# CarterCommunity/Carter

Carter is framework that is a thin layer of extension methods and functionality over ASP.NET Core allowing code to be more explicit and most importantly more enjoyable.

Repository: https://github.com/CarterCommunity/Carter
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/carter
Language: C#
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: nancy, asp-net-core, csharp, asp-net, mit-license, dotnet-core, middleware
Last push: 2026-07-04T09:47:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3432, "days_push": 60, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2446, forks 197 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:52.694823+00:00)

## What it is
Carter is a thin framework layer of extension methods over ASP.NET Core that makes building HTTP APIs more explicit and enjoyable. It adds conveniences like request validation with FluentValidation, file upload binding, form binding, and content negotiation on top of Minimal APIs.

## Use cases
- build rest apis with asp.net core minimal apis
- validate incoming http requests with fluentvalidation
- handle file uploads in asp.net core
- content negotiation based on accept header
- replace nancyfx for dotnet apis
- model bind form posts to routes

## When to choose
- you want a lightweight, Nancy-like API layer on ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs
- you need built-in request validation returning Problem Details responses
- you want automatic DI registration of framework components

## When to avoid
- you prefer plain ASP.NET Core without extra abstractions
- you need a full-featured framework like Nancy or a microservice framework with built-in hosting
- you are not on the .NET ecosystem

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: active
- function: web-framework, routing, middleware, form-handling, file-upload
- domain: web-development, backend, apis
- platform: dotnet, cross-platform
- tags: aspnet-core, minimal-apis, fluentvalidation, content-negotiation, nancy-inspired, csharp, web-server

## Member repositories
- CarterCommunity/Carter (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:52.694823+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T02:30:32.070984+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/CarterCommunity/Carter (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:52.694823+00:00, sha f0ccc2a112d0)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.