.NET Architecture

Trigger On

• choosing architecture for a new or evolving .NET system
• reviewing layer boundaries, domain boundaries, or service decomposition
• deciding whether clean architecture, vertical slices, CQRS, or microservices are justified

Workflow

1. Start from business capability boundaries and change frequency, not from a preferred diagram style.
2. Use simple modular monolith patterns by default, and move to microservices only when team autonomy, scale, or deployment boundaries justify the added operational cost.
3. Apply DDD and CQRS where business rules are genuinely complex; avoid forcing aggregates and command pipelines into CRUD-heavy code with no payoff.
4. Keep dependencies flowing inward when using clean architecture, but avoid creating extra projects that add ceremony without ownership clarity.
5. Make integration boundaries explicit: contracts, storage ownership, messaging, consistency model, and observability expectations.
6. Use dotnet-aspire when local orchestration, service discovery, and developer observability are part of the architecture story.

Deliver