.NET Core Application Template Documentation

This site is the implementation and operational reference for the .NET Core Application Template (NCAT). It documents how to install and generate an application, what the generated scaffold contains, which runtime and security defaults are applied, how the application is configured and extended, and how it is deployed and operated.

NCAT is authoritative for its generated behavior, template options, configuration, middleware order, authentication and authorization defaults, data-access implementation, public surface, ADRs, release compatibility, and runtime contracts.

At a Glance

Area	Current reference
Current release	Latest GitHub release
Supported platform	.NET 10.0
Template package	NetCoreApplicationTemplate on NuGet
Template short name	netcoreapp-template
Default authentication	Cookie authentication with authenticated-by-default routed endpoints
Default data provider	SQLite for local development

Start Here

1. Install and generate an application: Install, Generate, and Template Options covers package installation, dotnet new generation, supported template options, and generated scaffold validation.
2. Build, test, and run the repository: Build, Test, and First Run covers prerequisites, local build/test commands, application startup, and local DocFX serving.
3. Understand the generated application: Project Structure explains the generated projects and responsibilities.
4. Configure runtime behavior: Configuration documents the application-owned configuration surface.
5. Understand the request pipeline: Middleware Pipeline records the runtime ordering contract and extension points.

Generated Application Reference

Use these articles when you need the exact behavior of the scaffold rather than general ASP.NET Core guidance:

• Authentication
• Authorization
• Error Handling
• Logging
• Telemetry
• Security Headers
• Forwarded Headers
• Rate Limiting
• Health Checks
• API Versioning
• Data Access

The Public Surface and Compatibility Boundaries article records the generated configuration, routes, template symbols, middleware ordering, and other behavior consumers may rely on.

Extensibility

• Optional Application and Domain Layers
• Public Surface and Compatibility Boundaries

These references identify the intended growth points and the behavior that should remain stable when extending a generated application.

Deployment & Operations

• Deployment Notes
• Docker Development
• Production Deployment Checklist
• Runtime Readiness

Architecture Decisions and API Reference

Repository-local design decisions remain first-class NCAT documentation because they explain why this implementation chose its concrete behavior.

• Architecture Decision Records
• API Reference

Release & Compatibility

Release and readiness evidence remains available after the core usage and implementation reference:

• Build Quality and Reproducibility
• Container Release Publishing
• GitHub Workflow
• Test Coverage

Historical Archive

• v0.5.x to v1.0 Migration Guide — retained at its original URL for consumers of preview releases; it is not current upgrade guidance.

Learn the Architecture

For organization-level software architecture education, ASP.NET Core teaching, terminology, tutorials, tradeoff analysis, architectural comparisons, labs, and general secure-by-default guidance, use ASI Backbone Learning.

Learning provides broader educational context; it does not define NCAT runtime behavior. See Documentation Ownership for the cross-repository ownership contract.