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azure-eventgrid-dotnet skill

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This skill helps you publish and consume Azure Event Grid events in .NET, enabling scalable event-driven architectures and CloudEvents interoperability.

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---
name: azure-eventgrid-dotnet
description: |
  Azure Event Grid SDK for .NET. Client library for publishing and consuming events with Azure Event Grid. Use for event-driven architectures, pub/sub messaging, CloudEvents, and EventGridEvents. Triggers: "Event Grid", "EventGridPublisherClient", "CloudEvent", "EventGridEvent", "publish events .NET", "event-driven", "pub/sub".
package: Azure.Messaging.EventGrid
---

# Azure.Messaging.EventGrid (.NET)

Client library for publishing events to Azure Event Grid topics, domains, and namespaces.

## Installation

```bash
# For topics and domains (push delivery)
dotnet add package Azure.Messaging.EventGrid

# For namespaces (pull delivery)
dotnet add package Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.Namespaces

# For CloudNative CloudEvents interop
dotnet add package Microsoft.Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.CloudNativeCloudEvents
```

**Current Version**: 4.28.0 (stable)

## Environment Variables

```bash
# Topic/Domain endpoint
EVENT_GRID_TOPIC_ENDPOINT=https://<topic-name>.<region>.eventgrid.azure.net/api/events
EVENT_GRID_TOPIC_KEY=<access-key>

# Namespace endpoint (for pull delivery)
EVENT_GRID_NAMESPACE_ENDPOINT=https://<namespace>.<region>.eventgrid.azure.net
EVENT_GRID_TOPIC_NAME=<topic-name>
EVENT_GRID_SUBSCRIPTION_NAME=<subscription-name>
```

## Client Hierarchy

```
Push Delivery (Topics/Domains)
└── EventGridPublisherClient
    ├── SendEventAsync(EventGridEvent)
    ├── SendEventsAsync(IEnumerable<EventGridEvent>)
    ├── SendEventAsync(CloudEvent)
    └── SendEventsAsync(IEnumerable<CloudEvent>)

Pull Delivery (Namespaces)
├── EventGridSenderClient
│   └── SendAsync(CloudEvent)
└── EventGridReceiverClient
    ├── ReceiveAsync()
    ├── AcknowledgeAsync()
    ├── ReleaseAsync()
    └── RejectAsync()
```

## Authentication

### API Key Authentication

```csharp
using Azure;
using Azure.Messaging.EventGrid;

EventGridPublisherClient client = new(
    new Uri("https://mytopic.eastus-1.eventgrid.azure.net/api/events"),
    new AzureKeyCredential("<access-key>"));
```

### Microsoft Entra ID (Recommended)

```csharp
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Messaging.EventGrid;

EventGridPublisherClient client = new(
    new Uri("https://mytopic.eastus-1.eventgrid.azure.net/api/events"),
    new DefaultAzureCredential());
```

### SAS Token Authentication

```csharp
string sasToken = EventGridPublisherClient.BuildSharedAccessSignature(
    new Uri(topicEndpoint),
    DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.AddHours(1),
    new AzureKeyCredential(topicKey));

var sasCredential = new AzureSasCredential(sasToken);
EventGridPublisherClient client = new(
    new Uri(topicEndpoint),
    sasCredential);
```

## Publishing Events

### EventGridEvent Schema

```csharp
EventGridPublisherClient client = new(
    new Uri(topicEndpoint),
    new AzureKeyCredential(topicKey));

// Single event
EventGridEvent egEvent = new(
    subject: "orders/12345",
    eventType: "Order.Created",
    dataVersion: "1.0",
    data: new { OrderId = "12345", Amount = 99.99 });

await client.SendEventAsync(egEvent);

// Batch of events
List<EventGridEvent> events = new()
{
    new EventGridEvent(
        subject: "orders/12345",
        eventType: "Order.Created",
        dataVersion: "1.0",
        data: new OrderData { OrderId = "12345", Amount = 99.99 }),
    new EventGridEvent(
        subject: "orders/12346",
        eventType: "Order.Created",
        dataVersion: "1.0",
        data: new OrderData { OrderId = "12346", Amount = 149.99 })
};

await client.SendEventsAsync(events);
```

### CloudEvent Schema

```csharp
CloudEvent cloudEvent = new(
    source: "/orders/system",
    type: "Order.Created",
    data: new { OrderId = "12345", Amount = 99.99 });

cloudEvent.Subject = "orders/12345";
cloudEvent.Id = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
cloudEvent.Time = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow;

await client.SendEventAsync(cloudEvent);

// Batch of CloudEvents
List<CloudEvent> cloudEvents = new()
{
    new CloudEvent("/orders", "Order.Created", new { OrderId = "1" }),
    new CloudEvent("/orders", "Order.Updated", new { OrderId = "2" })
};

await client.SendEventsAsync(cloudEvents);
```

### Publishing to Event Grid Domain

```csharp
// Events must specify the Topic property for domain routing
List<EventGridEvent> events = new()
{
    new EventGridEvent(
        subject: "orders/12345",
        eventType: "Order.Created",
        dataVersion: "1.0",
        data: new { OrderId = "12345" })
    {
        Topic = "orders-topic"  // Domain topic name
    },
    new EventGridEvent(
        subject: "inventory/item-1",
        eventType: "Inventory.Updated",
        dataVersion: "1.0",
        data: new { ItemId = "item-1" })
    {
        Topic = "inventory-topic"
    }
};

await client.SendEventsAsync(events);
```

### Custom Serialization

```csharp
using System.Text.Json;

var serializerOptions = new JsonSerializerOptions
{
    PropertyNamingPolicy = JsonNamingPolicy.CamelCase
};

var customSerializer = new JsonObjectSerializer(serializerOptions);

EventGridEvent egEvent = new(
    subject: "orders/12345",
    eventType: "Order.Created",
    dataVersion: "1.0",
    data: customSerializer.Serialize(new OrderData { OrderId = "12345" }));

await client.SendEventAsync(egEvent);
```

## Pull Delivery (Namespaces)

### Send Events to Namespace Topic

```csharp
using Azure;
using Azure.Messaging;
using Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.Namespaces;

var senderClient = new EventGridSenderClient(
    new Uri(namespaceEndpoint),
    topicName,
    new AzureKeyCredential(topicKey));

// Send single event
CloudEvent cloudEvent = new("employee_source", "Employee.Created", 
    new { Name = "John", Age = 30 });
await senderClient.SendAsync(cloudEvent);

// Send batch
await senderClient.SendAsync(new[]
{
    new CloudEvent("source", "type", new { Name = "Alice" }),
    new CloudEvent("source", "type", new { Name = "Bob" })
});
```

### Receive and Process Events

```csharp
var receiverClient = new EventGridReceiverClient(
    new Uri(namespaceEndpoint),
    topicName,
    subscriptionName,
    new AzureKeyCredential(topicKey));

// Receive events
ReceiveResult result = await receiverClient.ReceiveAsync(maxEvents: 10);

List<string> lockTokensToAck = new();
List<string> lockTokensToRelease = new();

foreach (ReceiveDetails detail in result.Details)
{
    CloudEvent cloudEvent = detail.Event;
    string lockToken = detail.BrokerProperties.LockToken;
    
    try
    {
        // Process the event
        Console.WriteLine($"Event: {cloudEvent.Type}, Data: {cloudEvent.Data}");
        lockTokensToAck.Add(lockToken);
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        // Release for retry
        lockTokensToRelease.Add(lockToken);
    }
}

// Acknowledge successfully processed events
if (lockTokensToAck.Any())
{
    await receiverClient.AcknowledgeAsync(lockTokensToAck);
}

// Release events for retry
if (lockTokensToRelease.Any())
{
    await receiverClient.ReleaseAsync(lockTokensToRelease);
}
```

### Reject Events (Dead Letter)

```csharp
// Reject events that cannot be processed
await receiverClient.RejectAsync(new[] { lockToken });
```

## Consuming Events (Azure Functions)

### EventGridEvent Trigger

```csharp
using Azure.Messaging.EventGrid;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs;
using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.EventGrid;

public static class EventGridFunction
{
    [FunctionName("ProcessEventGridEvent")]
    public static void Run(
        [EventGridTrigger] EventGridEvent eventGridEvent,
        ILogger log)
    {
        log.LogInformation($"Event Type: {eventGridEvent.EventType}");
        log.LogInformation($"Subject: {eventGridEvent.Subject}");
        log.LogInformation($"Data: {eventGridEvent.Data}");
    }
}
```

### CloudEvent Trigger

```csharp
using Azure.Messaging;
using Microsoft.Azure.Functions.Worker;

public class CloudEventFunction
{
    [Function("ProcessCloudEvent")]
    public void Run(
        [EventGridTrigger] CloudEvent cloudEvent,
        FunctionContext context)
    {
        var logger = context.GetLogger("ProcessCloudEvent");
        logger.LogInformation($"Event Type: {cloudEvent.Type}");
        logger.LogInformation($"Source: {cloudEvent.Source}");
        logger.LogInformation($"Data: {cloudEvent.Data}");
    }
}
```

## Parsing Events

### Parse EventGridEvent

```csharp
// From JSON string
string json = "..."; // Event Grid webhook payload
EventGridEvent[] events = EventGridEvent.ParseMany(BinaryData.FromString(json));

foreach (EventGridEvent egEvent in events)
{
    if (egEvent.TryGetSystemEventData(out object systemEvent))
    {
        // Handle system event
        switch (systemEvent)
        {
            case StorageBlobCreatedEventData blobCreated:
                Console.WriteLine($"Blob created: {blobCreated.Url}");
                break;
        }
    }
    else
    {
        // Handle custom event
        var customData = egEvent.Data.ToObjectFromJson<MyCustomData>();
    }
}
```

### Parse CloudEvent

```csharp
CloudEvent[] cloudEvents = CloudEvent.ParseMany(BinaryData.FromString(json));

foreach (CloudEvent cloudEvent in cloudEvents)
{
    var data = cloudEvent.Data.ToObjectFromJson<MyEventData>();
    Console.WriteLine($"Type: {cloudEvent.Type}, Data: {data}");
}
```

## System Events

```csharp
// Common system event types
using Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.SystemEvents;

// Storage events
StorageBlobCreatedEventData blobCreated;
StorageBlobDeletedEventData blobDeleted;

// Resource events
ResourceWriteSuccessEventData resourceCreated;
ResourceDeleteSuccessEventData resourceDeleted;

// App Service events
WebAppUpdatedEventData webAppUpdated;

// Container Registry events
ContainerRegistryImagePushedEventData imagePushed;

// IoT Hub events
IotHubDeviceCreatedEventData deviceCreated;
```

## Key Types Reference

| Type | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `EventGridPublisherClient` | Publish to topics/domains |
| `EventGridSenderClient` | Send to namespace topics |
| `EventGridReceiverClient` | Receive from namespace subscriptions |
| `EventGridEvent` | Event Grid native schema |
| `CloudEvent` | CloudEvents 1.0 schema |
| `ReceiveResult` | Pull delivery response |
| `ReceiveDetails` | Event with broker properties |
| `BrokerProperties` | Lock token, delivery count |

## Event Schemas Comparison

| Feature | EventGridEvent | CloudEvent |
|---------|----------------|------------|
| Standard | Azure-specific | CNCF standard |
| Required fields | subject, eventType, dataVersion, data | source, type |
| Extensibility | Limited | Extension attributes |
| Interoperability | Azure only | Cross-platform |

## Best Practices

1. **Use CloudEvents** — Prefer CloudEvents for new implementations (industry standard)
2. **Batch events** — Send multiple events in one call for efficiency
3. **Use Entra ID** — Prefer managed identity over access keys
4. **Idempotent handlers** — Events may be delivered more than once
5. **Set event TTL** — Configure time-to-live for namespace events
6. **Handle partial failures** — Acknowledge/release events individually
7. **Use dead-letter** — Configure dead-letter for failed events
8. **Validate schemas** — Validate event data before processing

## Error Handling

```csharp
using Azure;

try
{
    await client.SendEventAsync(cloudEvent);
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 401)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Authentication failed - check credentials");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 403)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Authorization failed - check RBAC permissions");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 413)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Payload too large - max 1MB per event, 1MB total batch");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Event Grid error: {ex.Status} - {ex.Message}");
}
```

## Failover Pattern

```csharp
try
{
    var primaryClient = new EventGridPublisherClient(primaryUri, primaryKey);
    await primaryClient.SendEventsAsync(events);
}
catch (RequestFailedException)
{
    // Failover to secondary region
    var secondaryClient = new EventGridPublisherClient(secondaryUri, secondaryKey);
    await secondaryClient.SendEventsAsync(events);
}
```

## Related SDKs

| SDK | Purpose | Install |
|-----|---------|---------|
| `Azure.Messaging.EventGrid` | Topics/Domains (this SDK) | `dotnet add package Azure.Messaging.EventGrid` |
| `Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.Namespaces` | Pull delivery | `dotnet add package Azure.Messaging.EventGrid.Namespaces` |
| `Azure.Identity` | Authentication | `dotnet add package Azure.Identity` |
| `Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.EventGrid` | Azure Functions trigger | `dotnet add package Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Extensions.EventGrid` |

## Reference Links

| Resource | URL |
|----------|-----|
| NuGet Package | https://www.nuget.org/packages/Azure.Messaging.EventGrid |
| API Reference | https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/azure.messaging.eventgrid |
| Quickstart | https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/event-grid/custom-event-quickstart |
| Pull Delivery | https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/event-grid/pull-delivery-overview |
| GitHub Source | https://github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-net/tree/main/sdk/eventgrid/Azure.Messaging.EventGrid |

Overview

This skill provides a concise guide to the Azure Event Grid SDK for .NET, covering publishing and consuming events with EventGridEvent and CloudEvent schemas. It explains client types, authentication options, push and pull delivery modes, and practical code patterns for reliable event-driven architectures. Use it to implement pub/sub messaging, CloudEvents interoperability, and namespace pull delivery in .NET applications.

How this skill works

The SDK exposes publisher and receiver clients: EventGridPublisherClient for push delivery to topics and domains, and EventGridSenderClient/EventGridReceiverClient for pull delivery from namespaces. It supports two event schemas—EventGridEvent (Azure-native) and CloudEvent (CNCF standard)—and offers APIs to send single events or batches, receive and acknowledge or release events, and handle dead-lettering. Authentication supports API keys, Azure AD (DefaultAzureCredential), and SAS tokens.

When to use it

  • Send telemetry, domain events, or custom application events from .NET services to Event Grid topics or domains.
  • Implement cross-service pub/sub with CloudEvents to improve interoperability across platforms.
  • Consume events in pull-delivery scenarios using namespaces where receivers acknowledge, release, or reject events.
  • Integrate Event Grid with Azure Functions using EventGridEvent or CloudEvent triggers for serverless processing.
  • Build resilient event pipelines with failover, batching, and dead-letter handling.

Best practices

  • Prefer CloudEvents for new systems to maximize interoperability and standard attributes.
  • Batch events where possible to improve throughput and reduce API calls.
  • Use Azure AD (managed identity) instead of static keys for production authentication.
  • Design idempotent consumers—events can be delivered more than once.
  • Handle partial failures: acknowledge successful events and release or reject failures for retry or dead-lettering.
  • Validate event schema and size (1 MB per event and batch limits) before publishing.

Example use cases

  • Publishing order lifecycle events (Order.Created, Order.Updated) to drive downstream workflows like invoicing and shipping.
  • Streaming telemetry from IoT devices using CloudEvents to a centralized event mesh for analytics.
  • Pull-delivery consumer that receives employee updates from a namespace, acknowledges processed messages, and dead-letters broken payloads.
  • Azure Function that triggers on EventGridEvent to react to resource lifecycle or storage blob events.
  • Regional failover: try primary Event Grid topic and automatically send to a secondary topic on failure.

FAQ

Which event schema should I choose: EventGridEvent or CloudEvent?

Choose CloudEvent for new, cross-platform integrations; use EventGridEvent when you need Azure-native features or are working with existing Event Grid-specific tooling.

How do I authenticate securely in production?

Use Azure AD with DefaultAzureCredential and managed identities wherever possible; fall back to AzureKeyCredential or SAS tokens only when necessary.