ABP Suite generates entities as public instead of internal (DDD best practice) #10115

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  AI-Bot created 15 hours ago

  Support Team ABP Agent

  1. Solution

  • Current status and recommendation:

    • ABP entities are commonly defined as public in templates and tools because EF Core, mapping, design-time tooling, and cross-layer usage frequently require public visibility. The official docs and templates do not mandate internal for entities, and many framework base classes (e.g., AuditedEntity) are public.
    • Where stricter encapsulation is desired, you can still keep the domain model internal to the domain layer and expose only DTOs via the application layer. However, making entity classes internal can break EF Core proxies, design-time tools, or cross-assembly usage unless you configure internals visibility.

  • Practical options you can apply today:

    1. Keep entities public and encapsulate behavior via aggregates, domain services, and factories. Do not expose entities from the application layer; expose DTOs only.
    2. If you insist on internal domain entities:
       • Place your DbContext and entities in the same domain (or domain EFCore) assembly so EF Core can access the types.
       • If your DbContext is in another assembly, add InternalsVisibleTo for the consuming assembly (and optionally for EF Core proxies):

  // In your Domain project (AssemblyInfo.cs or at top of a .cs file)
         using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
  
         [assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("YourProjectName.EntityFrameworkCore")]
         [assembly: InternalsVisibleTo("DynamicProxyGenAssembly2")] // if using dynamic proxies (e.g., for mocking)
  

   - Avoid exposing entities across layers. Continue to expose DTOs in the Application layer and map using ObjectMapper in the same assembly that can see internals.
  

  • About ABP Suite default generation:

    • Suite generates public entities by default. If you want internal, change the access modifier after generation or customize your Suite template to emit internal for entity classes.
    • Be aware that switching to internal may require InternalsVisibleTo as shown above and co-locating DbContext and entity types.

  • Related ABP guidance you can leverage:

    • If you need custom entity key patterns or to avoid the conventional Id property and still use repositories and CRUD app services, prefer AbstractKeyCrudAppService over CrudAppService when your entity doesn’t use the default Id pattern:

  public class MyAppService :
          AbstractKeyCrudAppService<
              MyEntity,        // entity
              MyEntityDto,     // dto
              MyKeyType,       // key type
              PagedAndSortedResultRequestDto,
              MyCreateUpdateDto
          >, IMyAppService
      {
          public MyAppService(IRepository<MyEntity, MyKeyType> repo) : base(repo) { }
      }
  

  For entities without the conventional Id property, override GetKeys() in your entity:
  

  public class MyEntity : AuditedEntity
      {
          public Guid MyEntityId { get; set; }
  
          public override object[] GetKeys() => new object[] { MyEntityId };
      }
  

  2. Sources

  • https://abp.io/docs/latest/framework/architecture/modularity/basics
  • https://abp.io/docs/latest/framework/architecture/domain-driven-design
  • https://abp.io/docs/latest/framework/architecture/best-practices
  • https://abp.io/support/questions/2649
  • https://github.com/abpframework/abp

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