HttpClientFactory caching sample

This sample demonstrates HttpHybridCacheHandler with IHttpClientFactory and Microsoft dependency injection, the same registration pattern used in ASP.NET Core.

Sample source | Program.cs

Overview

The sample shows:

• Registering HybridCache and the caching handler through dependency injection.
• Configuring a named HttpClient with the handler.
• Making requests that benefit from client-side caching.
• Observing cache hits through timing differences.

Run the sample

From the repository root:

dotnet run --project hybrid-cache-handler\samples\HttpClientFactorySample\HttpClientFactorySample.csproj

The console application makes three identical requests to https://httpbin.org/cache/60 and waits for a key before exiting. The intended flow:

1. First request: full round-trip to the origin.
2. Second request: served from cache, normally faster.
3. Third request: still served from cache.

The sample prints elapsed time, status, the first response's Cache-Control, and later responses' Age headers. These are demonstration timings, not benchmarks; origin availability and cache directives determine the actual results.

The former README referred to the GitHub API; the current program uses httpbin.

Configuration

• FallbackCacheDuration: Explicitly set to five minutes for responses without caching headers.
• MaxCacheableContentSize: Uses the default 10 MB maximum.
• CompressionThreshold: 1024 bytes.
• Transport: SocketsHttpHandler with automatic decompression, a five-minute pooled connection lifetime, and a two-minute idle timeout.

The former README's HybridCacheHttpHandler, HybridCacheHttpHandlerOptions, and DefaultCacheDuration names are outdated. Current names are HttpHybridCacheHandler, HttpHybridCacheHandlerOptions, and FallbackCacheDuration.

Key code

The current sample registers the handler through its service helper:

builder.Services.AddHttpHybridCacheHandler(options =>
{
    options.FallbackCacheDuration = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5);
    options.CompressionThreshold = 1024;
});

builder.Services.AddHttpClient("CachedClient")
    .ConfigurePrimaryHttpMessageHandler(() => new SocketsHttpHandler
    {
        AutomaticDecompression = DecompressionMethods.All,
        PooledConnectionLifetime = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(5),
        PooledConnectionIdleTimeout = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2)
    })
    .AddHttpMessageHandler(sp => sp.GetRequiredService<HttpHybridCacheHandler>());

See the source for imports and host setup.

Learn more

• HTTP cache configuration
• Handler pipeline
• IHttpClientFactory documentation
• HybridCache documentation