WebHost

WebHost is an ultra-lightweight web server framework for .NET, designed to handle HTTP, WebSocket, and secure TLS/mTLS communication. It provides a modular and extensible architecture, integrating seamlessly with .NET's IHost for dependency injection and middleware configuration.

Purpose

Provide fully customizable and low level access to http request. This package was born from the need to run a .NET C# web server on any .NET supported platform, which is not possible using ASP.NET Core.

Fully Native

No third party libraries used, the only dependencies are

Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions (>= 9.0.0)

Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting (>= 9.0.0)

Features

• Flexible Hosting: Supports both TLS and non-TLS connections.
• WebSocket Support: Implements WebSocket communication in compliance with RFC 6455.
• Middleware Pipeline: Fully configurable request handling pipeline.
• Route Mapping: Dynamically registers route handlers with attributes or fluent API.
• Extensible Architecture: Integrates with .NET's dependency injection for custom services and middleware.
• Lightweight Design: Minimal overhead with high-performance socket-based networking.

HTTP Version support

• HTTP/1.x: Yes
• HTTP/2.0: In progress
• HTTP/3.0: Not planned yet

Resource Hosting (Static pages)

• Yes

Websockets

• RFC 6455 protocol
• Missing fragmented frames support (to be added)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK (version 8.0 or later recommended)

Installation

Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory:

git clone <repository-url>
cd WebHost

Examples

Refer to Examples folder for detailed usage examples!

Usage

Create and Configure a WebHost

var host = WebHostApp.CreateBuilder()
    .SetEndpoint("127.0.0.1", 9001)
    .UseTls(options =>
    {
        options.ServerCertificate = LoadCertificate();
    })
    .MapGet("/route", sp => async context =>
    {
        // Access http request params
        //
        Console.WriteLine($"Received HttpMethod: {context.Request.HttpMethod}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Received query params: {context.Request.QueryParameters}");
        foreach (var header in context.Request.Headers)
            Console.WriteLine($"Received header: {header}");
        Console.WriteLine($"Received body: {context.Request.Body}");

        // Respond
        //
        var exampleClass = new
        {
            Name = "John",
            Address = "World"
        };

        var jsonString = JsonSerializer.Serialize(exampleClass);

        context.Response = new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.OK)
        {
            Content = new StringContent(jsonString, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json"),
        };
        context.Response.Headers.ConnectionClose = false;
        context.Response.Content.Headers.ContentLength = Encoding.UTF8.GetByteCount(jsonString);

        await context.SendAsync(await context.Response.ToBytes());
    })
    .Build();

await host.RunAsync();

static X509Certificate2 LoadCertificate() {
    // Load your TLS certificate here
}