Axent.Core 1.2.0

Axent

Axent is a lightweight, high-performance .NET library for implementing the CQRS pattern with minimal boilerplate. It provides a source-generated, typed request/response pipeline — currently ~2x faster than MediatR (v12.5) with fewer allocations.

Why Axent?

• 🚀 Fast: source generated dispatch with zero reflection
• 🧩 Minimal: very little setup
• 🧠 Strongly typed, extensible pipelines for cross-cutting concerns
• 🌐 First class ASP.NET Core integration
• ⚙️ Built for modern .NET (8+)

📦 Features

• Minimal setup and boilerplate
• Source-generated dispatch — no reflection at runtime
• Typed pipelines with support for generic and request-specific pipes
• Separate marker interfaces for commands and queries (ICommand<TResponse>, IQuery<TResponse>)
• Built-in support for transactions, logging, and error handling via pipeline options
• ASP.NET Core integration
• .NET 8+ optimized

Prerequisites

• .NET 8 or later

🚀 Getting Started

1. Install Packages

dotnet add package Axent.Core --version 1.2.0
dotnet add package Axent.Extensions.AspNetCore --version 1.2.0

2. Register Services

builder.Services.AddAxent()
    .AddRequestHandlers(AssemblyProvider.Current);

3. Create a Request and Handler

• IQuery<TResponse> for read operations
• ICommand<TResponse> for write operations
• IRequest<TResponse> if you don't want to differentiate
• IRequestHandler<TRequest, TResponse> to handle them

using Axent.Abstractions;

namespace Axent.ExampleApi;

internal sealed class ExampleQuery : IQuery
{
    public required string Message { get; init; }
}

internal sealed class ExampleQueryHandler : IRequestHandler
{
    private readonly ILogger _logger;

    public ExampleQueryHandler(ILogger logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public ValueTask<Response> HandleAsync(RequestContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Message from request '{Message}'", context.Request.Message);
        return ValueTask.FromResult(Response.Success(Unit.Value));
    }
}

4. Send a Request

Inject ISender into endpoints or application services.

app.MapGet("/api/example", async (ISender sender, CancellationToken cancellationToken) =>
{
    var response = await sender.SendAsync(new ExampleQuery { Message = "Hello World!" }, cancellationToken);
    return response.ToResult();
});

🔁 Pipelines

Pipelines allow you to add cross-cutting behavior such as:

• Logging
• Validation
• Metrics
• Authorization
• Caching

Implement

IAxentPipe<TRequest, TResponse>

Pipes are executed in registration order before the handler.

🌐 Generic Pipe

Runs for all request types.

internal sealed class LoggingPipe : IAxentPipe
{
    private readonly ILogger<LoggingPipe> _logger;

    public LoggingPipe(ILogger<LoggingPipe> logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public ValueTask<Response> ProcessAsync(IPipelineChain chain, RequestContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Handling {Request}", typeof(TRequest).Name);
        return chain.NextAsync(context, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Registration

builder.Services.AddAxent()
    .AddRequestHandlers(AssemblyProvider.Current)
    .AddPipe(typeof(LoggingPipe));

🎯 Request Specific Pipe

Runs only for a single request type.

internal sealed class OtherRequestPipe : IAxentPipe
{
    private readonly ILogger _logger;

    public OtherRequestPipe(ILogger logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public ValueTask<Response> ProcessAsync(IPipelineChain chain, RequestContext context, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Running pipe for OtherRequest");
        return chain.NextAsync(context, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Registration

builder.Services.AddAxent()
    .AddRequestHandlers(AssemblyProvider.Current)
    .AddPipe();

⚙️ Configuration

Customize behavior via AxentOptions.

builder.Services.AddAxent(options =>
{
    options.ErrorHandling = new AxentErrorHandlingOptions
    {
        EnableDetailedExceptionResponse = false
    };

    options.Logging = new AxentLoggingOptions
    {
        EnableRequestLogging = true
    };

    options.Transactions = new AxentTransactionOptions
    {
        UseTransactions = true
    };
});

📊 Benchmarks

Axent (Source Generated Dispatch)

BenchmarkDotNet v0.14.0, Windows 11 (10.0.26200.7840)
Unknown processor
.NET SDK 10.0.200-preview.0.26103.119
  [Host]     : .NET 8.0.23 (8.0.2325.60607), X64 RyuJIT AVX-512F+CD+BW+DQ+VL+VBMI [AttachedDebugger]
  DefaultJob : .NET 8.0.23 (8.0.2325.60607), X64 RyuJIT AVX-512F+CD+BW+DQ+VL+VBMI

MediatR (v12.5.0)

BenchmarkDotNet v0.14.0, Windows 11 (10.0.26200.7840)
Unknown processor
.NET SDK 10.0.200-preview.0.26103.119
  [Host]     : .NET 8.0.23 (8.0.2325.60607), X64 RyuJIT AVX-512F+CD+BW+DQ+VL+VBMI [AttachedDebugger]
  DefaultJob : .NET 8.0.23 (8.0.2325.60607), X64 RyuJIT AVX-512F+CD+BW+DQ+VL+VBMI

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. If you find a bug, have an improvement, or want to propose a feature:

1. Open an issue
2. Start a discussion
3. Submit a pull request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.