EonaCat.DoxaApi
A self-contained, API documentation UI for ASP.NET Core
EonaCat.DoxaApi scans your controllers with plain System.Reflection and ASP.NET Core's own IActionDescriptorCollectionProvider,
builds a small OpenAPI-like JSON document with System.Text.Json, and serves a UI
This can also be used in an offline environment!
Install
dotnet add package EonaCat.DoxaApi
Quick start
using EonaCat.DoxaApi;
using EonaCat.DoxaApi.Middleware;
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddControllers();
builder.Services.AddDoxaApi(options =>
{
options.Title = "My API";
options.Description = "Internal service API";
options.AccentColor = "#6366f1"; // any hex color
});
var app = builder.Build();
app.UseRouting();
app.UseDoxaApi(); // serves UI at /doxa and spec at /doxa/DoxaApi.json
app.MapControllers();
app.Run();
Run your app and open https://localhost:xxxx/doxa.
Features
- Route-table style navigation - endpoints grouped by controller, each method color-coded (GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE), searchable with
/. - Schema viewer - nested request/response shapes rendered as readable, syntax-colored trees, with required fields marked.
- Try it out - a real three-pane layout: browse → inspect → call, with path/query/header inputs, an editable JSON body (pre-filled with a generated example), and a live response panel with status, timing, and syntax-highlighted JSON.
- Light & dark themes, persisted, with a system-preference default.
- XML doc comment support -
/// <summary>,<param>, and<returns>are read directly from your project's generated.xmldoc file (enable<GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>in your csproj). - Attributes for fine control:
[EonaCat.DoxaApiGroup],[EonaCat.DoxaApiSummary],[EonaCat.DoxaApiDescription],[EonaCat.DoxaApiExample],[EonaCat.DoxaApiHidden]. - Zero external NuGet dependencies - only references your app's own ASP.NET Core shared framework.
Configuration reference
builder.Services.AddDoxaApi(options =>
{
options.Title = "My API"; // shown in the top bar and browser tab
options.Description = "..."; // shown on the welcome screen
options.Version = "v1";
options.RoutePrefix = "doxa"; // UI served at /{RoutePrefix}
options.AccentColor = "#6366f1"; // primary button/accent color
options.Theme = "auto"; // "auto" | "light" | "dark"
});
Attributes
[EonaCat.DoxaApiGroup("Users")] // override the left-nav group name
public class UsersController : ControllerBase
{
/// <summary>Lists all users.</summary> // picked up automatically
[HttpGet]
public ActionResult<List<User>> GetUsers() => ...;
[HttpPost]
[EonaCat.DoxaApiExample("""{ "name": "Ada" }""")] // overrides the auto-generated example
public ActionResult<User> Create(CreateUserRequest request) => ...;
[HttpDelete("{id}")]
[EonaCat.DoxaApiHidden] // omit from docs entirely
public IActionResult Delete(Guid id) => ...;
}
OpenAPI & Swagger
EonaCat.DoxaApi exposes dedicated endpoints for importing and exporting industry-standard spec formats alongside its own native JSON.
Export
| URL | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
/{RoutePrefix}/DoxaApi.json |
Native EonaCat.DoxaApi JSON | Always available; used by the built-in UI |
/{RoutePrefix}/openapi.json |
OpenAPI 3.0.3 | Import into Postman, Insomnia, Stoplight, etc. |
/{RoutePrefix}/swagger.json |
Swagger 2.0 | Import into older tools, AWS API Gateway, Azure APIM, etc. |
# Download the OpenAPI 3.0 spec
curl http://localhost:5000/doxa/openapi.json -o openapi.json
# Download the Swagger 2.0 spec
curl http://localhost:5000/doxa/swagger.json -o swagger.json
Import
POST /{RoutePrefix}/import
Send any OpenAPI 3.x or Swagger 2.0 JSON document in the request body. The server detects the format automatically and returns the native EonaCat.DoxaApi document.
# Import a third-party OpenAPI spec and get the EonaCat.DoxaApi document back
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/doxa/import \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
--data-binary @path/to/openapi.json
Use cases:
- Preview any public or third-party OpenAPI/Swagger spec in the EonaCat.DoxaApi UI
- Validate that your spec round-trips correctly through import → export
- Use the import endpoint as a conversion proxy (OpenAPI 3 ↔ Swagger 2)
Programmatic use
The OpenApiExporter, SwaggerExporter, and OpenApiImporter classes in the
EonaCat.DoxaApi.Interop namespace are public static and can be used directly in your
own code:
using EonaCat.DoxaApi.Interop;
using EonaCat.DoxaApi.Models;
// Export: ApiDocument → OpenAPI 3.0 JsonObject
ApiDocument doc = /* ... */;
System.Text.Json.Nodes.JsonObject openApi = OpenApiExporter.Export(doc);
string json = openApi.ToJsonString(new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true });
// Export: ApiDocument → Swagger 2.0 JsonObject
System.Text.Json.Nodes.JsonObject swagger = SwaggerExporter.Export(doc);
// Import: OpenAPI 3.x or Swagger 2.0 string → ApiDocument
ApiDocument imported = OpenApiImporter.Import(File.ReadAllText("openapi.json"));
// Import from a Stream
await using var stream = File.OpenRead("swagger.json");
ApiDocument imported2 = OpenApiImporter.Import(stream);
Sample project
See /sample/SampleApi for a complete working example with two controllers (Users, Orders) demonstrating nested objects, enums, arrays, path/query parameters, and a deprecated endpoint.
cd sample/SampleApi
dotnet run
# open http://localhost:5000/doxa
License
MIT
