AutoDispatch.Generator

AutoDispatch gives you the MediatR-style handler pattern without IRequest<T>, IRequestHandler<,>, reflection, or runtime dispatch overhead. Mark a handler with [Handler], write Handle or HandleAsync, and the generator emits a strongly-typed dispatcher at build time.

Why AutoDispatch?

Same mental model as MediatR — command/query + handler + dispatcher
Zero reflection — direct generated calls, no runtime dispatch overhead
Pipeline behaviors — [Behavior(Order = N)] wraps all async handlers at compile time, and [StreamBehavior(Order = N)] wraps streaming queries the same way; no IPipelineBehavior<,> magic at runtime
Configurable notification fan-out — PublishAsync runs handlers sequentially by default, or mark a notification [ParallelPublish] for Task.WhenAll concurrency
Exception handling middleware — [ExceptionHandler] open generics intercept a typed exception thrown by a handler or pipeline behavior and can supply a fallback response, matching MediatR's IRequestExceptionHandler<,,>
Exception actions — [ExceptionAction] open generics always run as side-effect-only observers on a typed exception (logging, metrics, alerting) without suppressing it, matching MediatR's IRequestExceptionAction<,>
Request pre/post-processors — [PreProcessor]/[PostProcessor] open generics run unconditionally right before/after a handler executes, without writing a full next()-calling pipeline behavior, matching MediatR's IRequestPreProcessor<>/IRequestPostProcessor<,>
Constrained (scoped) behaviors — add a generic constraint (e.g. where TCommand : IAudited) to any [Behavior]/[PreProcessor]/[PostProcessor]/[StreamBehavior] to apply it only to matching commands, instead of every command in the compilation
Built-in OpenTelemetry-compatible tracing — opt in with AddAutoDispatch(o => o.EnableTracing = true) to wrap every SendAsync/PublishAsync/StreamAsync call in an Activity, with zero overhead when no listener is subscribed
Notification pipeline behaviors — [NotificationBehavior(Order = N)] wraps the entire PublishAsync fan-out for a notification type, something MediatR has no equivalent for
Automatic MediatR migration hints — if MediatR is still referenced, AutoDispatch reports an AD100/AD101 suggestion with a one-click fix that converts a handler to [Handler]/[NotificationHandler] for you
Automatic FluentValidation integration — reference FluentValidation and validators are auto-registered and auto-invoked before every async handler runs, no attribute or manual DI wiring needed
Pipeline visualization — every generated pipeline is also rendered as a Mermaid flowchart, available at compile time via AutoDispatchPipelineDiagrams, for pasting into docs/ADRs
Minimal API endpoint generation — [Endpoint("POST", "/orders")] on a command/query type generates a MapAutoDispatchEndpoints() extension method that wires it directly to an ASP.NET Core minimal API route, no hand-written lambda needed, complete with generated OpenAPI metadata (.WithName/.WithSummary/.WithTags/.Produces<T>)
Result pattern with automatic exception capture — return Task<Result>/Task<Result<T>> from a handler and any unhandled exception (including FluentValidation's) is automatically converted into a failed Result, no manual try/catch required — something MediatR has no equivalent for at all
No marker interfaces — commands stay as plain POCOs
AOT-friendly — everything is compile-time generated; see the Native AOT sample for a project that publishes with PublishAot=true and zero trim/AOT analyzer warnings
DI-ready — AddAutoDispatch() wires up handlers, behaviors, and IDispatcher

Installation

dotnet add package AutoDispatch.Generator

Then register the generated dispatcher:

builder.Services.AddAutoDispatch();

Before vs After

MediatR-style boilerplate

using MediatR;

public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId) : IRequest<OrderId>;

public sealed class CreateOrderHandler : IRequestHandler<CreateOrderCommand, OrderId>
{
    public Task<OrderId> Handle(CreateOrderCommand request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

AutoDispatch

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId);

[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    public Task<OrderId> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

What gets generated

Given one or more [Handler] classes, AutoDispatch emits:

AutoDispatch.HandlerAttribute
AutoDispatch.IDispatcher
AutoDispatch.Dispatcher
AddAutoDispatch() for IServiceCollection

Example generated dispatcher:

#nullable enable
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;

namespace AutoDispatch
{
    public interface IDispatcher
    {
        Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default);
        void Send(DeleteOrderCommand command);
    }

    internal sealed class Dispatcher : IDispatcher
    {
        private readonly IServiceProvider _sp;

        public Dispatcher(IServiceProvider sp) => _sp = sp;

        public Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
            => _sp.GetRequiredService<CreateOrderHandler>().HandleAsync(command, ct);

        public void Send(DeleteOrderCommand command)
            => _sp.GetRequiredService<DeleteOrderHandler>().Handle(command);
    }
}

Conventions

AutoDispatch discovers public instance non-static methods on classes marked with [Handler].

Supported signatures:

Handler method	Generated dispatcher method
`T Handle(TCommand cmd)`	`T Send(TCommand command)`
`void Handle(TCommand cmd)`	`void Send(TCommand command)`
`Task HandleAsync(TCommand cmd, CancellationToken ct = default)`	`Task SendAsync(TCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)`
`Task<T> HandleAsync(TCommand cmd, CancellationToken ct = default)`	`Task<T> SendAsync(TCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)`
`Task HandleAsync(TCommand cmd)`	`Task SendAsync(TCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)`
`Task<T> HandleAsync(TCommand cmd)`	`Task<T> SendAsync(TCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)`

Rules:

Only methods named exactly Handle or HandleAsync
Handle must have exactly one command parameter
HandleAsync may have one command parameter, or a second CancellationToken
Methods with zero parameters or more than two parameters are ignored
Dispatcher is generated as internal sealed
AddAutoDispatch() registers handlers with AddScoped

Semantic aliases

[CommandHandler] and [QueryHandler] are aliases for [Handler] — use whichever reads best in your codebase.

[CommandHandler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    public Task<OrderId> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult(new OrderId(Guid.NewGuid()));
}

[QueryHandler]
public sealed class GetOrderHandler
{
    public Task<Order?> HandleAsync(GetOrderQuery query, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult<Order?>(null);
}

All three attributes are equivalent — the generated code is identical.

Usage

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId);
public sealed record DeleteOrderCommand(Guid OrderId);
public sealed record OrderId(Guid Value);

[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    public Task<OrderId> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult(new OrderId(Guid.NewGuid()));
}

[Handler]
public sealed class DeleteOrderHandler
{
    public void Handle(DeleteOrderCommand command)
    {
    }
}

Then consume the generated dispatcher:

app.MapPost("/orders", async (CreateOrderCommand command, AutoDispatch.IDispatcher dispatcher, CancellationToken ct) =>
{
    var orderId = await dispatcher.SendAsync(command, ct);
    return Results.Ok(orderId);
});

Generated DI registration

builder.Services.AddAutoDispatch();

Produces code like:

services.AddScoped<CreateOrderHandler>();
services.AddScoped<DeleteOrderHandler>();
services.AddScoped<AutoDispatch.IDispatcher, AutoDispatch.Dispatcher>();

Minimal API endpoint generation

Mark a command or query type [Endpoint(method, route)] to wire it directly to an ASP.NET Core minimal API route — no hand-written MapPost/MapGet lambda required:

[Endpoint("POST", "/orders")]
public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId);

[Endpoint("GET", "/orders/{id}")]
public sealed record GetOrderQuery(Guid Id);

[Endpoint("DELETE", "/orders/{id}")]
public sealed record DeleteOrderCommand(Guid Id);

Then map every attributed endpoint in one line:

app.MapAutoDispatchEndpoints();

This generates something like:

app.MapPost("/orders", async ([FromBody] CreateOrderCommand request, IDispatcher dispatcher, CancellationToken ct) =>
{
    var response = await dispatcher.SendAsync(request, ct);
    return Results.Ok(response);
})
    .WithName("CreateOrder")
    .WithTags("orders")
    .Produces<Order>(StatusCodes.Status200OK);

app.MapGet("/orders/{id}", async ([AsParameters] GetOrderQuery request, IDispatcher dispatcher, CancellationToken ct) =>
{
    var response = await dispatcher.SendAsync(request, ct);
    return Results.Ok(response);
})
    .WithName("GetOrder")
    .WithTags("orders")
    .Produces<Order>(StatusCodes.Status200OK);

Every generated route is also annotated with OpenAPI metadata for free, so it shows up correctly in Swagger UI / Microsoft.AspNetCore.OpenApi without any extra code:

.WithName(...) — derived from the request type name with its Command/Query suffix stripped (e.g. CreateOrderCommand → CreateOrder)
.WithSummary(...) — forwarded from the handler's Handle/HandleAsync XML doc <summary>, if present (requires <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile> — see XML doc comments and pipeline readability)
.WithTags(...) — the route's first path segment (e.g. /orders/{id} → "orders")
.Produces<T>(...) / .Produces(...) — the handler's actual result type and status code (200 OK with a body, or 204 No Content for Task/void handlers)
POST/PUT/PATCH bind the request type from the body ([FromBody]); GET/HEAD/DELETE bind it from the route/query string ([AsParameters]), matching standard ASP.NET Core minimal API conventions
Async handlers with a result return 200 OK with the response body; handlers with no result (Task/void) return 204 No Content
AD031 (error) if two [Endpoint]s map the same HTTP method + route; AD032 (warning) if [Endpoint] is applied to a type that no [Handler]/[CommandHandler]/[QueryHandler] actually dispatches
Nothing is generated at all unless the compilation references Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing (e.g. an ASP.NET Core project) — a class library with [Endpoint] attributes but no ASP.NET Core reference pays zero cost
See samples/AutoDispatch.MinimalApiSample for a complete, runnable ASP.NET Core project using this feature

Tracing (OpenTelemetry-compatible)

Every command/notification/stream dispatch can be wrapped in a System.Diagnostics.Activity from a generated "AutoDispatch" ActivitySource, without adding any dependency on OpenTelemetry itself:

builder.Services.AddAutoDispatch(o => o.EnableTracing = true);

Then subscribe from your OpenTelemetry SDK setup as you would any other ActivitySource:

builder.Services.AddOpenTelemetry().WithTracing(tracing =>
    tracing.AddSource(AutoDispatch.AutoDispatchTelemetry.ActivitySourceName));

With tracing enabled, IDispatcher resolves to a generated TracingDispatcher decorator that:

Starts one Activity per SendAsync/PublishAsync/StreamAsync call (named AutoDispatch.SendAsync, AutoDispatch.PublishAsync, AutoDispatch.StreamAsync), tagged with the short command/notification/query type name
Sets ActivityStatusCode.Error and an error.type tag if the call throws, then rethrows unchanged — tracing never changes behavior or swallows exceptions
For streams, keeps the Activity open for the whole enumeration and records an error status if any MoveNextAsync() call throws

Tracing is opt-in and pay-for-play: EnableTracing defaults to false, so the plain Dispatcher is registered and there is no decorator, no extra virtual call, and no Activity allocation unless you turn it on. Even when enabled, if nothing is listening to the "AutoDispatch" source, ActivitySource.StartActivity(...) returns null and every activity?. call below is a no-op — the cost is one extra method call on the hot path, not a full tracing pipeline.

Native AOT

AutoDispatch has no reflection, no Assembly.GetTypes() scanning, and no dynamic proxies anywhere in its generated output — every handler/behavior/DI registration is plain C# emitted at build time. That makes it fully compatible with Native AOT publishing out of the box.

See the samples/AutoDispatch.AotSample project for a minimal console app that:

Sets <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>, <EnableTrimAnalyzer>true</EnableTrimAnalyzer>, and <EnableAotAnalyzer>true</EnableAotAnalyzer>
Builds and publishes with zero trim/AOT analyzer warnings
Runs a command handler, a query handler, and a void command handler end-to-end through the generated IDispatcher

Pipeline behaviors

[Behavior(Order = N)] wraps all async handlers in a compile-time pipeline. Identical mental model to MediatR's IPipelineBehavior<,> — but the chain is emitted as generated code, not resolved via reflection at runtime.

Behavior requirements:

The behavior class must be public, non-abstract, and open-generic with exactly two type parameters
It must implement IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
It must expose public Task<TResult> HandleAsync(TCommand command, Func<Task<TResult>> next, CancellationToken ct = default)

Define a behavior

using AutoDispatch;

[Behavior(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
    : IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
{
    private readonly ILogger<LoggingBehavior<TCommand, TResult>> _logger;

    public LoggingBehavior(ILogger<LoggingBehavior<TCommand, TResult>> logger)
        => _logger = logger;

    public async Task<TResult> HandleAsync(
        TCommand command,
        Func<Task<TResult>> next,
        CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("→ {Command}", typeof(TCommand).Name);
        var result = await next();
        _logger.LogInformation("← {Command}", typeof(TCommand).Name);
        return result;
    }
}

That's all. AddAutoDispatch() registers it automatically.

Multiple behaviors

[Behavior(Order = 0)]  // runs first (outermost)
public sealed class LoggingBehavior<TCmd, TResult> : IPipelineBehavior<TCmd, TResult> { ... }

[Behavior(Order = 1)]  // runs second
public sealed class ValidationBehavior<TCmd, TResult> : IPipelineBehavior<TCmd, TResult> { ... }

[Behavior(Order = 2)]  // runs last (innermost, just before the handler)
public sealed class TimingBehavior<TCmd, TResult> : IPipelineBehavior<TCmd, TResult> { ... }

Execution order: Logging → Validation → Timing → Handler → Timing → Validation → Logging.

When multiple behaviors have the same Order, AutoDispatch preserves declaration order.

What gets generated

For Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand) with two behaviors:

// Generated dispatcher method:
public Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
{
    Func<Task<OrderId>> pipeline =
        () => _sp.GetRequiredService<CreateOrderHandler>().HandleAsync(command, ct);
    var _b1 = _sp.GetRequiredService<TimingBehavior<CreateOrderCommand, OrderId>>();
    var _p1 = pipeline;
    pipeline = () => _b1.HandleAsync(command, _p1, ct);
    var _b0 = _sp.GetRequiredService<LoggingBehavior<CreateOrderCommand, OrderId>>();
    var _p0 = pipeline;
    pipeline = () => _b0.HandleAsync(command, _p0, ct);
    return pipeline();
}

Behaviors and void-async handlers

For Task (no result) handlers, the generator wraps the call in Task<Unit> internally. Unit is emitted by the generator — you never reference it directly; the method signature stays Task SendAsync(...).

Behaviors can also short-circuit by returning a result without calling next().

Behaviors only apply to async handlers

Sync T Send(...) and void Send(...) methods are not wrapped. Add a pipeline when you migrate a sync handler to async, or keep it sync for zero overhead.

Constrained (scoped) behaviors

By default a [Behavior] (and [PreProcessor]/[PostProcessor]/[StreamBehavior]) applies to every command in the compilation. Add a generic constraint to the TCommand type parameter to scope it to only the commands that satisfy it — matching how MediatR users constrain a registered IPipelineBehavior<,> to a subset of requests:

public interface IAudited { }

public sealed record CreateOrderCommand : IAudited { ... }   // audited
public sealed record PingCommand { ... }                     // not audited

[Behavior(Order = 0)]
public sealed class AuditBehavior<TCommand, TResult> : IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
    where TCommand : IAudited
{
    public Task<TResult> HandleAsync(TCommand command, Func<Task<TResult>> next, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        // log an audit entry for `command` ...
        return next();
    }
}

AuditBehavior is only woven into CreateOrderCommand's generated SendAsync — PingCommand falls back to its normal dispatch (simple expression-bodied if no other pipeline steps apply) with no AuditBehavior reference at all, so it never pays for a pipeline it doesn't use. Constraint checking supports named interface/base-class constraints (the common case — marker interfaces like IAudited); a generic constraint type (e.g. IMarker<T>) isn't resolved yet and is treated as always-satisfied rather than silently dropping the behavior. If a constraint never matches any registered command/query at all — typically a typo — AutoDispatch reports AD027 so the mistake doesn't fail silently.

Notifications (publish/subscribe)

[Handler] gives you MediatR's Send (exactly one handler per command). [NotificationHandler] gives you the other half — MediatR's Publish: any number of handlers may subscribe to the same notification type, and every one of them runs when you publish it.

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed record OrderCreated(Guid OrderId);

[NotificationHandler]
public sealed class SendConfirmationEmail
{
    public Task HandleAsync(OrderCreated notification, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        // ...
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

[NotificationHandler]
public sealed class UpdateAnalytics
{
    public Task HandleAsync(OrderCreated notification, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        // ...
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

AddAutoDispatch() registers both handlers automatically, and IDispatcher gains a matching PublishAsync overload:

await dispatcher.PublishAsync(new OrderCreated(orderId), ct);
// runs SendConfirmationEmail.HandleAsync, then UpdateAnalytics.HandleAsync

Conventions

Only HandleAsync(TNotification notification, CancellationToken ct = default) is supported — notification handlers publish, they don't return a result, so plain Handle and Task<T>-returning methods are ignored
Unlike [Handler], multiple [NotificationHandler] classes may handle the same notification type — there is no AD002-style "duplicate handler" error
By default, handlers run sequentially, in deterministic order (by handler type name), awaiting each one before starting the next — matching MediatR's default ForeachAwaitPublisher behavior. If a handler throws, remaining handlers for that publish call do not run
Mark the notification type itself [ParallelPublish] to switch that notification to concurrent fan-out via Task.WhenAll instead — matching MediatR's opt-in TaskWhenAllPublisher. All handlers start immediately and are awaited together; every handler runs even if another one throws (a synchronous throw is safely converted to a faulted task so it doesn't skip the rest), and failures surface once every handler has finished
[NotificationHandler(Lifetime = HandlerLifetime.Singleton)] (or Transient) works the same way as it does on [Handler]
Pipeline [Behavior]s apply only to command/query dispatch (Send/SendAsync). To wrap PublishAsync itself, use notification pipeline behaviors instead

Parallel publish

Only opt in when handlers for a notification are independent of one another and safe to run concurrently (no shared mutable state, no ordering assumptions between handlers):

using AutoDispatch;

[ParallelPublish]
public sealed record OrderCreated(Guid OrderId);

[NotificationHandler]
public sealed class SendConfirmationEmail
{
    public Task HandleAsync(OrderCreated notification, CancellationToken ct = default) => /* ... */ Task.CompletedTask;
}

[NotificationHandler]
public sealed class UpdateAnalytics
{
    public Task HandleAsync(OrderCreated notification, CancellationToken ct = default) => /* ... */ Task.CompletedTask;
}

// SendConfirmationEmail and UpdateAnalytics now both start immediately and run concurrently
await dispatcher.PublishAsync(new OrderCreated(orderId), ct);

Notification pipeline behaviors

[Behavior] wraps a single command's handler call. [NotificationBehavior] is its Publish-side counterpart — it wraps the entire fan-out for a notification type (every subscribed handler, whether sequential or [ParallelPublish]) in one Func<Task>-based pipeline. There is no MediatR equivalent for this: MediatR's IPipelineBehavior<,> only wraps Send, never Publish.

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed record OrderCreated(Guid OrderId);

[NotificationBehavior(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingNotificationBehavior<TNotification> : INotificationPipelineBehavior<TNotification>
{
    private readonly ILogger<LoggingNotificationBehavior<TNotification>> _logger;

    public LoggingNotificationBehavior(ILogger<LoggingNotificationBehavior<TNotification>> logger) => _logger = logger;

    public async Task HandleAsync(TNotification notification, Func<Task> next, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Publishing {Notification}", typeof(TNotification).Name);
        await next();
        _logger.LogInformation("Published {Notification}", typeof(TNotification).Name);
    }
}

Every PublishAsync(OrderCreated, ...) call — sequential or [ParallelPublish] — now runs inside this behavior. Register any number of them; like [Behavior], they compose by Order (ties broken by declaration order), and a behavior can call next() zero, one, or multiple times, or not at all to short-circuit the entire publish.

Conventions

Must be a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly one type parameter (TNotification)
Must implement INotificationPipelineBehavior<TNotification> using its own type parameter (AD029 otherwise)
Must declare public Task HandleAsync(TNotification notification, Func<Task> next, CancellationToken ct = default) (AD030 otherwise)
Applies to every notification type in the compilation — there is currently no constrained/scoped variant (unlike [Behavior]); this may be added in a future release
AddAutoDispatch() registers each [NotificationBehavior] type as an open generic, the same way [Behavior] is registered
No codegen change to PublishAsync at all when no [NotificationBehavior] is registered

Streaming queries

MediatR's IStreamRequest<TResponse> has no zero-reflection equivalent in most alternatives — [StreamHandler] closes that gap. Mark a class [StreamHandler] with a public IAsyncEnumerable<TResult> HandleAsync(TQuery query, CancellationToken ct = default) method, and AutoDispatch generates a matching StreamAsync method on IDispatcher that returns the handler's async stream directly — no buffering, no intermediate list, items are produced lazily as your handler yields them.

using AutoDispatch;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

public sealed record GetOrdersQuery(string CustomerId);
public sealed record OrderSummary(string OrderId, decimal Total);

[StreamHandler]
public sealed class GetOrdersHandler
{
    public async IAsyncEnumerable<OrderSummary> HandleAsync(
        GetOrdersQuery query,
        [EnumeratorCancellation] CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        await foreach (var order in _repository.StreamOrdersAsync(query.CustomerId, ct))
        {
            yield return new OrderSummary(order.Id, order.Total);
        }
    }
}

await foreach (var summary in dispatcher.StreamAsync(new GetOrdersQuery(customerId), ct))
{
    // process each item as it arrives — no need to wait for the full result set
}

Conventions

Like [Handler], streaming is request/response — exactly one [StreamHandler] is allowed per query type; a second handler for the same query type reports AD010, same spirit as AD002 for commands
Only HandleAsync(TQuery query, CancellationToken ct = default) returning IAsyncEnumerable<TResult> is recognized; methods returning Task/Task<T> belong on a [Handler], not a [StreamHandler]
AddAutoDispatch() registers stream handlers the same way as command/notification handlers, honoring [StreamHandler(Lifetime = ...)]
[Behavior] (the command pipeline) does not apply to StreamAsync — use [StreamBehavior] instead (below) to wrap streaming queries

Stream pipeline behaviors

Streams get their own pipeline, matching MediatR's IStreamPipelineBehavior<TRequest, TResponse>. Declare a public, open generic class with exactly two type parameters implementing IStreamPipelineBehavior<TQuery, TResult>, and AutoDispatch wraps every generated StreamAsync call with it — in Order order (ascending, outermost first), same ordering rules as [Behavior]. Unlike command behaviors (which wrap a Task<TResult>), next() here returns IAsyncEnumerable<TResult> directly, so a stream behavior is typically itself an async iterator that forwards (or filters/transforms) items as they arrive:

using AutoDispatch;
using System.Collections.Generic;

[StreamBehavior(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingStreamBehavior<TQuery, TResult> : IStreamPipelineBehavior<TQuery, TResult>
{
    public async IAsyncEnumerable<TResult> HandleAsync(
        TQuery query,
        Func<IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>> next,
        CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Streaming {Query}", query);
        await foreach (var item in next().WithCancellation(ct))
        {
            yield return item;
        }
    }
}

With no [StreamBehavior]s registered, StreamAsync delegates directly to the handler exactly as before (no wrapping overhead). Once one or more are registered, AutoDispatch builds a lazy chain of Func<IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>> calls — nothing runs until the caller actually enumerates the result, matching the handler's own laziness.

Exception handling

Matching MediatR's IRequestExceptionHandler<TRequest, TResponse, TException>, you can register typed handlers that intercept an exception thrown by a command/query handler (or by any [Behavior] in its pipeline) and either supply a fallback response or let it keep propagating. Declare a public, open generic class with exactly two type parameters (TCommand, TResult) implementing IExceptionHandler<TCommand, TResult, TException> for one fixed, concrete exception type:

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed class ValidationException : Exception { }

[ExceptionHandler(Order = 0)]
public sealed class ValidationExceptionHandler<TCommand, TResult> : IExceptionHandler<TCommand, TResult, ValidationException>
{
    public Task<ExceptionHandlerResult<TResult>> HandleAsync(TCommand command, ValidationException exception, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogWarning(exception, "Validation failed for {Command}", command);

        // Return a fallback response instead of letting the exception propagate:
        return Task.FromResult(ExceptionHandlerResult<TResult>.Handled(default!));

        // Or let it keep propagating (e.g. to the next applicable handler, or to the caller):
        // return Task.FromResult(ExceptionHandlerResult<TResult>.Unhandled());
    }
}

Conventions:

With no [ExceptionHandler]s registered, dispatch codegen is byte-for-byte unchanged from earlier versions — no try/catch, no async overhead added.
Once one or more are registered, every async command/query dispatch method (with or without [Behavior]s) is wrapped in a try/catch per distinct exception type.
Multiple handlers may target unrelated or related exception types; catch clauses are always generated most-derived exception type first (so a handler for Exception never shadows one for ValidationException), then by Order (ascending), then by declaration order — this also matches how ordinary C# catch blocks must be ordered to compile.
If a handler returns Unhandled(), the exception is rethrown so the next applicable handler (or the caller) sees it, exactly like MediatR's behavior when no handler sets state.Handled.

Exception actions

Matching MediatR's IRequestExceptionAction<TRequest, TException>, you can also register side-effect-only observers that always run when a matching exception is thrown — they cannot suppress the exception or supply a fallback response, unlike [ExceptionHandler]. This is the right tool for logging, metrics, or alerting that must fire regardless of whether some other handler ultimately recovers. Declare a public, open generic class with exactly one type parameter (TCommand) implementing IExceptionAction<TCommand, TException> for one fixed, concrete exception type:

using AutoDispatch;

[ExceptionAction(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingExceptionAction<TCommand> : IExceptionAction<TCommand, ValidationException>
{
    public Task ExecuteAsync(TCommand command, ValidationException exception, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogWarning(exception, "Validation failed for {Command}", command);
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

Conventions:

Actions and handlers for the same exception type share the same generated catch block; within it, all matching actions run first (in Order), then the matching handlers run — mirroring MediatR's pipeline where IRequestExceptionAction always executes before IRequestExceptionHandler gets a chance to short-circuit.
Actions run even when no [ExceptionHandler] is registered for the exception type at all — the exception is rethrown afterward via throw;, preserving the original stack trace.
Catch-block ordering (most-derived exception type first) is computed across both actions and handlers together, so mixing the two for overlapping exception hierarchies still produces valid, correctly-ordered C#.

Request pre/post-processors

Matching MediatR's IRequestPreProcessor<TRequest> and IRequestPostProcessor<TRequest, TResponse>, you can register processors that always run immediately before or after a command/query handler executes — without writing a full [Behavior] (which requires calling a next() delegate yourself). Pre/post-processors sit as the innermost step of the pipeline, running directly around the handler call, inside any custom [Behavior]s:

using AutoDispatch;

[PreProcessor(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingPreProcessor<TCommand> : IPreProcessor<TCommand>
{
    public Task ProcessAsync(TCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Handling {Command}", command);
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

[PostProcessor(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingPostProcessor<TCommand, TResult> : IPostProcessor<TCommand, TResult>
{
    public Task ProcessAsync(TCommand command, TResult response, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("Handled {Command} -> {Response}", command, response);
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

Conventions:

[PreProcessor] is a public, open generic class with exactly one type parameter (TCommand) implementing IPreProcessor<TCommand>; [PostProcessor] has exactly two (TCommand, TResult) implementing IPostProcessor<TCommand, TResult> — both are fully open (unlike [ExceptionHandler]/ [ExceptionAction], there's no fixed exception type to validate).
All matching pre-processors run first (in Order), then the handler, then all matching post-processors (in Order, receiving the handler's response) — for void-async handlers the response is Unit.Value.
With no [PreProcessor]/[PostProcessor]s registered, dispatch codegen is unchanged.

Automatic FluentValidation integration

If your project references FluentValidation, AutoDispatch automatically wires validation into every async command's pipeline — no attribute, base class, or manual registration required on the command or the validator:

using FluentValidation;

public sealed class CreateOrderCommandValidator : AbstractValidator<CreateOrderCommand>
{
    public CreateOrderCommandValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(c => c.CustomerId).NotEmpty();
        RuleFor(c => c.Quantity).GreaterThan(0);
    }
}

That's it — no [PreProcessor], no services.AddScoped<IValidator<...>, ...>(), no AddValidatorsFromAssembly. As soon as FluentValidation is referenced:

Every AbstractValidator<T>/IValidator<T> implementation found anywhere in the compilation is auto-registered in DI as IValidator<T>.
A single generated open-generic pre-processor (AutoDispatchValidationPreProcessor<TCommand>) runs first, before any other [PreProcessor]/[Behavior], resolving every registered IValidator<TCommand> for the command being dispatched and throwing FluentValidation's own ValidationException on the first failure.
Commands with no matching validator pay only a single empty-enumerable iteration — effectively free.
Like other pre-processors, this only applies to async handlers (Handle/HandleAsync returning Task/Task<T>); synchronous handlers are unaffected.
Without a FluentValidation reference, nothing changes — no extra generated code, no extra DI registrations, exactly the same output as before this feature existed.

Result pattern

Return Task<Result> or Task<Result<T>> from a handler to represent expected/business failures as data instead of exceptions — a pattern MediatR has no built-in support for at all:

using AutoDispatch;

public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId);
public sealed record Order(Guid Id, string CustomerId);

[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    public Task<Result<Order>> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(command.CustomerId))
        {
            return Task.FromResult(Result<Order>.Fail("CustomerId is required.", code: "invalid_customer"));
        }

        return Task.FromResult(Result<Order>.Success(new Order(Guid.NewGuid(), command.CustomerId)));
    }
}

var result = await dispatcher.SendAsync(new CreateOrderCommand(customerId));
if (result.IsSuccess)
{
    return Results.Ok(result.Value);
}

return Results.BadRequest(result.Errors.Select(e => e.Message));

The real payoff, though, is automatic exception-to-Result conversion: whenever a dispatch method's result type is Result/Result<T>, AutoDispatch wraps it in a try/catch and converts any unhandled exception — thrown by the handler itself, a [Behavior], a [PreProcessor], or even the automatic FluentValidation pre-processor's ValidationException — into Result.Fail(...) /Result<T>.Fail(...) automatically. You never need a manual try/catch at the call site, and a FluentValidation NotEmpty()/GreaterThan(0) failure surfaces as an ordinary failed Result with zero extra code:

[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    // A FluentValidation validator for CreateOrderCommand can throw ValidationException here
    // (via the automatic pre-processor) -- it becomes Result<Order>.Fail(ex.Message), not an
    // unhandled exception.
    public Task<Result<Order>> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult(Result<Order>.Success(new Order(Guid.NewGuid(), command.CustomerId)));
}

Conventions:

[ExceptionHandler]s for specific exception types still run first and take priority — the automatic catch (Exception) that produces a failed Result is always the innermost/last catch clause, so a more specific handler that returns Handled(...) short-circuits before the automatic conversion ever runs.
Result<T> has an implicit conversion from T, so a handler can return value; directly in contexts that support it.
This only applies to async handlers, matching every other pipeline feature.
Handlers that don't return Result/Result<T> are completely unaffected — this is entirely opt-in per handler, based purely on its declared return type.

Pipeline visualization (Mermaid diagrams)

Every generated dispatch pipeline — commands, queries, and notifications, including any [Behavior]/[PreProcessor]/[PostProcessor]/exception middleware attached to it — is also rendered as a Mermaid flowchart and exposed at compile time via a generated AutoDispatchPipelineDiagrams static class:

// Paste straight into https://mermaid.live or any Mermaid-aware Markdown viewer
string diagram = AutoDispatchPipelineDiagrams.ByRequestType["CreateOrderCommand"];

// Or get every pipeline in the project combined into one flowchart
string everything = AutoDispatchPipelineDiagrams.All;

This is purely descriptive (a dictionary of strings with zero runtime cost beyond the constant allocation) — a handy way to document exactly what happens, and in what order, for a given command/query/notification without reading generated code, and a nice fit for pasting into ADRs, onboarding docs, or PR descriptions when adding a new behavior to a pipeline.

Diagnostics

Code	Severity	Description
AD001	Warning	`[Handler]` on a class with no valid `Handle`/`HandleAsync` methods
AD002	Error	Duplicate handlers discovered for the same command type
AD003	Warning	`HandleAsync` does not accept `CancellationToken`
AD004	Error	`[Behavior]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly two type parameters
AD005	Error	`[Behavior]` type does not implement `IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult>`
AD006	Error	`[Behavior]` type does not expose a valid public `HandleAsync` method
AD007	Warning	`[NotificationHandler]` on a class with no valid `HandleAsync(TNotification, CancellationToken)` method
AD008	Warning	Notification `HandleAsync` does not accept `CancellationToken`
AD009	Warning	`[StreamHandler]` on a class with no valid `HandleAsync(TQuery, CancellationToken)` method returning `IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>`
AD010	Error	Duplicate stream handlers discovered for the same query type
AD011	Warning	Stream `HandleAsync` does not accept `CancellationToken`
AD012	Error	`[StreamBehavior]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly two type parameters
AD013	Error	`[StreamBehavior]` type does not implement `IStreamPipelineBehavior<TQuery, TResult>`
AD014	Error	`[StreamBehavior]` type does not expose a valid public `HandleAsync` method
AD015	Error	`[ExceptionHandler]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly two type parameters
AD016	Error	`[ExceptionHandler]` type does not implement `IExceptionHandler<TCommand, TResult, TException>` for a fixed exception type
AD017	Error	`[ExceptionHandler]` type does not expose a valid public `HandleAsync` method
AD018	Error	`[ExceptionAction]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly one type parameter
AD019	Error	`[ExceptionAction]` type does not implement `IExceptionAction<TCommand, TException>` for a fixed exception type
AD020	Error	`[ExceptionAction]` type does not expose a valid public `ExecuteAsync` method
AD021	Error	`[PreProcessor]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly one type parameter
AD022	Error	`[PreProcessor]` type does not implement `IPreProcessor<TCommand>`
AD023	Error	`[PreProcessor]` type does not expose a valid public `ProcessAsync` method
AD024	Error	`[PostProcessor]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly two type parameters
AD025	Error	`[PostProcessor]` type does not implement `IPostProcessor<TCommand, TResult>`
AD026	Error	`[PostProcessor]` type does not expose a valid public `ProcessAsync` method
AD027	Warning	A constrained `[Behavior]`/`[PreProcessor]`/`[PostProcessor]`/`[StreamBehavior]`'s constraint doesn't match any registered command/query — it will never run
AD028	Error	`[NotificationBehavior]` type is not a public, non-abstract open generic class with exactly one type parameter
AD029	Error	`[NotificationBehavior]` type does not implement `INotificationPipelineBehavior<TNotification>`
AD030	Error	`[NotificationBehavior]` type does not expose a valid public `HandleAsync` method
AD031	Error	Two `[Endpoint]` declarations map the same HTTP method + route
AD032	Warning	`[Endpoint]` is applied to a type that no `[Handler]`/`[CommandHandler]`/`[QueryHandler]` actually dispatches

AD001

[Handler] on '{Type}' has no Handle or HandleAsync methods. No dispatch methods will be generated.

Add a valid Handle or HandleAsync method to the handler class.

AD002

Duplicate handler for command '{Command}': both '{HandlerA}' and '{HandlerB}' define a Handle/HandleAsync method for this command type. Remove one handler or rename the method.

Each command/query type must map to exactly one handler method.

AD003

HandleAsync on '{Handler}' for command '{Command}' is missing a CancellationToken parameter. Consider adding CancellationToken ct = default as the second parameter.`

The method still works; the warning helps you preserve cancellation flow.

AD004

[Behavior] on '{Type}' must be a public, non-abstract class with exactly two type parameters so AutoDispatch can close it as <TCommand, TResult>.`

Pipeline behaviors are resolved as closed generics at dispatch time, so [Behavior] types must be declared as open generic classes such as LoggingBehavior<TCommand, TResult>.

AD005

[Behavior] on '{Type}' must implement AutoDispatch.IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult> using its declared type parameters.`

Implement the generated IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult> interface directly on the behavior type.

AD006

[Behavior] on '{Type}' must declare public Task<TResult> HandleAsync(TCommand command, Func<Task<TResult>> next, CancellationToken ct = default).`

Explicit interface implementations are not enough — the generated dispatcher calls the behavior's public HandleAsync method directly.

AD007

[NotificationHandler] on '{Type}' has no HandleAsync(TNotification, CancellationToken) method. No publish dispatch will be generated for this handler.`

Add a valid HandleAsync(TNotification notification, CancellationToken ct = default) method that returns Task.

AD008

HandleAsync on '{Handler}' for notification '{Notification}' is missing a CancellationToken parameter. Consider adding CancellationToken ct = default as the second parameter.`

The method still works; the warning helps you preserve cancellation flow through PublishAsync.

AD009

[StreamHandler] on '{Type}' has no HandleAsync(TQuery, CancellationToken) method returning IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>. No streaming dispatch will be generated.`

Add a valid HandleAsync(TQuery query, CancellationToken ct = default) method that returns IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>.

AD010

Duplicate stream handler for query '{Query}': both '{HandlerA}' and '{HandlerB}' define a HandleAsync stream method for this query type. Remove one handler or rename the method.

Each query type must map to exactly one stream handler, just like commands.

AD011

HandleAsync on '{Handler}' for query '{Query}' is missing a CancellationToken parameter. Consider adding CancellationToken ct = default as the second parameter.`

The method still works; the warning helps you preserve cancellation flow through StreamAsync.

AD012

[StreamBehavior] on '{Type}' must be a public, non-abstract class with exactly two type parameters so AutoDispatch can close it as <TQuery, TResult>.`

Stream pipeline behaviors are resolved as closed generics at dispatch time, so [StreamBehavior] types must be declared as open generic classes such as LoggingStreamBehavior<TQuery, TResult>.

AD013

[StreamBehavior] on '{Type}' must implement AutoDispatch.IStreamPipelineBehavior<TQuery, TResult> using its declared type parameters.`

Implement the generated IStreamPipelineBehavior<TQuery, TResult> interface directly on the behavior type.

AD014

[StreamBehavior] on '{Type}' must declare public IAsyncEnumerable<TResult> HandleAsync(TQuery query, Func<IAsyncEnumerable<TResult>> next, CancellationToken ct = default).`

Explicit interface implementations are not enough — the generated dispatcher calls the behavior's public HandleAsync method directly.

XML doc comments and pipeline readability

Doc comments on Handle/HandleAsync methods are forwarded to the generated IDispatcher member automatically (and, if you use minimal API endpoint generation, to the generated route's .WithSummary(...) too). This requires <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile> in your project — without it, the C# compiler discards doc comment trivia entirely and there is nothing for AutoDispatch to forward.

[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    /// <summary>Creates an order for the given customer.</summary>
    public Task<OrderId> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult(new OrderId(Guid.NewGuid()));
}

generates:

public interface IDispatcher
{
    /// <summary>Creates an order for the given customer.</summary>
    Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default);
}

Generated async dispatch methods that go through a behavior pipeline are also annotated with a comment showing the execution order, so you never have to guess:

// Pipeline: LoggingBehavior -> ValidationBehavior -> CreateOrderHandler.HandleAsync -> LoggingBehavior -> ValidationBehavior
public Task<OrderId> SendAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
{
    ...
}

IDE code fixes

AutoDispatch.CodeFixes ships inside the AutoDispatch.Generator package and adds one-click fixes:

Diagnostic	Quick fix
AD001	Adds a `HandleAsync` stub method to a `[Handler]` class with none
AD003	Adds the missing `CancellationToken ct = default` parameter
AD007	Adds a `HandleAsync` stub method to a `[NotificationHandler]` class with none
AD008	Adds the missing `CancellationToken ct = default` parameter to a notification `HandleAsync`
AD009	Adds a `HandleAsync` stub method to a `[StreamHandler]` class with none
AD011	Adds the missing `CancellationToken ct = default` parameter to a stream `HandleAsync`
AD100	Converts a MediatR `IRequestHandler<,>`/`IRequestHandler<>` class to `[Handler]` — see Migrating from MediatR
AD101	Converts a MediatR `INotificationHandler<>` class to `[NotificationHandler]` — see Migrating from MediatR

Automatic MediatR migration hints (AD100/AD101)

You don't have to convert an existing MediatR codebase by hand. As soon as AutoDispatch.Generator is installed alongside MediatR, it detects any class still implementing MediatR's IRequestHandler<,>, IRequestHandler<>, or INotificationHandler<> and reports an IDE suggestion (AD100/AD101, Info severity — never breaks your build) with a one-click "Convert to AutoDispatch [Handler]" / "Convert to AutoDispatch [NotificationHandler]" fix that:

Adds the [Handler]/[NotificationHandler] attribute
Removes the MediatR interface from the class's base list
Renames MediatR's Handle method to AutoDispatch's HandleAsync convention (parameters, including the existing CancellationToken, are left untouched)

This costs nothing in projects that don't reference MediatR at all — the analyzer looks up MediatR's interfaces by fully-qualified name and skips all further work for the whole compilation if they aren't found. Combined with Ctrl+. → Fix all occurrences in Solution, an entire MediatR-based codebase's handlers can be converted in a couple of clicks; see Migrating from MediatR for the remaining manual steps (pipeline behaviors, DI registration, and call sites).

Testing handlers and behaviors

The AutoDispatch.Testing package makes it easy to unit test handlers and [Behavior] chains without a DI container:

dotnet add package AutoDispatch.Testing

// FakeServiceProvider — a minimal IServiceProvider for constructing the generated Dispatcher
var sp = new FakeServiceProvider().Add(new CreateOrderHandler());
IDispatcher dispatcher = new Dispatcher(sp);
var orderId = await dispatcher.SendAsync(new CreateOrderCommand("cust-1"));

// PipelineTestHarness — test a behavior in isolation, short-circuiting next()
var result = await PipelineTestHarness.InvokeAsync<CreateOrderCommand, OrderId>(
    loggingBehavior.HandleAsync,
    command,
    nextResult: expectedOrderId);

See the AutoDispatch.Testing README for more.

Scaffolding with dotnet new

dotnet new install AutoDispatch.Templates
dotnet new autodispatch-handler -n CreateOrder --namespace MyApp.Orders
dotnet new autodispatch-notification -n OrderCreated --namespace MyApp.Orders
dotnet new autodispatch-stream -n GetOrders --namespace MyApp.Orders

Generates a ready-to-fill CreateOrderCommand.cs with the command record and [Handler] class, OrderCreatedNotification.cs with the notification record and [NotificationHandler] class, or GetOrdersQuery.cs with the query record and [StreamHandler] class.

AutoDispatch vs alternatives

Approach	Boilerplate	Runtime dispatch	Pipeline behaviors	Notifications (publish)	Streaming queries	Compile-time safety	AOT
AutoDispatch	Low	None	Compile-time generated, with typed `[ExceptionHandler]`s	✅ (fan-out, sequential or `[ParallelPublish]`)	✅ (`IAsyncEnumerable<T>` + pipeline)	High	✅
MediatR	Medium	Yes	Runtime reflection, with `IRequestExceptionHandler<,,>`	✅	✅	High	⚠️
Raw service calls	Low	None	Manual	Manual	Manual	High	✅

Benchmarks

BenchmarkDotNet results comparing the generated IDispatcher against MediatR's IMediator, for a single no-op command handler, a notification fanned out to two no-op handlers, and a 10-item stream fully enumerated:

Method	Mean	Ratio	Allocated	Alloc Ratio
AutoDispatch_SendAsync	16.36 ns	1.00	96 B	1.00
MediatR_Send	69.66 ns	4.26	288 B	3.00
AutoDispatch_PublishAsync	30.13 ns	1.84	24 B	0.25
MediatR_Publish	106.47 ns	6.51	464 B	4.83
AutoDispatch_StreamAsync	172.46 ns	10.54	144 B	1.50
MediatR_CreateStream	435.03 ns	26.60	536 B	5.58

SendAsync is ~4x faster, 3x fewer allocations. PublishAsync fanning out to two handlers is ~3.5x faster and allocates ~19x less. StreamAsync fully enumerating a 10-item stream is ~2.5x faster and allocates ~3.7x less — no reflection-based handler lookup, no runtime-built pipeline, publisher, or stream wrapper. Run it yourself with dotnet run -c Release in benchmarks/AutoDispatch.Benchmarks.

A separate benchmark measures a full pipeline — two behaviors plus a pre-processor and a post-processor wrapping the handler — instead of a bare no-op dispatch:

Method	Mean	Ratio	Allocated	Alloc Ratio
AutoDispatch_SendAsync_FullPipeline	173.9 ns	1.00	432 B	1.00
MediatR_Send_FullPipeline	313.9 ns	1.81	1280 B	2.96

Even fully wired up with behaviors and pre/post-processors on both sides, AutoDispatch is still ~1.8x faster and allocates ~3x less than MediatR's equivalent runtime pipeline.

Migrating from MediatR

AutoDispatch follows the same CQRS mental model as MediatR, so migration is mechanical.

Tip: Steps 2 and 3 below (removing marker interfaces, renaming Handle to HandleAsync, swapping in [Handler]/[NotificationHandler]) can be done automatically. Add AutoDispatch.Generator to a project that still references MediatR and it will surface an AD100/AD101 suggestion with a one-click fix on every handler — see Automatic MediatR migration hints. Steps 1, 4, 5, and 6 (removing the MediatR package, converting pipeline behaviors, DI registration, and call sites) are still manual.

1. Install AutoDispatch and remove MediatR

dotnet add package AutoDispatch.Generator
dotnet remove package MediatR
dotnet remove package MediatR.Extensions.Microsoft.DependencyInjection

2. Remove marker interfaces from commands

// Before
public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId) : IRequest<OrderId>;

// After
public sealed record CreateOrderCommand(string CustomerId);

3. Convert handler classes

// Before
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler : IRequestHandler<CreateOrderCommand, OrderId>
{
    public Task<OrderId> Handle(CreateOrderCommand request, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
        => Task.FromResult(new OrderId(Guid.NewGuid()));
}

// After
[Handler]
public sealed class CreateOrderHandler
{
    public Task<OrderId> HandleAsync(CreateOrderCommand command, CancellationToken ct = default)
        => Task.FromResult(new OrderId(Guid.NewGuid()));
}

4. Convert pipeline behaviors

// Before
public sealed class LoggingBehavior<TRequest, TResponse>
    : IPipelineBehavior<TRequest, TResponse> where TRequest : notnull
{
    public async Task<TResponse> Handle(TRequest request, RequestHandlerDelegate<TResponse> next, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("→ {Request}", typeof(TRequest).Name);
        var result = await next();
        _logger.LogInformation("← {Request}", typeof(TRequest).Name);
        return result;
    }
}

// After
[Behavior(Order = 0)]
public sealed class LoggingBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
    : IPipelineBehavior<TCommand, TResult>
{
    public async Task<TResult> HandleAsync(TCommand command, Func<Task<TResult>> next, CancellationToken ct = default)
    {
        _logger.LogInformation("→ {Command}", typeof(TCommand).Name);
        var result = await next();
        _logger.LogInformation("← {Command}", typeof(TCommand).Name);
        return result;
    }
}

5. Update DI registration

// Before
builder.Services.AddMediatR(cfg => cfg.RegisterServicesFromAssemblyContaining<Program>());

// After
builder.Services.AddAutoDispatch();

6. Update dispatch call sites

// Before (IMediator)
var orderId = await mediator.Send(new CreateOrderCommand(customerId), ct);

// After (IDispatcher)
var orderId = await dispatcher.SendAsync(new CreateOrderCommand(customerId), ct);

Tip: Use the AutoDispatch Migrator Copilot agent to automate the migration across your entire codebase.

Best fit

Use AutoDispatch when you want:

CQRS-style organization without MediatR ceremony
Build-time generated dispatch code
Fast startup and predictable runtime behavior
Plain C# command/query types with no framework coupling

Also by the same author

🌐 Full suite overview: swevo.github.io

Package	Description
AutoWire	Compile-time DI auto-registration for `Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection`.
AutoMap.Generator	Compile-time object mapping with generated extension methods.
AutoValidate.Generator	Compile-time validator discovery and registration.
AutoResult.Generator	Compile-time result helpers and `Try*()` wrappers.
AutoQuery.Generator	Compile-time query specifications for LINQ-based filtering.
AutoLog.Generator	Compile-time high-performance logging — `[Log(Level, Message)]` on a partial method generates `LoggerMessage.Define`. AOT-safe.
AutoHttpClient.Generator	Compile-time typed HTTP client — `[HttpClient]` on an interface generates a strongly-typed client. AOT-safe Refit alternative.

Related Packages

Package	Downloads	Description
AutoWire		Compile-time dependency injection auto-registration for
AutoMap.Generator		Compile-time object mapping for
AutoQuery.Generator		Compile-time query composition for IQueryable using Roslyn incremental source generators
AutoArchitecture		Compile-time architecture/dependency-rule enforcement for
AutoHttpClient.Generator		Compile-time typed HTTP client generation for
AutoLog.Generator		Compile-time high-performance logging for
AutoValidate.Generator		Compile-time FluentValidation wiring for

License

MIT

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
.github		.github
benchmarks		benchmarks
docs		docs
samples		samples
src		src
templates/AutoDispatch.Templates		templates/AutoDispatch.Templates
tests/AutoDispatch.Tests		tests/AutoDispatch.Tests
.gitignore		.gitignore
AutoDispatch.slnx		AutoDispatch.slnx
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
icon.png		icon.png

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AutoDispatch.Generator

Why AutoDispatch?

Installation

Before vs After

MediatR-style boilerplate

AutoDispatch

What gets generated

Conventions

Semantic aliases

Usage

Generated DI registration

Minimal API endpoint generation

Tracing (OpenTelemetry-compatible)

Native AOT

Pipeline behaviors

Define a behavior

Multiple behaviors

What gets generated

Behaviors and void-async handlers

Behaviors only apply to async handlers

Constrained (scoped) behaviors

Notifications (publish/subscribe)

Conventions

Parallel publish

Notification pipeline behaviors

Conventions

Streaming queries

Conventions

Stream pipeline behaviors

Exception handling

Exception actions

Request pre/post-processors

Automatic FluentValidation integration

Result pattern

Pipeline visualization (Mermaid diagrams)

Diagnostics

AD001

AD002

AD003

AD004

AD005

AD006

AD007

AD008

AD009

AD010

AD011

AD012

AD013

AD014

XML doc comments and pipeline readability

IDE code fixes

Automatic MediatR migration hints (AD100/AD101)

Testing handlers and behaviors

Scaffolding with dotnet new

AutoDispatch vs alternatives

Benchmarks

Migrating from MediatR

1. Install AutoDispatch and remove MediatR

2. Remove marker interfaces from commands

3. Convert handler classes

4. Convert pipeline behaviors

5. Update DI registration

6. Update dispatch call sites

Best fit

Also by the same author

Related Packages

License

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