Clean Architecture with partitioned repository pattern using Azure Cosmos DB

UPDATE: all projects in this soluction have been updated to .NET 5. Azure Functions project is updated to the newest v4.

This solution provides a starting point to build a web API to work with Azure Cosmos DB using .NET 5 and Azure Cosmos DB .NET V3, based on Clean Architecture and repository design pattern.

• Partition key is also implemented through the repository pattern in order to support large scale Cosmos DB.
• A RESTful API application is created with popular architecture features (see full list below).

Clean Architecture is promoted by Microsoft on their .NET application architecture guide page. The e-book written by Steve "ardalis" Smith (@ardalis) is beautifully written and well explains the beauty and benefits of using Clean Architecture. For more details, please see Architect Modern Web Applications with ASP.NET Core and Azure.

This project uses the newer Cosmos DB .NET SDK V3, because it adds support for stream APIs and Cosmos DB Change Feed processor APIs, as well as performance improvements.

(NEW) Azure Functions starter project

• An Azure Functions project is also created with popular architecture features (see full list below), in order to demonstrate how it can be used as a serverless computer service to work with Cosmos DB.

(NEW) Auditing feature

• A default Audit container is created at API startup.
• Auditing is done through repository automatically when updating an item, with no code change required in the API project.
• An example API endpoint is added to demonstrate how to retrieve full history of an entity.
• Audit container use the entity id as the partition key, so that each entity record technically should have 20G worth of storage size avaiable to store audit log.

(NEW) React Client Web Application

• A web application dashboard built using React, Typescript, Material UI.
• NSwagStudio is used to generate TypeScript client code to interact with the API.
• NSwagStudio file is added to the ClientApp project.
• FluentValidation is registered to define validation rules in Swagger/OpenAPI schema

(NEW) Token Service Provider

• Custom token service provider using ASP.NET Core Identity and SQL Server.

System Design Diagram

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Goals

The primary goal of the project is to provide a basic solution structure for anyone who is building a new ASP.NET Core web or API project using Cosmos DB.

For a detailed introduction, please see my recent article, Clean Architecture — ASP.NET Core API using Partitioned Repository Pattern and Azure Cosmos DB.

Getting Started - API

1. Download the Azure CosmosDB emulator in order to run the API project locally. Here is a download link: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/local-emulator-release-notes#download.
2. Start the emulator
3. Set the API project as your Startup project in Visual Studio
4. The swagger UI page should be loaded at: https://localhost:5001/swagger/index.html
5. Running the API project will automatically ensure Cosmos DB containers are created and also seed application data. See Startup.cs and DatabaseConfig.cs in API project for details.
6. Running the API project will automatically ensure ASP.NET Core Identity database is created and also seed application user data. See Startup.cs and DatabaseConfig.cs in API project for details.

Getting Started - Client Application

Because the client web application is built using React and TypeScript, you need a couple of things below installed on your machine.

Prerequisites:

• Download and install node.js
• Download and install Yarn
• (optional) Download and install Visual Studio Code

1. Open folder src/CleanArchitectureCosmosDB.ClientApp in Visual Studio Code
2. Open Terminal
3. Run command "yarn install"
4. Run command "yarn start"
5. You should see the web app running on localhost:3000

Features supported

• ASP.NET 5
• Azure Cosmos DB .NET SDK V3
• Azure Functions V4 (new)
• Client Web Application using React + Typescript + Material UI(new)
• Repository Design Pattern
• Horizontal Partitioning
• Partition Key Design
• REST API
• Custom Token Service Provider using ASP.NET Core Identity
• Swagger UI with bearer authorization header support
• OData support
• IMemoryCache Cache service (Non-distributed in-memory cache)
• Serilog for structured logging
• Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS) pattern using MediatR
• MediatR pipeline behaviour for exception handling
• FluentValidation for model validation (with support for database query)
• FluentValidation to define validation rules in Swagger Schema
• AutoMapper to mapping
• Email Sender using SendGrid
• Cosmos DB Database initial creation
• Cosmos DB initial sample data seeding
• CRUD endpoints using Cosmos DB
• Cosmos DB point-read using partition key and ID
• Cosmos DB single-partition read and cross-partition read
• Cosmos DB SQL query (demonstration purpose, not recommended in production)
• Cosmos DB query with Parameterized Query, LINQ and IQueryable
• Cosmos DB data searching using Specification Pattern to abstract out query-specific logic
• Audit container and automatic auditing
• Storage service for uploading and downloading files from cloud storage, e.g. Azure Blob Storage
• NSwagStudio file to generate TypeScript client code
• DataTables and Pagination support using LINQ and IQueryable in API
• Material UI DataTable in React Client App
• Client side validation using Formik and Yup in React Client App
• Map and render server-side errors in React Client App
• Unit Test using xUnit

New Features Under Development

• Refresh Token (TODO)
• Cosmos DB Change Feed (TODO)
• Cosmos DB Stored Procedure for Transaction (TODO)
• Complex search specification for Cosmos DB (TODO)
• Message Queue (TODO)
• Secure secrets in appsettings.json using Azure Key Vault (TODO)
• other TODOs

Additional Resources

I have published some short articles to cover different aspects of this project. Please feel free to give them a read.

• Clean Architecture — ASP.NET Core API using Partitioned Repository Pattern and Azure Cosmos DB
• Clean Architecture — ASP.NET Core API Starter Project using In-memory Cache Service
• Clean Architecture — ASP.NET Core REST API with OData and Swagger UI
• Azure Cosmos DB — SQL Injection Attack and Defense
• Audit Log using Partitioned Repository Pattern with Cosmos DB
• Clean Architecture from a Technical Interview Perspective
• DataTables Support using Partitioned Repository with Cosmos DB
• How to Generate API Client Code Using NSwag With FluentValidation Rules
• Mapping and Displaying Server-Side Errors with Formik in React
• Partitioning Best Practice in Partitioned Repository Pattern with Cosmos DB
• Best Exception Handling with Consistent Responses in ASP.NET Core API
• Best Design Pattern for Azure Cosmos DB Containers — Factory Pattern
• How to Auto-create Cosmos DB Database and Containers on App Startup
• Proper Use of Serilog for Log Stream and Filesystem on Azure App Service
• Plug-n-Play Azure Blob Storage Service into API using ASP.NET Core in 3 Quick Steps
• How to Generate API Client Code Using NSwag With FluentValidation Rules
• Clean Architecture — Material UI DataTable in React Client App
• IoT Solution — For Smart Home Telemetry Data using Azure Cosmos DB
• Specification Pattern with Partitioned Repository Pattern (TODO)
• Upload and download attachment from Azure Blob Storage (TODO)

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to Steve Smith (@ardalis) for sharing the CleanArchitecture repository and the e-book. I absolutely love it!

Thanks to Azure-Samples/PartitionedRepository for sample code using Cosmos DB .NET SDK V2, which helped me understand Cosmos DB .NET SDK V2 and compare SDK V2 against V3.