rudironsoni dotnet-csharp-dependency-injection
Advanced Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection patterns for .NET applications. Covers service lifetimes, keyed services (net8.0+), decoration, factory delegates, scope validation, and hosted service registration.
Scope
- Service lifetimes (transient, scoped, singleton) and captive dependency detection
- Keyed services (.NET 8+) and factory delegates
- Decorator pattern and scope validation
- Hosted service registration
Out of scope
- Async/await patterns in BackgroundService -- see [skill:dotnet-csharp-async-patterns]
- Options pattern binding and IOptions -- see [skill:dotnet-csharp-configuration]
- SOLID/DRY design principles -- see [skill:dotnet-solid-principles]
Cross-references: [skill:dotnet-csharp-async-patterns] for BackgroundService async patterns,
[skill:dotnet-csharp-configuration] for IOptions<T> binding.
Service Lifetimes
| Lifetime | Registration | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Transient | AddTransient<T>() |
Lightweight, stateless services. New instance per injection. |
| Scoped | AddScoped<T>() |
Per-request state (EF Core DbContext, unit of work). |
| Singleton | AddSingleton<T>() |
Thread-safe, stateless, or shared state (caches, config). |
Lifetime Mismatches (Captive Dependencies)
Never inject a shorter-lived service into a longer-lived one:
// WRONG -- scoped DbContext captured in singleton = same context for all requests
builder.Services.AddSingleton<OrderService>(); // singleton
builder.Services.AddScoped<AppDbContext>(); // scoped -- CAPTIVE!
// CORRECT -- use IServiceScopeFactory in singletons
public sealed class OrderService(IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory)
{
public async Task ProcessAsync(CancellationToken ct = default)
{
using var scope = scopeFactory.CreateScope();
var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<AppDbContext>();
await db.Orders.Where(o => o.IsPending).ToListAsync(ct);
}
}
```text
### Enable Scope Validation (Development)
```csharp
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
// In Development, ValidateScopes is already true by default.
// For non-web hosts:
var host = Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
.UseDefaultServiceProvider(options =>
{
options.ValidateScopes = true;
options.ValidateOnBuild = true; // Validates all registrations at startup
})
.Build();
```text
---
## Registration Patterns
### Interface-Implementation Pair
```csharp
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, SqlOrderRepository>();
```csharp
### Multiple Implementations
```csharp
// Register multiple implementations
builder.Services.AddScoped<INotifier, EmailNotifier>();
builder.Services.AddScoped<INotifier, SmsNotifier>();
builder.Services.AddScoped<INotifier, PushNotifier>();
// Inject all -- order matches registration order
public sealed class CompositeNotifier(IEnumerable<INotifier> notifiers)
{
public async Task NotifyAsync(string message, CancellationToken ct = default)
{
foreach (var notifier in notifiers)
{
await notifier.NotifyAsync(message, ct);
}
}
}
```text
### Factory Delegates
```csharp
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderService>(sp =>
{
var repo = sp.GetRequiredService<IOrderRepository>();
var logger = sp.GetRequiredService<ILogger<OrderService>>();
var options = sp.GetRequiredService<IOptions<OrderOptions>>();
return new OrderService(repo, logger, options.Value.MaxRetries);
});
```text
### `TryAdd` for Library Registrations
Libraries should use `TryAdd` so applications can override:
```csharp
// Library code -- won't overwrite app registrations
builder.Services.TryAddScoped<IOrderRepository, DefaultOrderRepository>();
// Application code -- takes precedence if registered first
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, CustomOrderRepository>();
```text
---
## Keyed Services (net8.0+)
Register and resolve services by a key, replacing the need for named service patterns.
```csharp
// Registration
builder.Services.AddKeyedScoped<ICache, RedisCache>("distributed");
builder.Services.AddKeyedScoped<ICache, MemoryCache>("local");
// Injection via attribute
public sealed class OrderService(
[FromKeyedServices("distributed")] ICache distributedCache,
[FromKeyedServices("local")] ICache localCache)
{
public async Task<Order?> GetAsync(int id, CancellationToken ct = default)
{
// Check local cache first, then distributed
return await localCache.GetAsync<Order>(id.ToString(), ct)
?? await distributedCache.GetAsync<Order>(id.ToString(), ct);
}
}
// Manual resolution
var cache = sp.GetRequiredKeyedService<ICache>("distributed");
```text
> **net8.0+ only.** On earlier TFMs, use factory patterns or a dictionary-based approach.
---
## Decoration Pattern
The built-in container does not natively support decoration. Use one of these approaches:
### Manual Decoration
```csharp
builder.Services.AddScoped<SqlOrderRepository>();
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository>(sp =>
{
var inner = sp.GetRequiredService<SqlOrderRepository>();
var logger = sp.GetRequiredService<ILogger<LoggingOrderRepository>>();
return new LoggingOrderRepository(inner, logger);
});
public sealed class LoggingOrderRepository(
IOrderRepository inner,
ILogger<LoggingOrderRepository> logger) : IOrderRepository
{
public async Task<Order?> GetByIdAsync(int id, CancellationToken ct = default)
{
logger.LogInformation("Getting order {OrderId}", id);
return await inner.GetByIdAsync(id, ct);
}
}
```text
### Scrutor Library (Popular Alternative)
```csharp
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, SqlOrderRepository>();
builder.Services.Decorate<IOrderRepository, LoggingOrderRepository>();
builder.Services.Decorate<IOrderRepository, CachingOrderRepository>();
// Outer -> CachingOrderRepository -> LoggingOrderRepository -> SqlOrderRepository
```text
---
## Hosted Services and Background Workers
### `BackgroundService` (Preferred)
```csharp
public sealed class QueueProcessorWorker(
IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory,
ILogger<QueueProcessorWorker> logger) : BackgroundService
{
protected override async Task ExecuteAsync(CancellationToken stoppingToken)
{
logger.LogInformation("Queue processor starting");
while (!stoppingToken.IsCancellationRequested)
{
try
{
using var scope = scopeFactory.CreateScope();
var processor = scope.ServiceProvider
.GetRequiredService<IQueueProcessor>();
await processor.ProcessNextBatchAsync(stoppingToken);
}
catch (Exception ex) when (ex is not OperationCanceledException)
{
logger.LogError(ex, "Error processing queue batch");
}
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5), stoppingToken);
}
}
}
// Registration
builder.Services.AddHostedService<QueueProcessorWorker>();
```text
### `IHostedService` (Startup/Shutdown Hooks)
```csharp
public sealed class DatabaseMigrationService(
IServiceScopeFactory scopeFactory,
ILogger<DatabaseMigrationService> logger) : IHostedService
{
public async Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
{
using var scope = scopeFactory.CreateScope();
var db = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<AppDbContext>();
await db.Database.MigrateAsync(cancellationToken);
logger.LogInformation("Database migration completed");
}
public Task StopAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken) => Task.CompletedTask;
}
builder.Services.AddHostedService<DatabaseMigrationService>();
```text
### Key Rules for Hosted Services
- Always use `IServiceScopeFactory` to create scopes -- hosted services are singletons
- Never inject scoped services directly into hosted service constructors
- Handle exceptions inside `ExecuteAsync` -- unhandled exceptions stop the host (net8.0+)
- See [skill:dotnet-csharp-async-patterns] for async patterns in background workers
---
## Organizing Registrations
Group related registrations into extension methods for clean `Program.cs`:
```csharp
// ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
public static class ServiceCollectionExtensions
{
public static IServiceCollection AddOrderServices(this IServiceCollection services)
{
services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, SqlOrderRepository>();
services.AddScoped<IOrderService, OrderService>();
services.AddHostedService<OrderProcessorWorker>();
return services;
}
public static IServiceCollection AddNotificationServices(this IServiceCollection services)
{
services.AddScoped<INotifier, EmailNotifier>();
services.AddScoped<INotifier, SmsNotifier>();
return services;
}
}
// Program.cs
builder.Services.AddOrderServices();
builder.Services.AddNotificationServices();
```csharp
---
## Testing with DI
```csharp
[Fact]
public async Task OrderService_UsesRepository()
{
// Arrange -- build a service provider for integration tests
var services = new ServiceCollection();
services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, InMemoryOrderRepository>();
services.AddScoped<IOrderService, OrderService>();
services.AddLogging();
using var provider = services.BuildServiceProvider();
using var scope = provider.CreateScope();
var service = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<IOrderService>();
// Act
var order = await service.GetByIdAsync(1);
// Assert
Assert.NotNull(order);
}
```text
For unit tests, prefer direct constructor injection with mocks rather than building a full container.
---
## Code Navigation (Serena MCP)
**Primary approach:** Use Serena symbol operations for efficient code navigation:
1. **Find definitions**: `serena_find_symbol` instead of text search
2. **Understand structure**: `serena_get_symbols_overview` for file organization
3. **Track references**: `serena_find_referencing_symbols` for impact analysis
4. **Precise edits**: `serena_replace_symbol_body` for clean modifications
**When to use Serena vs traditional tools:**
- ✅ **Use Serena**: Navigation, refactoring, dependency analysis, precise edits
- ✅ **Use Read/Grep**: Reading full files, pattern matching, simple text operations
- ✅ **Fallback**: If Serena unavailable, traditional tools work fine
**Example workflow:**
```text
# Instead of:
Read: src/Services/OrderService.cs
Grep: "public void ProcessOrder"
# Use:
serena_find_symbol: "OrderService/ProcessOrder"
serena_get_symbols_overview: "src/Services/OrderService.cs"
```
## References
- [Dependency injection in .NET](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/extensions/dependency-injection)
- [Keyed services in .NET 8](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/extensions/dependency-injection#keyed-services)
- [Background tasks with hosted services](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/host/hosted-services)
- [Service lifetimes](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/extensions/dependency-injection#service-lifetimes)
- [.NET Framework Design Guidelines](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/design-guidelines/)