Send HTTP POST message in ASP.NET Core using HttpClient PostAsJsonAsync

Question

You should add reference to "Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client" package (read this article for samples).

Without any additional extension, you may use standard PostAsync method:

client.PostAsync(uri, new StringContent(jsonInString, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json"));

where jsonInString value you can get by calling JsonConvert.SerializeObject(<your object>);

I use this class:

public class JsonContent : StringContent
{
    public JsonContent(object obj) :
        base(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(obj), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json")
    { }
}

Sample of usage:

new HttpClient().PostAsync("http://...", new JsonContent(new { x = 1, y = 2 }));

I would add to the accepted answer that you would also want to add the Accept header to the httpClient:

httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Clear();
httpClient.DefaultRequestHeaders.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/json"));

Microsoft now recommends using an IHttpClientFactory with the following benefits:

• Provides a central location for naming and configuring logical HttpClient instances. For example, a client named github could be registered and configured to access GitHub. A default client can be registered for general access.
• Codifies the concept of outgoing middleware via delegating handlers in HttpClient. Provides extensions for Polly-based middleware to take advantage of delegating handlers in HttpClient.
• Manages the pooling and lifetime of underlying HttpClientMessageHandler instances. Automatic management avoids common DNS (Domain Name System) problems that occur when manually managing HttpClient lifetimes.
• Adds a configurable logging experience (via ILogger) for all requests sent through clients created by the factory.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/http-requests?view=aspnetcore-3.1

Setup:

public class Startup
{
    public Startup(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        Configuration = configuration;
    }

    public IConfiguration Configuration { get; }

    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddHttpClient();
        // Remaining code deleted for brevity.

POST example:

public class BasicUsageModel : PageModel
{
    private readonly IHttpClientFactory _clientFactory;

    public BasicUsageModel(IHttpClientFactory clientFactory)
    {
        _clientFactory = clientFactory;
    }
    
    public async Task CreateItemAsync(TodoItem todoItem)
    {
        var todoItemJson = new StringContent(
            JsonSerializer.Serialize(todoItem, _jsonSerializerOptions),
            Encoding.UTF8,
            "application/json");
            
        var httpClient = _clientFactory.CreateClient();
        
        using var httpResponse =
            await httpClient.PostAsync("/api/TodoItems", todoItemJson);
    
        httpResponse.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
    }

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/http-requests?view=aspnetcore-3.1#make-post-put-and-delete-requests

If you are using .NET 5 or above, you can (and should) use the PostAsJsonAsync extension method from System.Net.Http.Json:

httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync(url, new { 
    x = 1, 
    y = 2 
});

If you are using an older version of .NET Core, you can implement the extension function yourself:

public static class HttpClientExtensions
{
    public static Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostJsonAsync(this HttpClient httpClient, string url, object body)
    {
        var bodyJson = JsonSerializer.Serialize(body);
        var stringContent = new StringContent(bodyJson, Encoding.UTF8, "application/json");
        return httpClient.PostAsync(url, stringContent);
    }
}

You are right that this has long since been implemented in .NET Core.

At the time of writing (September 2019), the project.json file of NuGet 3.x+ has been superseded by PackageReference (as explained at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/archive/project-json).

To get access to the *Async methods of the HttpClient class, your .csproj file must be correctly configured.

Open your .csproj file in a plain text editor, and make sure the first line is
<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Web">
(as pointed out at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/tools/project-json-to-csproj#the-csproj-format).

To get access to the *Async methods of the HttpClient class, you also need to have the correct package reference in your .csproj file, like so:

<ItemGroup>
    <!-- ... -->
    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.App" />
    <!-- ... -->
</ItemGroup>

(See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/consume-packages/package-references-in-project-files#adding-a-packagereference. Also: We recommend applications targeting ASP.NET Core 2.1 and later use the Microsoft.AspNetCore.App metapackage, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/metapackage)

Methods such as PostAsJsonAsync, ReadAsAsync, PutAsJsonAsync and DeleteAsync should now work out of the box. (No using directive needed.)

Update: The PackageReference tag is no longer needed in .NET Core 3.0.