In ASP.NET Core, controllers usually inherit either from ControllerBase or Controller. If a controller does not use any View-specific functionality, it is recommended to inherit from ControllerBase.

Why is this an issue?

The ControllerBase class contains all the necessary functionality to handle API requests and responses. The Controller class inherits from ControllerBase and adds support for Views, PartialViews and ViewComponents.

Inheriting from Controller when not using any View-specific functionality exposes unnecessary methods and can lead to confusion about the intention of the class.

Furthermore, inheriting from Controller may come with a performance cost. Even though the controller might only deal with API operations, the support for Views might introduce some overhead from the MVC framework during the request processing pipeline.

An issue is raised when:

• The class is marked with the [ApiController] attribute.
• The class inherits directly from Controller.
• No View-specific functionality is used in the class.

Exceptions

• If a class is marked with the [NonController] attribute.
• If a class does not have public accessibility.

How to fix it

Change the base type of the controller from Controller to ControllerBase.

Code examples

Noncompliant code example

[ApiController]
public class MyController : Controller // Noncompliant: Inherit from ControllerBase instead of Controller.
//                          ^^^^^^^^^^
{
    // ..
}

Compliant solution

[ApiController]
public class MyController : ControllerBase
{
    // ..
}

Resources

Documentation

• Wikipedia - Web API
• Microsoft Learn - ASP.NET Core
• Microsoft Learn - Controller Class
• Microsoft Learn - ControllerBase Class
• Microsoft Learn - ApiControllerAttribute Class
• Microsoft Learn - NonControllerAttribute Class
• Microsoft Learn - Views in ASP.NET Core MVC
• Microsoft Learn - Partial Views in ASP.NET Core MVC
• Microsoft Learn - View Components in ASP.NET Core MVC
• Microsoft Learn - ASP.NET Core Middleware