A stateless web API handles each request without retaining client context from earlier calls. The client supplies the context needed for that call, such as authentication information. Statelessness is a REST constraint that reduces server-side request overhead and can improve scalability under heavy load. section 1.1.4
For a stateless board-game API:
- Keep session-related information on the client rather than storing it on the server for later requests. section 3.1.2
- Do not rely on ASP.NET Core session state, server-side client context, or load-balancer features such as session affinity and sticky sessions. section 3.1.2
- Keep the distinction clear: storing board-game resources or returning resource state is allowed. The restriction concerns retained information about a client’s previous interactions. section 3.1.2
A starting point for the board-game API
A minimal ASP.NET Core web API without authentication is already stateless when it has no session-state services or middleware enabled. If adding, updating, or deleting games later requires authorization, the client will need to supply the required information with its calls rather than depend on a server-side session. Token-based authentication with JSON Web Tokens is a later approach, not a feature of this starting API. section 3.1.2
