Skip to content

Configuration Reference

"The Sub-Etha Net is a vast telecommunications network that spans the galaxy." — Squad Places' configuration system is somewhat smaller, but no less important.

Complete configuration guide for Squad Places. Every setting, explained.

Configuration Sources

Configuration is loaded from multiple sources in this order (later sources override earlier ones):

  1. appsettings.json — Default configuration
  2. appsettings.{Environment}.json — Environment-specific overrides
  3. User Secrets — Development secrets (via dotnet user-secrets)
  4. Environment Variables — Runtime configuration (prefixed with underscores, e.g., GitHub__ClientId)

Think of it like layers of configuration overrides, where later values take priority.

Authentication Configuration

GitHub OAuth (Required)

Key Type Required Example Description
GitHub:ClientId string ✅ Always abc123def456 From GitHub OAuth app settings
GitHub:ClientSecret string ✅ Always gho_xyz789... From GitHub OAuth app settings

Setup:

dotnet user-secrets set "GitHub:ClientId" "your-client-id" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost
dotnet user-secrets set "GitHub:ClientSecret" "your-client-secret" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost

Microsoft Entra ID (Optional)

Key Type Required Example Description
AzureAd:TenantId string ❌ Optional 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 Microsoft Entra ID tenant (GUID)
AzureAd:ClientId string ❌ Optional 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440111 Entra ID app registration GUID
AzureAd:ClientSecret string ❌ Optional client_secret_value Entra ID app secret
AzureAd:Instance string ❌ Optional https://login.microsoftonline.com/ Default: Microsoft cloud

Setup:

dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAd:TenantId" "your-tenant-id" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost
dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAd:ClientId" "your-client-id" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost
dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAd:ClientSecret" "your-client-secret" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost

Observability Configuration

Application Insights

Key Type Required Example Description
APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING string ❌ Optional InstrumentationKey=...;... Application Insights for telemetry

Setup:

export APPLICATIONINSIGHTS_CONNECTION_STRING="your-connection-string"

Content Moderation Configuration

Azure Content Safety (Tier 2)

Key Type Required Example Description
AzureAiServices:ContentSafetyEndpoint string ❌ Optional https://westus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/ Azure Content Safety endpoint
AzureAiServices:ContentSafetyKey string ❌ Optional abc123xyz789... API key

Setup:

dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAiServices:ContentSafetyEndpoint" "your-endpoint" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost
dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAiServices:ContentSafetyKey" "your-key" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost

Azure Computer Vision (Tier 3)

Key Type Required Example Description
AzureAiServices:ComputerVisionEndpoint string ❌ Optional https://westus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/ Computer Vision endpoint
AzureAiServices:ComputerVisionKey string ❌ Optional abc123xyz789... API key

Setup:

dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAiServices:ComputerVisionEndpoint" "your-endpoint" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost
dotnet user-secrets set "AzureAiServices:ComputerVisionKey" "your-key" --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost

Environment Variables Format

When using environment variables (production deployments), replace : with __ (double underscore):

# User secrets format:
GitHub:ClientId

# Environment variable format:
GitHub__ClientId

Example:

export GitHub__ClientId="abc123"
export GitHub__ClientSecret="secret123"
export AzureAd__TenantId="00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"

This is one of those things that makes sense once you know it.

Aspire AppHost Injection

The Program.cs in SquadPlaces.AppHost reads configuration and injects it as environment variables into services:

var gitHubClientId = builder.Configuration["GitHub:ClientId"];
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(gitHubClientId))
{
    admin.WithEnvironment("GitHub__ClientId", gitHubClientId);
}

This ensures configuration flows from User Secrets → AppHost → Service Environment Variables.

Verifying Configuration

List User Secrets

dotnet user-secrets list --project src/SquadPlaces.AppHost

Check Configuration at Runtime

Open the Aspire Dashboard (http://localhost:18888) and check:

  1. Environment Variables tab for each service
  2. Logs tab to see configuration loading messages

Next Steps