User secrets (in Development) These are merged in order — later values override earlier ones. 🧱 2. What are configuration providers?

Configuration providers are components that load configuration data from various

sources.

Built-in Providers:

• JSON files (appsettings.json)
• Environment variables
• Command-line arguments

Follow :

• In-memory collections
• Azure Key Vault
• User Secrets (for local dev)
• Custom providers (you can build your own)

Example:

builder.Configuration

.AddJsonFile("appsettings.json")

.AddEnvironmentVariables()

.AddCommandLine(args);

Each provider plugs into the same configuration system, so you can access everything via

IConfiguration.

🔐 3. How do you manage secrets in development?

In development, never store passwords, API keys, or connection strings in code or

appsettings.json.

Use User Secrets — a safe way to store secrets outside the project tree.

🧰 4. What is User Secrets in ASP.NET Core?

User Secrets are a local, developer-only configuration storage that keeps sensitive data

out of source control.

Setup:

Enable secrets:

dotnet user-secrets init

Follow :