Entity Framework Core Skill

Sorcha uses EF Core 9+ with PostgreSQL (Npgsql) as the primary relational data store. The codebase implements a layered repository pattern with generic and specialized repositories, soft delete via query filters, and automatic migrations on startup.

Quick Start

Register DbContext with PostgreSQL

// src/Common/Sorcha.Storage.EFCore/Extensions/EFCoreServiceExtensions.cs
services.AddDbContext<WalletDbContext>((sp, options) =>
{
    var dataSource = sp.GetRequiredService<NpgsqlDataSource>();
    options.UseNpgsql(dataSource, npgsql =>
    {
        npgsql.EnableRetryOnFailure(maxRetryCount: 10, maxRetryDelay: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30), errorCodesToAdd: null);
        npgsql.MigrationsHistoryTable("__EFMigrationsHistory", "wallet");
    });
});

Create a Migration

# From project directory containing DbContext
dotnet ef migrations add InitialSchema --project src/Common/Sorcha.Wallet.Core --startup-project src/Services/Sorcha.Wallet.Service

Apply Migrations Programmatically

// Startup pattern used in Sorcha services
var pending = await dbContext.Database.GetPendingMigrationsAsync();
if (pending.Any())
    await dbContext.Database.MigrateAsync();

Key Concepts

Concept	Usage	Example
DbContext	Schema definition + change tracking	WalletDbContext, TenantDbContext
Repository	Data access abstraction	EFCoreRepository<T, TId, TContext>
Soft Delete	Query filter on DeletedAt	.HasQueryFilter(e => e.DeletedAt == null)
JSONB	PostgreSQL JSON columns	.HasColumnType("jsonb")
ExecuteUpdate	Bulk updates without loading	ExecuteUpdateAsync(s => s.SetProperty(...))

Common Patterns

Repository with Optional Eager Loading

// src/Common/Sorcha.Wallet.Core/Repositories/EfCoreWalletRepository.cs
public async Task<WalletEntity?> GetByAddressAsync(string address, bool includeAddresses = false)
{
    IQueryable<WalletEntity> query = _context.Wallets;
    
    if (includeAddresses)
        query = query.Include(w => w.Addresses);
    
    return await query.AsNoTracking().FirstOrDefaultAsync(w => w.Address == address);
}

Soft Delete with Filter Bypass

// Bypass query filter for admin operations
var deleted = await _context.Wallets
    .IgnoreQueryFilters()
    .FirstOrDefaultAsync(w => w.Address == address);

See Also

• patterns - DbContext configuration, entity mapping, query optimization
• workflows - Migration commands, testing patterns, deployment

Related Skills

• See the postgresql skill for connection configuration and PostgreSQL-specific features
• See the aspire skill for service registration and health checks
• See the xunit skill for testing DbContext with InMemory provider

Documentation Resources

Fetch latest EF Core documentation with Context7.

Library ID: /dotnet/entityframework.docs

Recommended Queries:

• "DbContext pooling configuration dependency injection"
• "migrations code-first apply production deployment"
• "query filters soft delete global filters"
• "bulk operations ExecuteUpdate ExecuteDelete"