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azure-servicebus-dotnet

Azure Service Bus SDK for .NET. Enterprise messaging with queues, topics, subscriptions, and sessions.

Documentation

Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus (.NET)

Enterprise messaging SDK for reliable message delivery with queues, topics, subscriptions, and sessions.

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus
dotnet add package Azure.Identity

Current Version: v7.20.1 (stable)

Environment Variables

AZURE_SERVICEBUS_FULLY_QUALIFIED_NAMESPACE=<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net
# Or connection string (less secure)
AZURE_SERVICEBUS_CONNECTION_STRING=Endpoint=sb://...

Authentication

Microsoft Entra ID (Recommended)

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Messaging.ServiceBus;

string fullyQualifiedNamespace = "<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net";
await using ServiceBusClient client = new(fullyQualifiedNamespace, new DefaultAzureCredential());

Connection String

string connectionString = "<connection_string>";
await using ServiceBusClient client = new(connectionString);

ASP.NET Core Dependency Injection

services.AddAzureClients(builder =>
{
    builder.AddServiceBusClientWithNamespace("<namespace>.servicebus.windows.net");
    builder.UseCredential(new DefaultAzureCredential());
});

Client Hierarchy

ServiceBusClient
├── CreateSender(queueOrTopicName)      → ServiceBusSender
├── CreateReceiver(queueName)           → ServiceBusReceiver
├── CreateReceiver(topicName, subName)  → ServiceBusReceiver
├── AcceptNextSessionAsync(queueName)   → ServiceBusSessionReceiver
├── CreateProcessor(queueName)          → ServiceBusProcessor
└── CreateSessionProcessor(queueName)   → ServiceBusSessionProcessor

ServiceBusAdministrationClient (separate client for CRUD)

Core Workflows

1. Send Messages

await using ServiceBusClient client = new(fullyQualifiedNamespace, new DefaultAzureCredential());
ServiceBusSender sender = client.CreateSender("my-queue");

// Single message
ServiceBusMessage message = new("Hello world!");
await sender.SendMessageAsync(message);

// Safe batching (recommended)
using ServiceBusMessageBatch batch = await sender.CreateMessageBatchAsync();
if (batch.TryAddMessage(new ServiceBusMessage("Message 1")))
{
    // Message added successfully
}
if (batch.TryAddMessage(new ServiceBusMessage("Message 2")))
{
    // Message added successfully
}
await sender.SendMessagesAsync(batch);

2. Receive Messages

ServiceBusReceiver receiver = client.CreateReceiver("my-queue");

// Single message
ServiceBusReceivedMessage message = await receiver.ReceiveMessageAsync();
string body = message.Body.ToString();
Console.WriteLine(body);

// Complete the message (removes from queue)
await receiver.CompleteMessageAsync(message);

// Batch receive
IReadOnlyList<ServiceBusReceivedMessage> messages = await receiver.ReceiveMessagesAsync(maxMessages: 10);
foreach (var msg in messages)
{
    Console.WriteLine(msg.Body.ToString());
    await receiver.CompleteMessageAsync(msg);
}

3. Message Settlement

// Complete - removes message from queue
await receiver.CompleteMessageAsync(message);

// Abandon - releases lock, message can be received again
await receiver.AbandonMessageAsync(message);

// Defer - prevents normal receive, use ReceiveDeferredMessageAsync
await receiver.DeferMessageAsync(message);

// Dead Letter - moves to dead letter subqueue
await receiver.DeadLetterMessageAsync(message, "InvalidFormat", "Message body was not valid JSON");

4. Background Processing with Processor

ServiceBusProcessor processor = client.CreateProcessor("my-queue", new ServiceBusProcessorOptions
{
    AutoCompleteMessages = false,
    MaxConcurrentCalls = 2
});

processor.ProcessMessageAsync += async (args) =>
{
    try
    {
        string body = args.Message.Body.ToString();
        Console.WriteLine($"Received: {body}");
        await args.CompleteMessageAsync(args.Message);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Error processing: {ex.Message}");
        await args.AbandonMessageAsync(args.Message);
    }
};

processor.ProcessErrorAsync += (args) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Error source: {args.ErrorSource}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Entity: {args.EntityPath}");
    Console.WriteLine($"Exception: {args.Exception}");
    return Task.CompletedTask;
};

await processor.StartProcessingAsync();
// ... application runs
await processor.StopProcessingAsync();

5. Sessions (Ordered Processing)

// Send session message
ServiceBusMessage message = new("Hello")
{
    SessionId = "order-123"
};
await sender.SendMessageAsync(message);

// Receive from next available session
ServiceBusSessionReceiver receiver = await client.AcceptNextSessionAsync("my-queue");

// Or receive from specific session
ServiceBusSessionReceiver receiver = await client.AcceptSessionAsync("my-queue", "order-123");

// Session state management
await receiver.SetSessionStateAsync(new BinaryData("processing"));
BinaryData state = await receiver.GetSessionStateAsync();

// Renew ses