[dotnet/c#] Is it possible to customize the serialization for a Kiota generated .net client? (and how)

[esbenbach]

I have a semi-weird case where a third party API spec has defined it schema as string and "date-time", and kiota correctly interprets this as a DateTimeOffset.

HOWEVER, the API Spec specifically states that the format string MUST be "Z" and NOT +00:00 (or any other offset for that matter).

Is there ANY way to change my implementation so that the JSON we generate use the format required by the API?
And how?

[baywet]

Hi @esbenbach
Thank you for using kiota and for reaching out.

Which language are you using?

[esbenbach]

Good question. I dont know, but i do know it accepts Z elsewhere, and
everything is required to be UTC according to the docs.

So i guess enabling for the entire API is good enough, but I can live with
a single operation solution

[esbenbach]

In my generated code I have something like the following (abreviated...)

 public partial class RecurringApiClient : BaseRequestBuilder
    {
        public global::Infosoft.S4.Vipps.IntegrationClient.V2.Recurring.Recurring.RecurringRequestBuilder Recurring
        {
            get => new global::Infosoft.S4.Vipps.IntegrationClient.V2.Recurring.Recurring.RecurringRequestBuilder(PathParameters, RequestAdapter);
        }
     
        public RecurringApiClient(IRequestAdapter requestAdapter) : base(requestAdapter, "{+baseurl}", new Dictionary<string, object>())
        {
            ApiClientBuilder.RegisterDefaultSerializer<JsonSerializationWriterFactory>();
        }
   }

It would seem like i should be able to somehow attach a custom converter to the JsonSerialization, but I can't really figure out how.

[baywet]

Thank you for the additional information.

Are you using the default request adapter or the http request adapter?

[esbenbach]

Hmm not really sure.

I do more or less as described in the docs here : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openapi/kiota/tutorials/dotnet-dependency-injection#create-a-client-factory

I new up HttpClientRequestAdapter along the lines of:

var adapter = new HttpClientRequestAdapter(authentication, httpClient: this.httpClient)
{
    BaseUrl = $"{account.BaseUrl}"
};

[esbenbach]

@baywet do you have any suggestion on where I should start looking.
For all intents and purposes I can live with some sort of manual request handling for this specific operation, but I can't really seem to figure out HOW to do that either.

[esbenbach]

Since we already create a HttpClientRequestAdapter our solution is currently to do as follows:

        var jsonSerializerOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions(JsonSerializerDefaults.Web);
        jsonSerializerOptions.Converters.Add(new CustomDateTimeOffsetConverter());
        var ctx = new KiotaJsonSerializationContext(jsonSerializerOptions);
        var serializationWriterFactory = new JsonSerializationWriterFactory(ctx);
        
        var adapter = new HttpClientRequestAdapter(authentication, serializationWriterFactory: serializationWriterFactory, httpClient: this.httpClient)
        {
            BaseUrl = $"{account.BaseUrl}"
        };

I have no idea if this is the most appropriate way, nor do I have any idea what the approach would be if using the default request adapter.

[baywet]

Thank you for your patience. With everybody getting back to work, last week's been hectic.
Yes, this is exactly what I was about to suggest. If you're API only provides JSON, you 're good to go.
Otherwise, you can instead pass your json factory to a SerializationWriterFactoryRegistry, add other formats/factories to it, and pass that to the request adapter.
Let us know if you have any additional comments or questions.