WebAPI Gzip when returning HttpResponseMessage

Question

I have a WebAPI controller that returns an HttpResponseMessage and I want to add gzip compression. This is the server code:

using System.Net.Http; using System.Web.Http; using System.Web; using System.IO.Compression;  [Route("SomeRoute")] public HttpResponseMessage Post([FromBody] string value) {     HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;      context.Response.Filter = new GZipStream(context.Response.Filter, CompressionMode.Compress);      HttpContext.Current.Response.AppendHeader("Content-encoding", "gzip");     HttpContext.Current.Response.Cache.VaryByHeaders["Accept-encoding"] = true;      return new SomeClass().SomeRequest(value); } 

And this is the client code for the ajax call, using jquery:

$.ajax({     url: "/SomeRoute",     type: "POST",     cache: "false",     data: SomeData,     beforeSend: function (jqXHR) { jqXHR.setRequestHeader('Accept-Encoding', 'gzip'); },     success: function(msg) { ... } 

When I run this, the server code returns without bugging but the client bugs:

(failed) net::ERR_CONTENT_DECODING_FAILED 

When I look with Fiddler, this is what I see:

What do I need to change to make the web service return gzipped content that the client processes normally? I know I could also do this with an HttpModule or through some setting on IIS but neither option fits the scenario of the hosting:

Please note that I'm not looking for an IIS setting because I don't have access to that (hosting).

Answer 1

Add these NuGet packages:

Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Extensions.Compression.Server System.Net.Http.Extensions.Compression.Client

Then and add one line of code to App_Start\WebApiConfig.cs:

GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.MessageHandlers.Insert(0, new ServerCompressionHandler(new GZipCompressor(), new DeflateCompressor())); 

That will do the trick!

Details at:

• NuGet package page
• GitHub

Hope that helps.

**Updated after comment from @JCisar

Update for ASP.Net Core

Nuget Package is

Microsoft.AspNetCore.ResponseCompression