Fundamentals - Handle errors

In this article

Developer exception page

• Running in the Development environment.

• App created with the current templates, that is, using WebApplication.CreateBuilder. Apps created using the WebHost.CreateDefaultBuilder must enable the developer exception page by calling app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage in Configure.

• Stack trace

• Query string parameters, if any

• Cookies, if any

• Headers

Exception handler page

• Catches and logs unhandled exceptions.

• Re-executes the request in an alternate pipeline using the path indicated. The request isn't re-executed if the response has started. The template-generated code re-executes the request using the /Error path.

Warning If the alternate pipeline throws an exception of its own, Exception Handling Middleware rethrows the original exception.

• Middlewares need to handle reentrancy with the same request. This normally means either cleaning up their state after calling _next or caching their processing on the HttpContext to avoid redoing it. When dealing with the request body, this either means buffering or caching the results like the Form reader.

• For the UseExceptionHandler(IApplicationBuilder, String) overload that is used in templates, only the request path is modified, and the route data is cleared. Request data such as headers, method, and items are all reused as-is.

• Scoped services remain the same.

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

• For Razor Pages, create multiple handler methods. For example, use OnGet to handle GET exceptions and use OnPost to handle POST exceptions.

• For MVC, apply HTTP verb attributes to multiple actions. For example, use [HttpGet] to handle GET exceptions and use [HttpPost] to handle POST exceptions.

Access the exception

[ResponseCache(Duration = 0, Location = ResponseCacheLocation.None, NoStore = true)]
[IgnoreAntiforgeryToken]
public class ErrorModel : PageModel
{
    public string? RequestId { get; set; }

    public bool ShowRequestId => !string.IsNullOrEmpty(RequestId);

    public string? ExceptionMessage { get; set; }

    public void OnGet()
    {
        RequestId = Activity.Current?.Id ?? HttpContext.TraceIdentifier;

        var exceptionHandlerPathFeature =
            HttpContext.Features.Get<IExceptionHandlerPathFeature>();

        if (exceptionHandlerPathFeature?.Error is FileNotFoundException)
        {
            ExceptionMessage = "The file was not found.";
        }

        if (exceptionHandlerPathFeature?.Path == "/")
        {
            ExceptionMessage ??= string.Empty;
            ExceptionMessage += " Page: Home.";
        }
    }
}

Warning Do not serve sensitive error information to clients. Serving errors is a security risk.

Exception handler lambda

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler(exceptionHandlerApp =>
    {
        exceptionHandlerApp.Run(async context =>
        {
            context.Response.StatusCode = StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError;

            // using static System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames;
            context.Response.ContentType = Text.Plain;

            await context.Response.WriteAsync("An exception was thrown.");

            var exceptionHandlerPathFeature =
                context.Features.Get<IExceptionHandlerPathFeature>();

            if (exceptionHandlerPathFeature?.Error is FileNotFoundException)
            {
                await context.Response.WriteAsync(" The file was not found.");
            }

            if (exceptionHandlerPathFeature?.Path == "/")
            {
                await context.Response.WriteAsync(" Page: Home.");
            }
        });
    });

    app.UseHsts();
}

Warning Do not serve sensitive error information to clients. Serving errors is a security risk.

IExceptionHandler

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics;

namespace ErrorHandlingSample
{
    public class CustomExceptionHandler : IExceptionHandler
    {
        private readonly ILogger<CustomExceptionHandler> logger;
        public CustomExceptionHandler(ILogger<CustomExceptionHandler> logger)
        {
            this.logger = logger;
        }
        public ValueTask<bool> TryHandleAsync(
            HttpContext httpContext,
            Exception exception,
            CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        {
            var exceptionMessage = exception.Message;
            logger.LogError(
                "Error Message: {exceptionMessage}, Time of occurrence {time}",
                exceptionMessage, DateTime.UtcNow);
            // Return false to continue with the default behavior
            // - or - return true to signal that this exception is handled
            return ValueTask.FromResult(false);
        }
    }
}

using ErrorHandlingSample;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddDatabaseDeveloperPageExceptionFilter();
builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.AddExceptionHandler<CustomExceptionHandler>();

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

// Remaining Program.cs code omitted for brevity

• The CustomExceptionHandler is called first to handle an exception.

• After logging the exception, the TryHandleException method returns false, so the developer exception page is shown.

• The CustomExceptionHandler is called first to handle an exception.

• After logging the exception, the TryHandleException method returns false, so the /Error page is shown.

UseStatusCodePages

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePages();

Status Code: 404; Not Found

Note The status code pages middleware does not catch exceptions. To provide a custom error handling page, use the exception handler page.

UseStatusCodePages with format string

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

// using static System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames;
app.UseStatusCodePages(Text.Plain, "Status Code Page: {0}");

UseStatusCodePages with lambda

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePages(async statusCodeContext =>
{
    // using static System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames;
    statusCodeContext.HttpContext.Response.ContentType = Text.Plain;

    await statusCodeContext.HttpContext.Response.WriteAsync(
        $"Status Code Page: {statusCodeContext.HttpContext.Response.StatusCode}");
});

UseStatusCodePagesWithRedirects

• Sends a 302 - Found status code to the client.

• Redirects the client to the error handling endpoint provided in the URL template. The error handling endpoint typically displays error information and returns HTTP 200.

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePagesWithRedirects("/StatusCode/{0}");

• Should redirect the client to a different endpoint, usually in cases where a different app processes the error. For web apps, the client's browser address bar reflects the redirected endpoint.

• Shouldn't preserve and return the original status code with the initial redirect response.

UseStatusCodePagesWithReExecute

• Generates the response body by re-executing the request pipeline using an alternate path.

• Does not alter the status code before or after re-executing the pipeline.

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePagesWithReExecute("/StatusCode/{0}");

• Process the request without redirecting to a different endpoint. For web apps, the client's browser address bar reflects the originally requested endpoint.

• Preserve and return the original status code with the response.

var app = builder.Build();  
app.UseStatusCodePagesWithReExecute("/StatusCode", "?statusCode={0}");

[ResponseCache(Duration = 0, Location = ResponseCacheLocation.None, NoStore = true)]
public class StatusCodeModel : PageModel
{
    public int OriginalStatusCode { get; set; }

    public string? OriginalPathAndQuery { get; set; }

    public void OnGet(int statusCode)
    {
        OriginalStatusCode = statusCode;

        var statusCodeReExecuteFeature =
            HttpContext.Features.Get<IStatusCodeReExecuteFeature>();

        if (statusCodeReExecuteFeature is not null)
        {
            OriginalPathAndQuery = $"{statusCodeReExecuteFeature.OriginalPathBase}"
                                    + $"{statusCodeReExecuteFeature.OriginalPath}"
                                    + $"{statusCodeReExecuteFeature.OriginalQueryString}";

        }
    }
}

• Middlewares need to handle reentrancy with the same request. This normally means either cleaning up their state after calling _next or caching their processing on the HttpContext to avoid redoing it. When dealing with the request body, this either means buffering or caching the results like the Form reader.

• Scoped services remain the same.

Disable status code pages

public void OnGet()
{
    var statusCodePagesFeature =
        HttpContext.Features.Get<IStatusCodePagesFeature>();

    if (statusCodePagesFeature is not null)
    {
        statusCodePagesFeature.Enabled = false;
    }
}

Exception-handling code

Response headers

• The app can't change the response's status code.

• Any exception pages or handlers can't run. The response must be completed or the connection aborted.

Server exception handling

Startup exception handling

• The hosting layer logs a critical exception.

• The dotnet process crashes.

• No error page is displayed when the HTTP server is Kestrel.

Database error page

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddDatabaseDeveloperPageExceptionFilter();
builder.Services.AddRazorPages();

Exception filters

Model state errors

Problem details

• ExceptionHandlerMiddleware: Generates a problem details response when a custom handler is not defined.

• StatusCodePagesMiddleware: Generates a problem details response by default.

• DeveloperExceptionPageMiddleware: Generates a problem details response in development when the Accept request HTTP header doesn't include text/html.

builder.Services.AddProblemDetails();

var app = builder.Build();        

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler();
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePages();

Customize problem details

• Use ProblemDetailsOptions.CustomizeProblemDetails

• Use a custom IProblemDetailsWriter

• Call the IProblemDetailsService in a middleware

CustomizeProblemDetails operation

builder.Services.AddProblemDetails(options =>
    options.CustomizeProblemDetails = ctx =>
            ctx.ProblemDetails.Extensions.Add("nodeId", Environment.MachineName));

var app = builder.Build();        

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler();
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseStatusCodePages();

{
  "type": "https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc9110#section-15.5.1",
  "title": "Bad Request",
  "status": 400,
  "nodeId": "my-machine-name"
}

Custom IProblemDetailsWriter

public class SampleProblemDetailsWriter : IProblemDetailsWriter
{
    // Indicates that only responses with StatusCode == 400
    // are handled by this writer. All others are
    // handled by different registered writers if available.
    public bool CanWrite(ProblemDetailsContext context)
        => context.HttpContext.Response.StatusCode == 400;

    public ValueTask WriteAsync(ProblemDetailsContext context)
    {
        // Additional customizations.

        // Write to the response.
        var response = context.HttpContext.Response;
        return new ValueTask(response.WriteAsJsonAsync(context.ProblemDetails));
    }
}

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddTransient<IProblemDetailsWriter, SampleProblemDetailsWriter>();

var app = builder.Build();

// Middleware to handle writing problem details to the response.
app.Use(async (context, next) =>
{
    await next(context);
    var mathErrorFeature = context.Features.Get<MathErrorFeature>();
    if (mathErrorFeature is not null)
    {
        if (context.RequestServices.GetService<IProblemDetailsWriter>() is
            { } problemDetailsService)
        {

            if (problemDetailsService.CanWrite(new ProblemDetailsContext() { HttpContext = context }))
            {
                (string Detail, string Type) details = mathErrorFeature.MathError switch
                {
                    MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError => ("Divison by zero is not defined.",
                        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_by_zero"),
                    _ => ("Negative or complex numbers are not valid input.",
                        "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_root")
                };

                await problemDetailsService.WriteAsync(new ProblemDetailsContext
                {
                    HttpContext = context,
                    ProblemDetails =
                    {
                        Title = "Bad Input",
                        Detail = details.Detail,
                        Type = details.Type
                    }
                });
            }
        }
    }
});

// /divide?numerator=2&denominator=4
app.MapGet("/divide", (HttpContext context, double numerator, double denominator) =>
{
    if (denominator == 0)
    {
        var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
        {
            MathError = MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError
        };
        context.Features.Set(errorType);
        return Results.BadRequest();
    }

    return Results.Ok(numerator / denominator);
});

// /squareroot?radicand=16
app.MapGet("/squareroot", (HttpContext context, double radicand) =>
{
    if (radicand < 0)
    {
        var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
        {
            MathError = MathErrorType.NegativeRadicandError
        };
        context.Features.Set(errorType);
        return Results.BadRequest();
    }

    return Results.Ok(Math.Sqrt(radicand));
});

app.Run();

Problem details from Middleware

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddControllers();

builder.Services.AddProblemDetails();

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStatusCodePages();

// Middleware to handle writing problem details to the response.
app.Use(async (context, next) =>
{
    await next(context);
    var mathErrorFeature = context.Features.Get<MathErrorFeature>();
    if (mathErrorFeature is not null)
    {
        if (context.RequestServices.GetService<IProblemDetailsService>() is
                                                           { } problemDetailsService)
        {
            (string Detail, string Type) details = mathErrorFeature.MathError switch
            {
                MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError => ("Divison by zero is not defined.",
                "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_by_zero"),
                _ => ("Negative or complex numbers are not valid input.", 
                "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_root")
            };

            await problemDetailsService.WriteAsync(new ProblemDetailsContext
            {
                HttpContext = context,
                ProblemDetails =
                {
                    Title = "Bad Input",
                    Detail = details.Detail,
                    Type = details.Type
                }
            });
        }
    }
});

// /divide?numerator=2&denominator=4
app.MapGet("/divide", (HttpContext context, double numerator, double denominator) =>
{
    if (denominator == 0)
    {
        var errorType = new MathErrorFeature { MathError =
                                               MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError };
        context.Features.Set(errorType);
        return Results.BadRequest();
    }

    return Results.Ok(numerator / denominator);
});

// /squareroot?radicand=16
app.MapGet("/squareroot", (HttpContext context, double radicand) =>
{
    if (radicand < 0)
    {
        var errorType = new MathErrorFeature { MathError =
                                               MathErrorType.NegativeRadicandError };
        context.Features.Set(errorType);
        return Results.BadRequest();
    }

    return Results.Ok(Math.Sqrt(radicand));
});

app.MapControllers();

app.Run();

[Route("api/[controller]/[action]")]
[ApiController]
public class ValuesController : ControllerBase
{
    // /api/values/divide/1/2
    [HttpGet("{Numerator}/{Denominator}")]
    public IActionResult Divide(double Numerator, double Denominator)
    {
        if (Denominator == 0)
        {
            var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
            {
                MathError = MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError
            };
            HttpContext.Features.Set(errorType);
            return BadRequest();
        }

        return Ok(Numerator / Denominator);
    }

    // /api/values/squareroot/4
    [HttpGet("{radicand}")]
    public IActionResult Squareroot(double radicand)
    {
        if (radicand < 0)
        {
            var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
            {
                MathError = MathErrorType.NegativeRadicandError
            };
            HttpContext.Features.Set(errorType);
            return BadRequest();
        }

        return Ok(Math.Sqrt(radicand));
    }

}

[Route("api/[controller]/[action]")]
[ApiController]
public class Values3Controller : ControllerBase
{
    // /api/values3/divide/1/2
    [HttpGet("{Numerator}/{Denominator}")]
    public IActionResult Divide(double Numerator, double Denominator)
    {
        if (Denominator == 0)
        {
            var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
            {
                MathError = MathErrorType.DivisionByZeroError
            };
            HttpContext.Features.Set(errorType);
            return Problem(
                title: "Bad Input",
                detail: "Divison by zero is not defined.",
                type: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_by_zero",
                statusCode: StatusCodes.Status400BadRequest
                );
        }

        return Ok(Numerator / Denominator);
    }

    // /api/values3/squareroot/4
    [HttpGet("{radicand}")]
    public IActionResult Squareroot(double radicand)
    {
        if (radicand < 0)
        {
            var errorType = new MathErrorFeature
            {
                MathError = MathErrorType.NegativeRadicandError
            };
            HttpContext.Features.Set(errorType);
            return Problem(
                title: "Bad Input",
                detail: "Negative or complex numbers are not valid input.",
                type: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_root",
                statusCode: StatusCodes.Status400BadRequest
                );
        }

        return Ok(Math.Sqrt(radicand));
    }

}

Produce a ProblemDetails payload for exceptions

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddControllers();
builder.Services.AddProblemDetails();

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseExceptionHandler();
app.UseStatusCodePages();

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
}

app.MapControllers();
app.Run();

{
"type":"https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-6.6.1",
"title":"An error occurred while processing your request.",
"status":500,"traceId":"00-b644<snip>-00"
}

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Diagnostics;
using static System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddControllers();
builder.Services.AddProblemDetails();

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseExceptionHandler();
app.UseStatusCodePages();

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
}
else
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler(exceptionHandlerApp =>
    {
        exceptionHandlerApp.Run(async context =>
        {
            context.Response.StatusCode = StatusCodes.Status500InternalServerError;
            context.Response.ContentType = Text.Plain;

            var title = "Bad Input";
            var detail = "Invalid input";
            var type = "https://errors.example.com/badInput";

            if (context.RequestServices.GetService<IProblemDetailsService>() is
                { } problemDetailsService)
            {
                var exceptionHandlerFeature =
               context.Features.Get<IExceptionHandlerFeature>();

                var exceptionType = exceptionHandlerFeature?.Error;
                if (exceptionType != null &&
                   exceptionType.Message.Contains("infinity"))
                {
                    title = "Argument exception";
                    detail = "Invalid input";
                    type = "https://errors.example.com/argumentException";
                }

                await problemDetailsService.WriteAsync(new ProblemDetailsContext
                {
                    HttpContext = context,
                    ProblemDetails =
                {
                    Title = title,
                    Detail = detail,
                    Type = type
                }
                });
            }
        });
    });
}

app.MapControllers();
app.Run();

Warning Do not serve sensitive error information to clients. Serving errors is a security risk.

Additional resources

• View or download sample code (how to download)

• Troubleshoot ASP.NET Core on Azure App Service and IIS

• Common error troubleshooting for Azure App Service and IIS with ASP.NET Core

• Handle errors in ASP.NET Core controller-based web APIs

• Handle errors in minimal APIs.

Ref: Handle errors in ASP.NET Core