SKILL.md
Microsoft.Extensions Configuration Patterns
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when:
- Binding configuration from appsettings.json to strongly-typed classes
- Validating configuration at application startup (fail fast)
- Implementing complex validation logic for settings
- Designing configuration classes that are testable and maintainable
- Understanding IOptions, IOptionsSnapshot, and IOptionsMonitor
Reference Files
- advanced-patterns.md: Validators with dependencies, named options, complete production example (AkkaSettings), and testing validators
Why Configuration Validation Matters
The Problem: Applications often fail at runtime due to misconfiguration - missing connection strings, invalid URLs, out-of-range values. These failures happen deep in business logic, far from where configuration is loaded.