Getting empty response on ASP.NET Core middleware on exception

Question

I am trying to create a middleware that can log the response body as well as manage exception globally and I was succeeded about that. My problem is that the custom message that I put on exception it's not showing on the response.

Middleware Code 01:

public async Task Invoke(HttpContext context)
{
    context.Request.EnableRewind();
        
    var originalBodyStream = context.Response.Body;
    using (var responseBody = new MemoryStream())
    {
        try
        {
            context.Response.Body = responseBody;
            await next(context);

            context.Response.Body.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);
            var response = await new StreamReader(context.Response.Body).ReadToEndAsync();
            context.Response.Body.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);

            // Process log
             var log = new LogMetadata();
             log.RequestMethod = context.Request.Method;
             log.RequestUri = context.Request.Path.ToString();
             log.ResponseStatusCode = context.Response.StatusCode;
             log.ResponseTimestamp = DateTime.Now;
             log.ResponseContentType = context.Response.ContentType;
             log.ResponseContent = response;
             // Keep Log to text file
             CustomLogger.WriteLog(log);

            await responseBody.CopyToAsync(originalBodyStream);
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
            context.Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError;
            var jsonObject = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(My Custom Model);
            await context.Response.WriteAsync(jsonObject, Encoding.UTF8);
            return;
        }
    }
}

If I write my middleware like that, my custom exception is working fine but I unable to log my response body.

Middleware Code 02:

 public async Task Invoke(HttpContext context)
  {
    context.Request.EnableRewind();

    try
    {
        await next(context);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
        context.Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError;
        var jsonObject = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(My Custom Model);
        await context.Response.WriteAsync(jsonObject, Encoding.UTF8);
        return;
    }
}

My Controller Action :

    [HttpGet]
    public ActionResult<IEnumerable<string>> Get()
    {
        throw new Exception("Exception Message");
    }

Now I want to show my exception message with my middleware 01, but it doesn't work but its work on my middleware 02.

So my observation is the problem is occurring for reading the context response. Is there anything I have missed in my middleware 01 code?

Is there any better way to serve my purpose that log the response body as well as manage exception globally?

Answer 1

I think what you are saying is that this code isn't sending it's response to the client.

 catch (Exception ex)
    {
        context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
        context.Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError;
        var jsonObject = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(My Custom Model);
        await context.Response.WriteAsync(jsonObject, Encoding.UTF8);
        return;
    }

The reason for this is that await context.Response.WriteAsync(jsonObject, Encoding.UTF8); isn't writing to the original body stream it's writing to the memory stream that is seekable. So after you write to it you have to copy it to the original stream. So I believe the code should look like this:

 catch (Exception ex)
    {
        context.Response.ContentType = "application/json";
        context.Response.StatusCode = (int)HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError;
        var jsonObject = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(My Custom Model);
        await context.Response.WriteAsync(jsonObject, Encoding.UTF8);

        context.Response.Body.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin);    //IMPORTANT!
        await responseBody.CopyToAsync(originalBodyStream); //IMPORTANT!
        return;
    }