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.net-coreasp.net-core-webapidotnet-cli.net-8.0

Why is 'dotnet new webapi' command not producing the controllers folder?

Upon using dotnet new webapi -n API it produces the API folder with the properties, obj and bin subfolders as in the screenshot below, but it doesn't have a Controllers folder. Can anyone guide me on this? The project is using .NET 8.0

Image1

Solution

  • It seems to be a recent .NET 8 change resulting in the Minimal APIs used by default.

    From the docs for dotnet new templates: webapi (with fixed typo - PR @github):

    • -minimal|--use-minimal-apis
      Create a project that uses the ASP.NET Core minimal API. Default is false, but this option is overridden by --controllers. Since the default for --controllers is false, entering dotnet new webapi without specifying either option creates a minimal API project.
    • -controllers|--use-controllers
      Whether to use controllers instead of minimal APIs. If both this option and -minimal are specified, this option overrides the value specified by -minimal. Default is false. Available since .NET 8 SDK.

    So add -controllers/--use-controllers option to the command to get controllers:

    dotnet new webapi -n API --use-controllers

    Or

    dotnet new webapi -n API -controllers