EfCore.StorageEstimator 1.0.0

EfCore.StorageEstimator

EfCore.StorageEstimator estimates PostgreSQL heap, index, and traversal growth from EF Core models plus explicit workload assumptions.

It is built for production prognostics: estimating production volumes, row growth, and storage growth so teams can shape and refine schemas early, size infrastructure, and anticipate operational needs before production launch.

Plan capacity deliberately. Do not leave production growth to chance.

What The Project Contains

The repository multi-targets .NET 8, .NET 9, and .NET 10 in Directory.Build.props.

Core Model

The estimator combines two input sources:

• Schema facts from EF Core IModel when you supply StorageEstimateRequest.Model.
• Planning facts from attributes declared in StoragePlanningAttributes.cs.

The runtime starts from one or more StorageTraversalRoot values in StorageEstimateRequest.cs, resolves a row count for each root, estimates the root table, then traverses only navigations explicitly marked with [StorageNavigation(...)] in StorageEstimator.cs.

Traversal rules:

• [StorageEntity(expectedRowCount)] defines the default row count when a type is used as a root.
• [StorageField(fillRate, AverageLength = ...)] refines nullable fill rates and average payload sizes.
• [StorageNavigation(averageMultiplicity)] declares that a navigation should be traversed and by how much it expands rows.
• [StorageNavigation(..., SuppressCycleWarning = true)] marks an intentional cycle.
• [StorageTraversalBoundary] marks an intentional stop so the estimator does not warn about an undefined branch.

If no EF Core model is supplied, the runtime falls back to CLR reflection. If a model is supplied, it uses EF Core metadata for table names, property store types, indexes, and navigations.

Installation

Use the packages by role:

dotnet add package EfCore.StorageEstimator.Contracts
dotnet add package EfCore.StorageEstimator.Analyzers

For a dedicated estimate runner:

dotnet add package EfCore.StorageEstimator

Production application code should reference EfCore.StorageEstimator.Contracts and the analyzer. The full EfCore.StorageEstimator package is for the process that actually executes estimates.

Quick Start

Programmatic use is through IStorageEstimator in IStorageEstimator.cs and DI registration in ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs. This belongs in a dedicated estimate runner or analysis host, not in the normal domain model project that only declares planning metadata.

using EfCore.StorageEstimator;
using EfCore.StorageEstimator.Estimation;
using EfCore.StorageEstimator.Planning;
using EfCore.StorageEstimator.Rendering;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;

// Register the estimator runtime in a dedicated analysis process.
var services = new ServiceCollection()
  .AddStorageEstimator()
  .BuildServiceProvider();

// Resolve the runtime service that executes estimate requests.
var estimator = services.GetRequiredService<IStorageEstimator>();

// Build an estimate request from an EF Core model plus one or more traversal roots.
var report = estimator.Estimate(new StorageEstimateRequest
{
  // Supply the compiled EF Core model so table names, store types, and indexes come from real metadata.
  Model = dbContext.Model,
  Roots =
  [
    // Root 1: use the default row count declared on the entity via [StorageEntity(...)].
    new StorageTraversalRoot(typeof(Project)),

    // Root 2: override the default root row count and give the root a friendlier display label.
    new StorageTraversalRoot(typeof(ExternalShare))
    {
      EntityCountOverride = 5_000,
      Label = "Public Sharing"
    }
  ]
});

// Render the structured report to Markdown for human-readable output.
var markdown = new MarkdownReportRenderer().Render(report);
Console.WriteLine(markdown);

Minimal annotated model:

using EfCore.StorageEstimator.Planning;

// Declares the default root row count when Project is selected as a traversal root.
[StorageEntity(12)]
public sealed class Project
{
  // Provides an average payload length for a variable-width column.
  [StorageField(AverageLength = 64)]
  public string Name { get; set; } = string.Empty;

  // Declares that traversal should expand into Tasks with an average multiplicity of 8 per project.
  [StorageNavigation(8)]
  public IReadOnlyList<TaskItem> Tasks { get; } = [];
}

// Declares the default root row count if TaskItem is ever estimated directly.
[StorageEntity(1)]
public sealed class TaskItem
{
  // Nullable variable-width field with a 50% fill rate and an average payload length of 120 bytes.
  [StorageField(0.5d, AverageLength = 120)]
  public string? Notes { get; set; }
}

Using EF Core Models

Model-backed estimation is the preferred mode because it uses EF Core metadata instead of guessing from CLR types.

What the runtime reads from the EF Core model:

• table names
• store types
• nullability
• max length / precision / scale
• indexes
• navigations

This is implemented through EfCoreSchemaReader.cs and used by StorageEstimator.cs and PostgreSqlStorageMath.cs.

Warnings

Warnings are part of normal operation. They tell you where the estimate is falling back to generic assumptions.

Typical warnings:

• undefined branch warning: a navigation points to a known entity type but is not marked with [StorageNavigation]
• cycle warning: traversal would revisit an entity type already on the current path
• fallback fill rate warning: nullable fixed-width property has no [StorageField]
• default average length warning: variable-width property has no AverageLength

The runtime emits these in StorageEstimateReport.Warnings. Use them to tighten annotations until your estimate is explicit enough for your scenario.

Analyzer Rules

The analyzer package validates common annotation mistakes in StoragePlanningAnalyzer.cs.

Current rules:

Attribute Emission Switch

Planning attributes are emitted by default. Consumers can disable emission by setting EfCoreStorageEstimatorEmitPlanningAttributes=false.

This is intended for release builds where the model project should keep the contracts package for source compatibility but strip the storage-planning annotations from the compiled binary.

<PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)' == 'Release'">
  <EfCoreStorageEstimatorEmitPlanningAttributes>false</EfCoreStorageEstimatorEmitPlanningAttributes>
</PropertyGroup>

With that switch disabled, usages of [StorageEntity], [StorageField], [StorageNavigation], and [StorageTraversalBoundary] are compiled away from the consuming assembly.

This is wired through Directory.Build.props and the transitive props file EfCore.StorageEstimator.Contracts.props. For how buildTransitive assets flow through NuGet PackageReference, see the official NuGet/MSBuild docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/concepts/msbuild-props-and-targets.

Repository Layout

EfCore.StorageEstimator/
|-- src/
|   |-- EfCore.StorageEstimator/
|   |-- EfCore.StorageEstimator.Contracts/
|   `-- EfCore.StorageEstimator.Analyzers/
|-- tests/
|   |-- EfCore.StorageEstimator.Tests/
|   `-- EfCore.StorageEstimator.Analyzers.Tests/
|-- samples/
|   `-- EfCore.StorageEstimator.Sample/
|-- FEAT-fleet-storage-cost-analyzer.md
|-- CLAUDE.md
`-- LIBRARY-STANDARD.md

Build And Test

dotnet restore EfCore.StorageEstimator.slnx
dotnet build EfCore.StorageEstimator.slnx
dotnet test EfCore.StorageEstimator.slnx

The sample application is in Program.cs.

Recommendations

• Keep root row counts on root entities, and use EntityCountOverride only for scenario-specific runs.
• Treat warnings as missing planning data, not as noise.

License

Apache 2.0. See LICENSE.