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62

I wish to add an ASP.NET Web API to an ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Application project, developed in Visual Studio 2012. Which steps must I perform to add a functioning Web API to the project? I'm aware that I need a controller deriving from ApiController, but that's about all I know.

Let me know if I need to provide more details.

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5 Answers 5

up vote 203 down vote accepted

The steps I needed to perform were:

  1. Add reference to System.Web.Http.WebHost.
  2. Add App_Start\WebApiConfig.cs (see code snippet below).
  3. Import namespace System.Web.Http in Global.asax.cs.
  4. Call WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration) in MvcApplication.Application_Start() (in file Global.asax.cs), before registering the default Web Application route as that would otherwise take precedence.
  5. Add a controller deriving from System.Web.Http.ApiController.

I could then learn enough from the tutorial (Your First ASP.NET Web API) to define my API controller.

App_Start\WebApiConfig.cs:

using System.Web.Http;

class WebApiConfig
{
    public static void Register(HttpConfiguration configuration)
    {
        configuration.Routes.MapHttpRoute("API Default", "api/{controller}/{id}",
            new { id = RouteParameter.Optional });
    }
}

Global.asax.cs:

using System.Web.Http;

...

protected void Application_Start()
{
    AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

    RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
    WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
    RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
    BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
}
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9  
This was really helpful. I had to add a reference to System.Net.Http as well, but apart from that, it worked like a charm! –  Christofer Eliasson Aug 24 '12 at 13:06
1  
Cool, I just tested by creating a new MVC 4 Internet project though, and it already references System.Net.Http. So maybe your case differs slightly? –  aknuds1 Aug 24 '12 at 13:32
4  
I upgraded a project from MVC3 to 4 as well and also needed to add a reference to System.Web.Http. –  Damien Sawyer Oct 16 '12 at 22:16
1  
I created an "Internet Application" and it seems that all of this is done for you out of the box. –  makerofthings7 Jan 29 '13 at 3:08
1  
@longda The Web API route in this answer means that requests to /api/* get routed to API controllers. I don't think it matters if you put your API controllers in a sub-directory ("api"), although I've done this in my projects. Just try for yourself. –  aknuds1 Feb 8 '13 at 23:21
up vote 36 down vote

UPDATE 11/22/2013 - this is the latest WebApi package:

Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi

Original answer (this is an older WebApi package)

Install-Package AspNetWebApi

More details: http://wildermuth.com/2012/2/22/WebAPI_for_the_MVC_Guy

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3  
As of 2013 that is a legacy package and you want Install-Package Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi now. See nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi –  Chris Aug 13 '13 at 2:24
up vote 9 down vote

When creating ASP.NET MVC 4 Web Application project, even empty project, the package Microsoft ASP.NET Web Api is added by default.

So for the first baby step, just create one test api controller which inherits from ApiController from namespace System.Web.Http and then learn tutorial to follow.

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So, what else do I need to do except add the controller? This is why I posted this question in the first place, the tutorial doesn't really say since it assumes a Web API project. I've added an API controller, but it isn't routed to. –  aknuds1 Aug 17 '12 at 6:57
    
The tutorial wasn't of much help as regards adding a Web API to an existing project, so I figured it out from a Web API project, as outlined in my answer. –  aknuds1 Aug 17 '12 at 7:34
    
I agree, it seems that this plumbing is already installed if you use the Web App project template. –  longda Feb 8 '13 at 22:56
up vote 4 down vote

As soon as you add a "WebApi Controller" under controllers folder, Visual Studio takes care of dependencies automatically;

Visual Studio has added the full set of dependencies for ASP.NET Web API 2 to project 'MyTestProject'.

The Global.asax.cs file in the project may require additional changes to enable ASP.NET Web API.

  1. Add the following namespace references:

    using System.Web.Http; using System.Web.Routing;

  2. If the code does not already define an Application_Start method, add the following method:

    protected void Application_Start() { }

  3. Add the following lines to the beginning of the Application_Start method:

    GlobalConfiguration.Configure(WebApiConfig.Register);

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This is by far the easiest way to achieve this now. –  Adam Smith Oct 27 '14 at 3:28
up vote 2 down vote

Before you start merging MVC and Web API projects I would suggest to read about cons and pros to separate these as different projects. One very important thing (my own) is authentication systems, which is totally different.

IF you need to use authenticated requests on both MVC and Web API, you need to remember that Web API is RESTful (don't need to keep session, simple HTTP requests, etc.), but MVC is not.

To look on the differences of implementations simply create 2 different projects in Visual Studio 2013 from Templates: one for MVC and one for Web API (don't forget to turn On "Individual Authentication" during creation). You will see a lot of difference in AuthencationControllers.

So, be aware.

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