DotNetBrightener.Mapper.Dashboard 2026.0.2

DotNetBrightener.Mapper.Dashboard

Copyright © 2017 - 2026 Vampire Coder (formerly DotnetBrightener)

Interactive web dashboard that auto-discovers and visualizes every [MappingTarget<T>] usage in your ASP.NET Core app. Think of it as a Swagger UI, but for your compile-time object mappings instead of HTTP endpoints.

Why?

When a project accumulates dozens of source entities mapped to many DTOs, it gets hard to track which properties are included, excluded, renamed, or nested. This dashboard gives you a single page to inspect all of that at a glance — no XML docs or code navigation needed.

Install

dotnet add package DotNetBrightener.Mapper.Dashboard

Get Running in 30 Seconds

// Program.cs
using DotNetBrightener.Mapper.Dashboard;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard();

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard();
app.Run();

Fire up the app and open https://localhost:5001/dnb-mapper.

What You See

Tweaking the Defaults

builder.Services.AddDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard(options =>
{
    // Where the dashboard lives (default: "/dnb-mapper")
    options.RoutePrefix = "/mapper-inspector";

    // Page title shown in the browser tab
    options.Title = "Acme Corp — Mapping Inspector";

    // Brand color for headings and badges
    options.AccentColor = "#0ea5e9";   // sky blue

    // Force dark mode on first load (default: follows OS)
    options.DefaultDarkMode = true;

    // Turn off the JSON API if you only need the HTML view
    options.EnableJsonApi = false;
});

Lock It Behind Auth

builder.Services.AddDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard(options =>
{
    options.RequireAuthentication = true;
    options.AuthenticationPolicy = "AdminOnly";   // ties into your existing policy
});

Scan Extra Assemblies

The dashboard auto-scans the entry assembly + its references. Point it at more:

builder.Services.AddDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard(options =>
{
    options.AdditionalAssemblies.Add(typeof(ExternalDto).Assembly);
});

Include System Assemblies

Off by default to keep things fast. Flip it on if you map from Microsoft.* / System.* types:

builder.Services.AddDotNetBrightenerMapperDashboard(options =>
{
    options.IncludeSystemAssemblies = true;
});

HTTP Endpoints

JSON API Shape

A quick taste — the real response includes every source member and target member:

[
  {
    "sourceTypeName": "MyApp.Models.User",
    "sourceTypeSimpleName": "User",
    "sourceTypeNamespace": "MyApp.Models",
    "sourceMembers": [
      { "name": "Id", "typeName": "int", "isNullable": false, "isRequired": false, "isCollection": false }
    ],
    "targets": [
      {
        "targetTypeName": "MyApp.DTOs.UserDto",
        "targetTypeSimpleName": "UserDto",
        "typeKind": "record",
        "hasConstructor": true,
        "hasProjection": true,
        "hasToSource": false,
        "excludedProperties": ["PasswordHash"],
        "members": [
          { "name": "Id", "typeName": "int", "isNullable": false, "isInitOnly": true }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
]

Real-World Example

// Entity
public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
    public string PasswordHash { get; set; }
    public List<Order> Orders { get; set; }
}

// Full DTO minus the hash
[MappingTarget<User>(nameof(User.PasswordHash))]
public partial record UserDto;

// Minimal DTO for dropdowns / lists
[MappingTarget<User>(Include = new[] { nameof(User.Id), nameof(User.Name) })]
public partial record UserSummaryDto;

Open the dashboard and you'll see the User card with both targets: UserDto (4 members, PasswordHash excluded) and UserSummaryDto (2 members, Id + Name only).

Requirements

• .NET 10.0+ with ASP.NET Core
• A project that references DotNetBrightener.Mapper (the source generator)

Ecosystem