pass the request to the next component in the pipeline.
Can perform work before and after the next component in the pipeline.

Request delegates are used to build the request pipeline. The request delegates handle each HTTP request.

Request delegates are configured using xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.RunExtensions.Run*, xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.MapExtensions.Map*, and xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.UseExtensions.Use* extension methods. An individual request delegate can be specified in-line as an anonymous method (called in-line middleware), or it can be defined in a reusable class. These reusable classes and in-line anonymous methods are middleware, also called middleware components. Each middleware component in the request pipeline is responsible for invoking the next component in the pipeline or short-circuiting the pipeline. When a middleware short-circuits, it's called a terminal middleware because it prevents further middleware from processing the request.

xref:migration/http-modules explains the difference between request pipelines in ASP.NET Core and ASP.NET 4.x and provides more middleware samples.

Create a middleware pipeline with IApplicationBuilder

The ASP.NET Core request pipeline consists of a sequence of request delegates, called one after the other. The following diagram demonstrates the concept. The thread of execution follows the black arrows.

Each delegate can perform operations before and after the next delegate. Exception-handling delegates should be called early in the pipeline, so they can catch exceptions that occur in later stages of the pipeline.

The simplest possible ASP.NET Core app sets up a single request delegate that handles all requests. This case doesn't include an actual request pipeline. Instead, a single anonymous function is called in response to every HTTP request.

[!code-csharp]

The first xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.RunExtensions.Run* delegate terminates the pipeline.

Chain multiple request delegates together with xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.UseExtensions.Use*. The next parameter represents the next delegate in the pipeline. You can short-circuit the pipeline by not calling the next parameter. You can typically perform actions both before and after the next delegate, as the following example demonstrates:

[!code-csharp]

When a delegate doesn't pass a request to the next delegate, it's called short-circuiting the request pipeline. Short-circuiting is often desirable because it avoids unnecessary work. For example, Static File Middleware can act as a terminal middleware by processing a request for a static file and short-circuiting the rest of the pipeline. Middleware added to the pipeline before the middleware that terminates further processing still processes code after their next.Invoke statements. However, see the following warning about attempting to write to a response that has already been sent.

[!WARNING] Don't call next.Invoke after the response has been sent to the client. Changes to xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.HttpResponse after the response has started throw an exception. For example, changes such as setting headers and a status code throw an exception. Writing to the response body after calling next:

May cause a protocol violation. For example, writing more than the stated Content-Length.

May corrupt the body format. For example, writing an HTML footer to a CSS file.

xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.HttpResponse.HasStarted* is a useful hint to indicate if headers have been sent or the body has been written to.

Order

The order that middleware components are added in the Startup.Configure method defines the order in which the middleware components are invoked on requests and the reverse order for the response. The order is critical for security, performance, and functionality.

The following Startup.Configure method adds middleware components for common app scenarios:

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.0"

Exception/error handling
HTTP Strict Transport Security Protocol
HTTPS redirection
Static file server
Cookie policy enforcement
Authentication
Session
MVC

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
    if (env.IsDevelopment())
    {
        // When the app runs in the Development environment:
        //   Use the Developer Exception Page to report app runtime errors.
        //   Use the Database Error Page to report database runtime errors.
        app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
        app.UseDatabaseErrorPage();
    }
    else
    {
        // When the app doesn't run in the Development environment:
        //   Enable the Exception Handler Middleware to catch exceptions
        //     thrown in the following middlewares.
        //   Use the HTTP Strict Transport Security Protocol (HSTS)
        //     Middleware.
        app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
        app.UseHsts();
    }

    // Use HTTPS Redirection Middleware to redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS.
    app.UseHttpsRedirection();

    // Return static files and end the pipeline.
    app.UseStaticFiles();

    // Use Cookie Policy Middleware to conform to EU General Data 
    // Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations.
    app.UseCookiePolicy();

    // Authenticate before the user accesses secure resources.
    app.UseAuthentication();

    // If the app uses session state, call Session Middleware after Cookie 
    // Policy Middleware and before MVC Middleware.
    app.UseSession();

    // Add MVC to the request pipeline.
    app.UseMvc();
}

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< aspnetcore-2.0"

Exception/error handling
Static files
Authentication
Session
MVC

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
    // Enable the Exception Handler Middleware to catch exceptions
    //   thrown in the following middlewares.
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");

    // Return static files and end the pipeline.
    app.UseStaticFiles();

    // Authenticate before you access secure resources.
    app.UseIdentity();

    // If the app uses session state, call UseSession before 
    // MVC Middleware.
    app.UseSession();

    // Add MVC to the request pipeline.
    app.UseMvcWithDefaultRoute();
}

::: moniker-end

In the preceding example code, each middleware extension method is exposed on xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.IApplicationBuilder through the xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder?displayProperty=fullName namespace.

xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.ExceptionHandlerExtensions.UseExceptionHandler* is the first middleware component added to the pipeline. Therefore, the Exception Handler Middleware catches any exceptions that occur in later calls.

Static File Middleware is called early in the pipeline so that it can handle requests and short-circuit without going through the remaining components. The Static File Middleware provides no authorization checks. Any files served by it, including those under wwwroot, are publicly available. For an approach to secure static files, see xref:fundamentals/static-files.

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-2.0"

If the request isn't handled by the Static File Middleware, it's passed on to the Authentication Middleware (xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.AuthAppBuilderExtensions.UseAuthentication*), which performs authentication. Authentication doesn't short-circuit unauthenticated requests. Although Authentication Middleware authenticates requests, authorization (and rejection) occurs only after MVC selects a specific Razor Page or MVC controller and action.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< aspnetcore-2.0"

If the request isn't handled by Static File Middleware, it's passed on to the Identity Middleware (xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.BuilderExtensions.UseIdentity*), which performs authentication. Identity doesn't short-circuit unauthenticated requests. Although Identity authenticates requests, authorization (and rejection) occurs only after MVC selects a specific controller and action.

::: moniker-end

The following example demonstrates a middleware order where requests for static files are handled by Static File Middleware before Response Compression Middleware. Static files aren't compressed with this middleware order. The MVC responses from xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.MvcApplicationBuilderExtensions.UseMvcWithDefaultRoute* can be compressed.

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
    // Static files not compressed by Static File Middleware.
    app.UseStaticFiles();
    app.UseResponseCompression();
    app.UseMvcWithDefaultRoute();
}

Use, Run, and Map

Configure the HTTP pipeline using Use, Run, and Map. The Use method can short-circuit the pipeline (that is, if it doesn't call a next request delegate). Run is a convention, and some middleware components may expose Run[Middleware] methods that run at the end of the pipeline.

xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder.MapExtensions.Map* extensions are used as a convention for branching the pipeline. Map* branches the request pipeline based on matches of the given request path. If the request path starts with the given path, the branch is executed.

[!code-csharp]

The following table shows the requests and responses from http://localhost:1234 using the previous code.

Request	Response
localhost:1234	Hello from non-Map delegate.
localhost:1234/map1	Map Test 1
localhost:1234/map2	Map Test 2
localhost:1234/map3	Hello from non-Map delegate.

When Map is used, the matched path segment(s) are removed from HttpRequest.Path and appended to HttpRequest.PathBase for each request.

MapWhen branches the request pipeline based on the result of the given predicate. Any predicate of type Func<HttpContext, bool> can be used to map requests to a new branch of the pipeline. In the following example, a predicate is used to detect the presence of a query string variable branch:

[!code-csharp]

The following table shows the requests and responses from http://localhost:1234 using the previous code.

Request	Response
localhost:1234	Hello from non-Map delegate.
localhost:1234/?branch=master	Branch used = master

Map supports nesting, for example:

app.Map("/level1", level1App => {
    level1App.Map("/level2a", level2AApp => {
        // "/level1/level2a" processing
    });
    level1App.Map("/level2b", level2BApp => {
        // "/level1/level2b" processing
    });
});

Map can also match multiple segments at once:

[!code-csharp]

Built-in middleware

ASP.NET Core ships with the following middleware components. The Order column provides notes on middleware placement in the request processing pipeline and under what conditions the middleware may terminate request processing. When a middleware short-circuits the request processing pipeline and prevents further downstream middleware from processing a request, it's called a terminal middleware. For more information on short-circuiting, see the Create a middleware pipeline with IApplicationBuilder section.

Middleware	Description	Order
Authentication	Provides authentication support.	Before `HttpContext.User` is needed. Terminal for OAuth callbacks.
Cookie Policy	Tracks consent from users for storing personal information and enforces minimum standards for cookie fields, such as `secure` and `SameSite`.	Before middleware that issues cookies. Examples: Authentication, Session, MVC (TempData).
CORS	Configures Cross-Origin Resource Sharing.	Before components that use CORS.
Exception Handling	Handles exceptions.	Before components that generate errors.
Forwarded Headers	Forwards proxied headers onto the current request.	Before components that consume the updated fields. Examples: scheme, host, client IP, method.
Health Check	Checks the health of an ASP.NET Core app and its dependencies, such as checking database availability.	Terminal if a request matches a health check endpoint.
HTTP Method Override	Allows an incoming POST request to override the method.	Before components that consume the updated method.
HTTPS Redirection	Redirect all HTTP requests to HTTPS (ASP.NET Core 2.1 or later).	Before components that consume the URL.
HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)	Security enhancement middleware that adds a special response header (ASP.NET Core 2.1 or later).	Before responses are sent and after components that modify requests. Examples: Forwarded Headers, URL Rewriting.
MVC	Processes requests with MVC/Razor Pages (ASP.NET Core 2.0 or later).	Terminal if a request matches a route.
OWIN	Interop with OWIN-based apps, servers, and middleware.	Terminal if the OWIN Middleware fully processes the request.
Response Caching	Provides support for caching responses.	Before components that require caching.
Response Compression	Provides support for compressing responses.	Before components that require compression.
Request Localization	Provides localization support.	Before localization sensitive components.
Routing	Defines and constrains request routes.	Terminal for matching routes.
Session	Provides support for managing user sessions.	Before components that require Session.
Static Files	Provides support for serving static files and directory browsing.	Terminal if a request matches a file.
URL Rewriting	Provides support for rewriting URLs and redirecting requests.	Before components that consume the URL.
WebSockets	Enables the WebSockets protocol.	Before components that are required to accept WebSocket requests.

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ASP.NET Core Middleware

Create a middleware pipeline with IApplicationBuilder

Order

Use, Run, and Map

Built-in middleware

Additional resources

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Raw Blame History