Terminal middleware
Terminal middleware is a request-pipeline component that handles a request and returns a response without invoking subsequent components.
ASP.NET Core in Action, 3e
Terminal middleware is a middleware component that stops further pipeline processing by generating and returning a response.
- How it is used
- Uses terminal middleware to generate specialized responses before endpoint routing handles the request.
- How deep it goes
- Explains short-circuiting, reverse response flow, and practical use cases, but stops short of implementing the three custom middleware approaches.
- Examples
- Uses authorization denial, Swagger, a welcome page, and a current-time plain-text response as concrete terminal responses.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via ASP.NET Core middleware to stop request processing and return a specialized response.
Read how ASP.NET Core in Action, 3e explains terminal middleware →
Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core
Terminal middleware is middleware that can end HTTP request processing by returning a response without invoking later pipeline components.
- How it is used
- Explains how ASP.NET Core components end HTTP requests or forward them through the request pipeline.
- How deep it goes
- Defines conditional and unconditional termination, registration order, and the Run convention without implementing custom middleware.
- Examples
- Uses static-file responses, HTTPS redirects, and a Program.cs pipeline ending with app.Run.
- What you can do after
- Configure middleware order and recognize when a component terminates or forwards an HTTP request.
Read how Building Web APIs with ASP.NET Core explains terminal middleware →
Related concepts
- middlewarekind of · Middleware is an intermediate software component or layer that processes or mediates requests, messages, or operations between other components, often adding behavior or controlling their flow.
- Runproduced by · Run is an ASP.NET Core API operation that either terminates a request pipeline with middleware or starts the application host to process requests.
- endpoint routingcontrasts with · Endpoint routing is an ASP.NET Core mechanism that matches incoming HTTP requests to endpoints and separates endpoint selection from endpoint execution.
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