Embedded Mode

Embedded mode adds Bowire directly to your ASP.NET application — one MapBowire() line and you have an interactive multi-protocol API workbench mounted at /bowire (configurable). This is the recommended setup for development because every protocol plugin has full access to the application's service provider and endpoint metadata, so discovery is richer than what the standalone tool can get over the network.

How packages are organised

Bowire is split into a core package (Kuestenlogik.Bowire) and one package per protocol (Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Grpc, Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.SignalR, Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Rest, etc.).

You only need to install the protocol packages you actually use. Each Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.* package transitively pulls in Kuestenlogik.Bowire via its NuGet dependency graph — installing Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Grpc automatically also installs the core package, you don't have to (and shouldn't) list both.

gRPC

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Grpc

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddGrpc();
builder.Services.AddGrpcReflection();

var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGrpcService<GreeterService>();
app.MapGrpcReflectionService();
app.MapBowire();

app.Run();

Requirements:

  • AddGrpcReflection() and MapGrpcReflectionService() must be configured — this is what Bowire talks to during discovery
  • The gRPC plugin reads google.api.http annotations on your proto methods and exposes the HTTP-transcoded endpoints alongside the native gRPC ones, so users can pick "via gRPC" or "via HTTP" per method

SignalR

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.SignalR

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddSignalR();

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapHub<ChatHub>("/chathub");
app.MapBowire();

app.Run();

Requirements:

  • Hubs must be mapped with MapHub<T>() before MapBowire() — Bowire reads the application's endpoint metadata to discover them

REST (OpenAPI / Swagger)

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Rest

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddOpenApi();   // or Swashbuckle / NSwag

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapOpenApi();                 // serves /openapi/v1.json
// ... your minimal API endpoints or controllers
app.MapBowire();

app.Run();

Requirements:

  • An OpenAPI / Swagger document must be reachable from Bowire. The REST plugin probes common paths (/openapi/v1.json, /swagger/v1/swagger.json, etc.); if your document lives elsewhere you can also upload it manually via the sidebar's "Schema Files" tab

GraphQL

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.GraphQL

// Whichever GraphQL server you use (HotChocolate, GraphQL.NET, etc.)
app.MapGraphQL("/graphql");
app.MapBowire();

Requirements:

  • The GraphQL endpoint must allow __schema introspection — most servers do by default in development. If introspection is disabled in production, upload the SDL via the sidebar's "Schema Files" tab as a fallback

SSE (Server-Sent Events)

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Sse

var app = builder.Build();

app.MapGet("/events/ticker", async (HttpContext ctx) =>
{
    ctx.Response.ContentType = "text/event-stream";
    // ... emit SSE events
}).WithMetadata(new SseEndpointAttribute { Description = "Live ticker" });

app.MapBowire();

Or register endpoints explicitly via AddBowireSseEndpoint:

app.AddBowireSseEndpoint("/events/ticker", "Ticker", "Live price updates");

MCP (AI Agent Integration)

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Mcp

The MCP plugin auto-mounts the discovered unary methods as MCP tools at /bowire/mcp/sse (opt-in via --enable-mcp-adapter). Add the endpoint to your AI agent config — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Copilot all support MCP servers.

WebSocket

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.WebSocket

app.UseWebSockets();
// ... your WebSocket endpoint registrations
app.MapBowire();

The WebSocket plugin gives you an interactive frame editor with text + binary support, sub-protocol selection, and a per-frame type toggle.

All protocols at once

The plugins coexist — install the combination that matches your service stack:

dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Grpc
dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.SignalR
dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Rest
dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.GraphQL
dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Sse
dotnet add package Kuestenlogik.Bowire.Protocol.Mcp

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddGrpc();
builder.Services.AddGrpcReflection();
builder.Services.AddSignalR();
builder.Services.AddOpenApi();

var app = builder.Build();
app.MapGrpcService<GreeterService>();
app.MapGrpcReflectionService();
app.MapHub<ChatHub>("/chathub");
app.MapOpenApi();
app.MapGraphQL("/graphql");
app.AddBowireSseEndpoint("/events/ticker", "Ticker", "Live updates");
app.MapBowire();

app.Run();

Development-only setup

Restrict Bowire to development environments:

if (app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.MapGrpcReflectionService();
    app.MapBowire();
}

Configuration

app.MapBowire(options =>
{
    options.Title = "My API";
    options.Description = "v2.3 — Staging";
    options.Theme = BowireTheme.Dark;
    options.ShowInternalServices = false;
});

See UI Guide for the full options reference.

Custom route prefix

app.MapBowire("/api-browser", options =>
{
    options.Title = "API Browser";
});
// UI is now at /api-browser instead of /bowire

Reverse proxy

When running behind a reverse proxy (nginx, YARP), configure the upstream server URL so Bowire knows where to dispatch invocations:

app.MapBowire(options =>
{
    options.ServerUrl = "https://backend-grpc:5001";
});

For nginx, make sure SSE streaming isn't buffered:

location /bowire/ {
    proxy_pass http://backend:5000;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Connection '';
    proxy_buffering off;
    proxy_cache off;
    chunked_transfer_encoding off;
}

Securing the UI

Protect Bowire with ASP.NET authorization:

app.MapBowire()
   .RequireAuthorization("AdminOnly");

See also

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