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Getting Started with InterBus

Installation​

Add the core package. For local development and tests, the in-memory transport is the easiest place to start:

dotnet add package InterBus

The in-memory transport extensions and source generator support are included through InterBus.

Basic usage​

1. Define a message​

public record OrderPlaced(Guid OrderId, string CustomerEmail, decimal Total);

2. Implement a consumer​

public sealed class OrderPlacedConsumer : IConsumer<OrderPlaced>
{
    public Task Consume(
        OrderPlaced message,
        IConsumeContext context,
        CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(
            $"Order {message.OrderId} placed by {message.CustomerEmail} for {message.Total:C}");

        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }
}

3. Register InterBus​

using InterBus.Extensions;
using InterBus.Generated;
using InterBus.InMemory.Extensions;

builder.Services.AddInterBus(bus =>
{
    bus.AddInMemoryTransport();
    bus.AddConsumer<OrderPlacedConsumer>();
});

AddConsumer<TConsumer>() is generated at compile time, so you should import InterBus.Generated.

4. Publish a message​

public sealed class OrderService(IPublisher publisher)
{
    public Task PlaceOrderAsync(Order order, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        return publisher.PublishAsync(
            new OrderPlaced(order.Id, order.Email, order.Total),
            cancellationToken);
    }
}

5. Run the host​

InterBus transports use hosted background services. In ASP.NET Core, app.Run() starts them automatically. In console or worker-style apps, start the host before publishing:

var host = builder.Build();

await host.StartAsync();

using var scope = host.Services.CreateScope();
var publisher = scope.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<IPublisher>();
await publisher.PublishAsync(new OrderPlaced(Guid.NewGuid(), "alice@example.com", 42m));

await host.StopAsync();

Publish vs send​

  • PublishAsync<T> sends to the topic for T, so every registered consumer for that message type receives a copy
  • SendAsync<TConsumer, T> sends directly to one consumer queue and bypasses topic fan-out
await publisher.PublishAsync(new OrderPlaced(...));
await publisher.SendAsync<AuditConsumer, OrderPlaced>(new OrderPlaced(...));

Next steps​

  • For a deeper architectural overview, see Architecture
  • For runnable examples, see the projects under samples/