Azure Cosmos DB Provider
The Cosmos DB provider implements ICloudNativePersistenceProvider for globally distributed, multi-model database access with partition key management, tunable consistency, and change feed subscriptions.
Before You Start
- .NET 8.0+ (or .NET 9/10 for latest features)
- An Azure Cosmos DB account and database
- Familiarity with data access and IDb interface
Installation
dotnet add package Excalibur.Data.CosmosDb
Dependencies: Excalibur.Data.Abstractions, Microsoft.Azure.Cosmos
Quick Start
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
services.AddCosmosDb(options =>
{
options.AccountEndpoint = "https://myaccount.documents.azure.com:443/";
options.AccountKey = "<your-auth-key>";
options.DatabaseName = "MyDatabase";
});
Registration Methods
| Method | What It Registers | Key Options |
|---|---|---|
AddCosmosDb(opts) | Core persistence provider | AccountEndpoint, AccountKey, DatabaseName |
AddCosmosDbSnapshotStore(opts) | ISnapshotStore | ContainerName |
AddCosmosDbProjectionStore<T>(connStr, dbName, opts?) | IProjectionStore<T> | ContainerName |
All methods also accept IConfiguration binding: AddCosmosDb(configuration, sectionName: "CosmosDb").
Batch Projection Registration
Register multiple projections sharing the same Cosmos DB account:
services.AddCosmosDbProjections(connectionString, "MyDatabase", projections =>
{
projections.Add<OrderSummary>();
projections.Add<CustomerProfile>(o => o.ContainerName = "customers");
});
Change Data Capture
services.AddCdcProcessor(cdc =>
{
cdc.UseCosmosDb(options =>
{
options.DatabaseName = "MyApp";
options.ContainerName = "orders";
options.LeaseContainerName = "leases";
})
.TrackTable("orders", t => t.MapAll<OrderChangedEvent>())
.EnableBackgroundProcessing();
});
Partition Keys
Cosmos DB requires partition keys for data distribution:
// Simple partition key
var key = new PartitionKey("tenant-123", "/tenantId");
var order = await provider.GetByIdAsync<Order>("order-1", key, consistencyOptions: null, cancellationToken: ct);
// Composite partition key
var compositeKey = new CompositePartitionKey(
path: "/pk",
separator: "|",
"region-us", "tenant-123");
Consistency Options
Tune consistency per operation:
// Strong consistency
var result = await provider.QueryAsync<Order>(
"SELECT * FROM c WHERE c.status = 'pending'",
partitionKey,
parameters: null,
consistencyOptions: ConsistencyOptions.Strong,
cancellationToken: ct);
// Session consistency (read-your-own-writes)
var sessionOptions = ConsistencyOptions.WithSession(sessionToken);
// Bounded staleness
var boundedOptions = ConsistencyOptions.WithBoundedStaleness(
maxStaleness: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5),
maxVersionLag: 100);
Change Feed
Subscribe to real-time document changes:
var subscription = await provider.CreateChangeFeedSubscriptionAsync<Order>(
containerName: "orders",
options: new ChangeFeedOptions
{
StartPosition = ChangeFeedStartPosition.Beginning,
MaxBatchSize = 100,
PollingInterval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5)
},
cancellationToken: ct);
await subscription.StartAsync(ct);
await foreach (var change in subscription.ReadChangesAsync(ct))
{
// Process change event
}
Batch Operations
Execute multiple operations in a single transaction within a partition:
var result = await provider.ExecuteBatchAsync(
partitionKey,
new ICloudBatchOperation[]
{
// batch operations
},
cancellationToken: ct);
if (result.Success)
{
Console.WriteLine($"Request charge: {result.RequestCharge} RU");
}
ETag-Based Concurrency
UpdateAsync accepts an optional ETag for optimistic concurrency. It returns a CloudOperationResult<TDocument> with conflict detection:
// Update with ETag check (etag obtained from a previous write or Cosmos DB SDK)
var updateResult = await provider.UpdateAsync(
modifiedOrder,
partitionKey,
etag: previousEtag,
cancellationToken: ct);
if (updateResult.IsConcurrencyConflict)
{
// Handle conflict — another process modified the document (HTTP 412)
}
// Successful updates return the new ETag for subsequent operations
var newEtag = updateResult.ETag;
See Also
- Data Providers Overview — Architecture and core abstractions
- DynamoDB Provider — AWS cloud-native alternative
- Firestore Provider — Google Cloud alternative