ASP.NET Core MVC Extensions

ASP.NET Core MVC provides OkObjectResult, NotFoundObjectResult, BadRequestObjectResult, and a few other status-specific result types. But there are gaps - there's no built-in way to return a 500 Internal Server Error or 403 Forbidden with a response body. And returning JSON with a custom status code requires more ceremony than it should.

MADE.Web.Mvc fills these gaps with additional action result types and controller extensions.

dotnet add package MADE.Web.Mvc

What's included

Type	What it does
InternalServerErrorObjectResult	Returns HTTP 500 with an error object or model state.
ForbiddenObjectResult	Returns HTTP 403 with an error object or model state.
JsonResult	Returns JSON with a configurable HTTP status code.
ControllerBaseExtensions	Helper methods: Json(), InternalServerError(), Forbidden().

Quick example

using MADE.Web.Mvc.Extensions;

[ApiController]
[Route("api/[controller]")]
public class OrdersController : ControllerBase
{
    [HttpPost]
    public async Task<IActionResult> CreateOrder(CreateOrderRequest request)
    {
        try
        {
            var order = await orderService.CreateAsync(request);
            return this.Json(order, HttpStatusCode.Created);
        }
        catch (InsufficientPermissionsException)
        {
            return this.Forbidden(new { message = "You don't have permission to create orders." });
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            return this.InternalServerError(new { message = "An unexpected error occurred.", detail = ex.Message });
        }
    }
}

Action result types

InternalServerErrorObjectResult

Returns an HTTP 500 response with a body. Two constructors are available:

// With an error object
return new InternalServerErrorObjectResult(new { message = "Something went wrong" });

// With model state validation errors
return new InternalServerErrorObjectResult(ModelState);

ForbiddenObjectResult

Returns an HTTP 403 response with a body:

return new ForbiddenObjectResult(new { message = "Insufficient permissions" });

JsonResult

Serializes a value as JSON using System.Text.Json with a configurable HTTP status code:

return new MADE.Web.Mvc.Responses.JsonResult(myObject, HttpStatusCode.Created);

// With custom serialization options
return new MADE.Web.Mvc.Responses.JsonResult(myObject, HttpStatusCode.OK, new JsonSerializerOptions
{
    DefaultIgnoreCondition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull,
});

Controller extensions

The ControllerBaseExtensions class adds helper methods to any ControllerBase:

// Return JSON with a status code
return this.Json(value, HttpStatusCode.Created);
return this.Json(value, HttpStatusCode.OK, jsonSerializerOptions);

// Return 500 with an error object
return this.InternalServerError(errorObject);
return this.InternalServerError(ModelState);

// Return 403 with an error object
return this.Forbidden(errorObject);
return this.Forbidden(ModelState);

These are convenience methods that create the corresponding result types. Use them instead of constructing the result objects directly for cleaner controller code.