Request Correlation Middleware in ASP.NET Core

Traceable APIs across microservices — Custom middleware that stamps every request with an X-Correlation-ID, propagates it through the response, and makes distributed debugging actually possible.

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🎯 What You'll Learn

• How to build custom ASP.NET Core middleware from scratch
• How to reuse an incoming X-Correlation-ID or generate a new Guid when one isn't provided
• How to propagate the correlation ID back in the response headers for client-side tracing
• How to expose the correlation ID in API response payloads for easy log correlation
• How to unit test middleware behaviour with HttpContext mocking

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🗺️ Architecture Overview

Client Request
  (with or without X-Correlation-ID header)
        │
        ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         CorrelationIdMiddleware  ← EARLY             │
│                                                      │
│  Has X-Correlation-ID header?                        │
│  YES → reuse the incoming ID                         │
│  NO  → generate new Guid.NewGuid()                   │
│                                                      │
│  → Store in HttpContext.Items["CorrelationId"]        │
│  → Add to response: X-Correlation-ID header          │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              API Controller / Endpoint               │
│  Reads CorrelationId from HttpContext.Items           │
│  Includes it in the response payload                 │
│  Logs it with Serilog / ILogger for traceability     │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        │
        ▼
HTTP Response
  Headers: X-Correlation-ID: <guid>
  Body:    { "correlationId": "<guid>", "data": ... }

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📋 Middleware Behaviour

Scenario	Behaviour
Request with X-Correlation-ID header	Middleware reuses the provided ID
Request without X-Correlation-ID header	Middleware generates a new Guid
All responses	X-Correlation-ID header is always returned
API endpoints	Correlation ID available via HttpContext.Items

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📁 Project Structure

dotnet-request-correlation-middleware/
├── CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.sln
├── CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.Api/
│   ├── Middleware/
│   │   └── CorrelationIdMiddleware.cs    # Custom middleware implementation
│   ├── Controllers/
│   │   └── SampleController.cs          # Demo endpoint returning correlation ID
│   ├── Program.cs                       # Middleware registration
│   └── CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.Api.csproj
├── CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.Tests/
│   ├── CorrelationIdMiddlewareTests.cs  # Unit tests for middleware behaviour
│   └── CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.Tests.csproj
├── CHANGELOG.md
└── LICENSE

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🛠️ Prerequisites

• .NET 8 SDK or later
• Any IDE: Visual Studio 2022+, VS Code, or JetBrains Rider

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⚡ Quick Start

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/codingdroplets/dotnet-request-correlation-middleware.git
cd dotnet-request-correlation-middleware

# Run the API
dotnet run --project CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.Api

# Open Swagger UI → http://localhost:{port}/swagger

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🔧 How It Works

Step 1 — Implement the Middleware

public class CorrelationIdMiddleware
{
    private const string CorrelationIdHeader = "X-Correlation-ID";
    private readonly RequestDelegate _next;

    public CorrelationIdMiddleware(RequestDelegate next) => _next = next;

    public async Task InvokeAsync(HttpContext context)
    {
        // Reuse incoming ID or generate a new one
        var correlationId = context.Request.Headers.TryGetValue(CorrelationIdHeader, out var incoming)
            ? incoming.ToString()
            : Guid.NewGuid().ToString();

        // Make it available downstream
        context.Items["CorrelationId"] = correlationId;

        // Always return it in the response
        context.Response.OnStarting(() =>
        {
            context.Response.Headers[CorrelationIdHeader] = correlationId;
            return Task.CompletedTask;
        });

        await _next(context);
    }
}

Step 2 — Register in Program.cs

// Register early — before routing and endpoints
app.UseMiddleware<CorrelationIdMiddleware>();

Step 3 — Use in Your Endpoints / Controllers

[HttpGet("status")]
public IActionResult GetStatus()
{
    var correlationId = HttpContext.Items["CorrelationId"]?.ToString();

    return Ok(new
    {
        status = "healthy",
        correlationId,
        timestamp = DateTime.UtcNow
    });
}

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🧪 Running Tests

dotnet test CodingDroplets.RequestCorrelationMiddleware.sln

Unit tests verify:

• Middleware generates a new correlation ID when none is provided
• Middleware reuses the incoming X-Correlation-ID header value
• Response always contains the X-Correlation-ID header
• HttpContext.Items["CorrelationId"] is populated correctly

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🤔 Key Concepts

Why Correlation IDs Matter in Distributed Systems

Without Correlation IDs	With Correlation IDs
"Which log entry matches the client error?" → impossible	Every log line tagged with the same ID
Debugging cross-service failures takes hours	Grep by ID across all service logs
Client has no way to report a specific request	Client can include the ID in a support ticket
No audit trail for individual requests	Full request lifecycle traceable

Reuse vs Generate

Always reuse the incoming ID if provided — this allows a gateway, load balancer, or upstream service to stamp the ID before it reaches your API, maintaining a consistent ID across the entire call chain.

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📚 References

• Write custom ASP.NET Core middleware — Microsoft Learn
• Logging and tracing in distributed systems — Microsoft Learn
• W3C Trace Context specification

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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