ASP.NET Core REST API Starter Template (PostgreSQL)

A clean, modular, and production-ready REST API starter built on top of ASP.NET Core Web API with PostgreSQL as database. Designed to save time by eliminating repetitive setup and allowing you to build new APIs quickly.

🚀 Same template with MongoDB as the database is available at:
👉 ASP.NET Core REST API Starter Template (MongoDB)

✨ Features

✅ Clean Architecture (Controllers, Services, Repositories, DTOs)
🔐 JWT Authentication & Authorisation with Refresh Token Flow
🐘 PostgreSQL Integration via Entity Framework Core
📖 Swagger UI (OpenAPI) for API testing
⚙️ Dependency Injection for modularity and testability
🌐 CORS enabled *(add or customize via Program.cs)*
🔒 Secure headers + HTTPS enabled *(basic HTTPS enabled, custom security headers can be extended)*

🔧 Possible Additions

👥 Role-Based Authorization
🧾 Request Validation using FluentValidation
🧼 Global Error Handling Middleware

📁 Folder Structure

RestApiTemplate/
├── Controllers/
├── Database/
├── DTOs/
├── Middlewares/
├── Migrations/
├── Models/
├── Repositories/
│ └── Interfaces/
├── Services/
│ └── Interfaces/
├── Validators/
├── appsettings.json
└── Program.cs

⚙️ Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/jjammeso/aspnet-postgres-api.git
cd aspnet-postgres-api/RestApiTemplate

2. Rename Configuration File

Rename appsettings.sample.json to appsettings.json

mv appsettings.sample.json appsettings.json

3. Configure PostgreSQL Connection

Make sure PostgreSQL is running locally or remotely, then update the PostgresConnection string in the appsettings.json.

"ConnectionStrings": {
  "PostgresConnection": "Host=localhost;Port=5432;Database=your_db;Username=your_user;Password=your_password",
}

4. Configure JWT settings

Set the following fields in appsettings.json under JwtSettings:

"JwtSettings": {
  "Issuer": "YourAppName",
  "Audience": "YourAppUser",
  "Secret": "CreateASecretKeyWith32characters",
  "ExpiryMinutes": 60
}

5. Restore Packages & Run the App

dotnet restore
dotnet run

6. Access the API at links below

• Swagger UI: https://localhost:7095/swagger/index.html
• API Base URL: http://localhost:5173

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🔐 Authentication Flow

• Register → POST /auth/register //Register a new user

• Login → POST /auth/login //Log in and receive access + refresh tokens

  * Use Bearer token in Authorization header      Add Authorization: Bearer <token> header to protected requests
  

• Refresh token → POST /auth/refresh //Refresh the access token using a valid refresh token

🧪 API Testing

Swagger UI is enabled at:

https://localhost:7095/swagger/index.html

Use it to test endpoints and view request/response models.

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💡 Why I build this template?

I often found myself repeating the same setup for new projects: authentication, architecture, error handling, and more. This template helps spin up a new REST API in minutes with all essentials ready to go.

🤝 Contribute or Use It

Feel free to use it in your own projects or contribute to improve it!

Pull requests are welcome. 🌟

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📄 License

MIT License

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✍️ Author

Sonam Jamtsho

📧 Email: [email protected]

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonam-jamtsho-944288228/