Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates 1.2.1

Clean Architecture .NET Web API Template

A dotnet new template that scaffolds a Clean Architecture solution:

ProjectName.sln
src/
  ProjectName.Domain           entities (Order, User), enums, no dependencies
  ProjectName.Application      service layer (IOrderService/OrderService, IUserService/IAuthService),
                                IRepository<T>, IRepositoryFactory, IUnitOfWork, DTOs, FluentValidation
  ProjectName.Infrastructure   EF Core, Repository<T>, RepositoryFactory, UnitOfWork, JWT token service
  ProjectName.WebApi           controllers, Program.cs, DI composition root

ProjectName is the placeholder (sourceName in template.json). Running dotnet new cleanwebapi -n InventoryApi renames every folder, namespace, file, .csproj, and .sln reference to InventoryApi.*.

Architecture pattern

• Service layer, not CQRS/MediatR: IOrderService/OrderService, IUserService/UserService, IAuthService/AuthService.
• IRepositoryFactory resolves IRepository<T> per entity. Kept separate from IUnitOfWork on purpose, services only depend on what they actually need.
• IUnitOfWork owns only the transaction boundary: SaveChangesAsync and ExecuteAsync(...), which wraps a block of repository calls in a real DB transaction (EF Core execution strategy, safe with retry-on-failure providers).
• Repository<T> gives generic CRUD (GetByIdAsync, GetAllAsync, FindAsync, Query(), AddAsync, Update, Remove) per entity.

Optional features (template parameters)

appsettings.json includes commented example connection-string formats for all three providers under _ConnectionStringExamples_ChangeFormatPerProvider — copy the one matching your --DbProvider choice into ConnectionStrings:DefaultConnection after generating, and set a real Jwt:Key if UseJwt is on.

Folder layout of this repo

clean-arch-template/
  content/                                <- becomes the template source
    .template.config/template.json
    ProjectName.sln
    src/...
  pack/
    Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates.csproj  <- packs "content" into a .nupkg
  README.md                                  <- also shown on the nuget.org package page

1. Test the template locally (before publishing)

dotnet new install ./content
dotnet new list
dotnet new cleanwebapi -n InventoryApi --DbProvider PostgreSQL --UseJwt true -o ./InventoryApi
dotnet new uninstall ./content

2. Pack it as a NuGet package

cd pack
dotnet pack Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates.csproj -c Release
# output: pack/nupkg/Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates.<version>.nupkg

Sanity check before pushing: rename the .nupkg to .zip and confirm the path inside is exactly content\.template.config\template.json — not content\content\.template.config\.... This is controlled by the PackagePath metadata on the Content item in the pack .csproj; do not add ContentTargetFolders back, it double-prefixes the path and breaks generation (an earlier version of this template hit exactly this bug).

3. Publish to NuGet.org

Either:

• CLI: dotnet nuget push ./nupkg/<file>.nupkg --api-key <KEY> --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
• Manual: nuget.org → your account → Upload Package → drag the .nupkg

Package IDs and versions are immutable once pushed — bump PackageVersion in the pack .csproj for every future update, you can't overwrite an existing version.

4. Use it anywhere

dotnet new install Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates
dotnet new cleanwebapi -n InventoryApi -o ./InventoryApi
cd InventoryApi
dotnet restore
dotnet run --project src/InventoryApi.WebApi

Update / remove:

dotnet new update
dotnet new uninstall Yash.CleanArchitecture.Templates

Do not manually extract the .nupkg with Explorer/7-Zip and open the folder in Visual Studio — that surfaces the raw package internals (_rels, package, .signature, .nuspec) instead of a generated project, and the ProjectName placeholder never gets renamed. Always go through dotnet new install + dotnet new cleanwebapi.

Do not add it via "Manage NuGet Packages" in Visual Studio either — a PackageType=Template package isn't a library dependency, VS will report "package type 'Template' is not supported by project ...". Install it globally via the CLI command above instead; recent VS versions then also surface it in the New Project dialog automatically.