Message Context

The message context carries metadata through the pipeline, enabling correlation, multi-tenancy, and custom data propagation.

Why Should I Care?

Without message context, every handler needs to manually thread correlation IDs, tenant info, and user identity through method parameters. Message context solves this by providing a per-request ambient bag that all middleware and handlers can read and write -- similar to HttpContext in ASP.NET Core but for any dispatch pipeline (HTTP, queue, background job).

Before You Start

• .NET 8.0+ (or .NET 9/10 for latest features)
• Install the required package:

  dotnet add package Excalibur.Dispatch

• Familiarity with actions and handlers and pipeline concepts

What is Message Context?

Every message dispatch has an associated IMessageContext that flows through the pipeline. It contains:

• MessageId - Unique identifier for this message
• CorrelationId - Unique identifier linking related operations
• CausationId - ID of the operation that caused this one
• Items - Key-value store for transport-specific and custom data
• Features - Typed feature collection for cross-cutting concerns (identity, routing, processing state, etc.)

Accessing Context

In Handlers

Use IMessageContextAccessor to access the current context:

using Excalibur.Dispatch.Abstractions;
using Excalibur.Dispatch.Abstractions.Features;

public class CreateOrderHandler : IActionHandler<CreateOrderAction>
{
    private readonly IMessageContextAccessor _contextAccessor;

    public CreateOrderHandler(IMessageContextAccessor contextAccessor)
    {
        _contextAccessor = contextAccessor;
    }

    public async Task HandleAsync(CreateOrderAction action, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        var context = _contextAccessor.MessageContext;

        // Core property (direct on interface)
        var correlationId = context.CorrelationId;

        // Cross-cutting concerns via feature extensions
        var tenantId = context.GetTenantId();
        var userId = context.GetUserId();

        // Use in logging
        _logger.LogInformation(
            "Processing order for tenant {TenantId} with correlation {CorrelationId}",
            tenantId,
            correlationId);
    }
}

In Middleware

Middleware receives context directly:

public class LoggingMiddleware : IDispatchMiddleware
{
    private readonly ILogger<LoggingMiddleware> _logger;

    public LoggingMiddleware(ILogger<LoggingMiddleware> logger)
    {
        _logger = logger;
    }

    public DispatchMiddlewareStage? Stage => DispatchMiddlewareStage.Processing;

    public async ValueTask<IMessageResult> InvokeAsync(
        IDispatchMessage message,
        IMessageContext context,
        DispatchRequestDelegate nextDelegate,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        var correlationId = context.CorrelationId;

        _logger.LogInformation(
            "[{CorrelationId}] Handling {MessageType}",
            correlationId,
            message.GetType().Name);

        return await nextDelegate(message, context, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Core Properties vs Features

IMessageContext has 8 core properties plus a typed Features dictionary for cross-cutting concerns:

Core Properties (Direct on Interface)

Property	Type	Purpose
MessageId	string?	Unique message identifier
CorrelationId	string?	Links related operations
CausationId	string?	Links to causing message
Message	IDispatchMessage?	The message payload
Result	object?	Handler result
RequestServices	IServiceProvider	Scoped DI container
Items	IDictionary<string, object>	Transport metadata and custom data
Features	IDictionary<Type, object>	Typed feature collection

Feature Interfaces

Cross-cutting concerns are accessed via typed feature interfaces:

Feature	Properties	Use Case
IMessageIdentityFeature	UserId, TenantId, SessionId, WorkflowId, ExternalId, TraceParent	Identity and multi-tenancy
IMessageProcessingFeature	ProcessingAttempts, IsRetry, FirstAttemptTime, DeliveryCount	Retry and delivery tracking
IMessageValidationFeature	ValidationPassed, ValidationTimestamp	Validation state
IMessageTimeoutFeature	TimeoutExceeded, TimeoutElapsed	Timeout tracking
IMessageRateLimitFeature	RateLimitExceeded, RateLimitRetryAfter	Rate limiting
IMessageRoutingFeature	RoutingDecision, PartitionKey, Source	Routing decisions
IMessageTransactionFeature	Transaction, TransactionId	Transaction context

using Excalibur.Dispatch.Abstractions.Features;

// Read via convenience extensions
var tenantId = context.GetTenantId();
var isRetry = context.GetIsRetry();
var partitionKey = context.GetPartitionKey();

// Write via feature instance
var identity = context.GetOrCreateIdentityFeature();
identity.TenantId = "acme-corp";
identity.UserId = currentUser.Id;

// Processing state
var processing = context.GetOrCreateProcessingFeature();
processing.ProcessingAttempts++;

Context Items

Use context items to pass custom data through the pipeline.

Setting Items

Items are typically set early in the pipeline (middleware):

public class TenantMiddleware : IDispatchMiddleware
{
    private readonly IHttpContextAccessor _httpContextAccessor;

    public TenantMiddleware(IHttpContextAccessor httpContextAccessor)
    {
        _httpContextAccessor = httpContextAccessor;
    }

    public DispatchMiddlewareStage? Stage => DispatchMiddlewareStage.PreProcessing;

    public async ValueTask<IMessageResult> InvokeAsync(
        IDispatchMessage message,
        IMessageContext context,
        DispatchRequestDelegate nextDelegate,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        // Extract tenant from HTTP header and set on identity feature
        var tenantId = _httpContextAccessor.HttpContext?.Request
            .Headers["X-Tenant-Id"]
            .FirstOrDefault();

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(tenantId))
        {
            var identity = context.GetOrCreateIdentityFeature();
            identity.TenantId = tenantId;
        }

        return await nextDelegate(message, context, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Reading Items

// Get with type (for custom/transport-specific data)
var customValue = context.GetItem<string>("MyCustomKey");

// Check existence and get value
if (context.ContainsItem("MyCustomKey"))
{
    var value = context.GetItem<string>("MyCustomKey");
    // Use value
}

// Get all items
var items = context.Items;

Type-Safe Context Extensions

Define extension methods for type-safe access to custom data:

public static class OrderContextExtensions
{
    private const string OrderIdKey = "Order.OrderId";

    public static string? GetOrderId(this IMessageContext context)
        => context.GetItem<string>(OrderIdKey);

    public static void SetOrderId(this IMessageContext context, string orderId)
        => context.SetItem(OrderIdKey, orderId);
}

// Usage
context.SetOrderId("ORD-12345");
var orderId = context.GetOrderId();

Tenant ID as a DI Service

In addition to the identity feature, ITenantId is available as a scoped DI service registered via TryAddTenantId(). When no tenant is explicitly configured, the framework uses TenantDefaults.DefaultTenantId ("Default") automatically — single-tenant applications work without any tenant setup.

// Single-tenant: ITenantId.Value is "Default" automatically
services.AddExcaliburA3()
    .UsePostgres();

// Multi-tenant: resolve per-request before A3
services.TryAddTenantId(sp =>
{
    var httpContext = sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpContextAccessor>().HttpContext;
    return httpContext?.Request.Headers["X-Tenant-ID"].FirstOrDefault()
        ?? TenantDefaults.DefaultTenantId;
});
services.AddExcaliburA3()
    .UsePostgres();

The TenantIdentityMiddleware in the pipeline sets the context-level tenant from HTTP headers, message properties, or a configured default. The DI-registered ITenantId is used by A3 authorization, grants, and audit logging.

Correlation ID

The correlation ID links all related operations together.

Automatic Generation

When dispatching without an existing context, a new CorrelationId is generated:

// Top-level dispatch - new CorrelationId generated
await dispatcher.DispatchAsync(action, cancellationToken);

Preserving Correlation

When dispatching from within a handler, use DispatchChildAsync to preserve correlation:

public class OrderHandler : IActionHandler<CreateOrderAction>
{
    public async Task HandleAsync(CreateOrderAction action, CancellationToken ct)
    {
        // Child dispatch - same CorrelationId
        await _dispatcher.DispatchChildAsync(new NotifyAction(), ct);
    }
}

External Correlation

Propagate correlation from HTTP headers:

public class CorrelationMiddleware
{
    public async Task InvokeAsync(
        HttpContext httpContext,
        IMessageContextAccessor contextAccessor)
    {
        var correlationId = httpContext.Request.Headers["X-Correlation-Id"]
            .FirstOrDefault()
            ?? Guid.NewGuid().ToString();

        // Set correlation ID on current context
        var context = contextAccessor.MessageContext;
        context.CorrelationId = correlationId;

        // Add to response headers
        httpContext.Response.Headers["X-Correlation-Id"] = correlationId;

        await _next(httpContext);
    }
}

Causation Chain

Track what caused what with causation IDs:

// Original action
// CorrelationId: abc123
// CausationId: (none - this is the root)

// Child action dispatched from handler
// CorrelationId: abc123 (same)
// CausationId: original-message-id

This creates an audit trail:

• All related actions share the same CorrelationId
• Each action knows what caused it via CausationId

Child Context Creation

Create child contexts for cascading messages:

var childContext = context.CreateChildContext();

Propagated automatically:

• CorrelationId - Maintains distributed tracing
• IMessageIdentityFeature (TenantId, UserId, SessionId, WorkflowId, ExternalId, TraceParent)
• IMessageRoutingFeature.Source - Preserves origin tracking

Set automatically:

• CausationId - Set to parent's MessageId
• MessageId - New unique identifier

Context in Distributed Systems

When messages cross service boundaries:

Outgoing Messages

public class OutboxMiddleware : IDispatchMiddleware
{
    private readonly IOutboxStore _outboxStore;

    public OutboxMiddleware(IOutboxStore outboxStore)
    {
        _outboxStore = outboxStore;
    }

    public DispatchMiddlewareStage? Stage => DispatchMiddlewareStage.PostProcessing;

    public async ValueTask<IMessageResult> InvokeAsync(
        IDispatchMessage message,
        IMessageContext context,
        DispatchRequestDelegate nextDelegate,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    {
        var result = await nextDelegate(message, context, cancellationToken);

        // Include context in outbox message
        var outboxMessage = new OutboxMessage
        {
            CorrelationId = context.CorrelationId,
            Metadata = context.Items
        };

        await _outboxStore.SaveAsync(outboxMessage, cancellationToken);

        return result;
    }
}

Incoming Messages

public class MessageConsumer
{
    public async Task HandleMessageAsync(TransportMessage message)
    {
        // Restore context from incoming message
        var context = new MessageContext
        {
            CorrelationId = message.CorrelationId,
            CausationId = message.MessageId
        };

        foreach (var item in message.Metadata)
        {
            context.SetItem(item.Key, item.Value);
        }

        // Dispatch with restored context
        await _dispatcher.DispatchAsync(action, context, cancellationToken);
    }
}

Best Practices

Do

• Use feature extensions for cross-cutting concerns (GetTenantId(), GetUserId())
• Use type-safe extension methods for custom Items data
• Propagate context in child dispatches
• Include correlation in all logging
• Preserve context across service boundaries

Don't

• Store large objects in context items
• Use context for data that should be in the action
• Assume Items exist without checking
• Modify context in handlers (do it in middleware)
• Use Items for data that has a feature interface (identity, routing, processing state)

What's Next

• Results and Errors - Handle success and failure
• Configuration - Configure Dispatch options
• Pipeline - Add behaviors that interact with context
• Middleware - Cross-cutting concerns using context

See Also

• Actions and Handlers — Define the messages that flow through the context pipeline
• MessageContext Design — Architectural decisions behind the MessageContext design
• MessageContext Items Usage — Patterns and conventions for using context items across the framework
• Custom Middleware — Build middleware that reads and writes context items