How-To: Quickly create and register a Kiota Client for an API

When working with APIs in your application, having a strongly-typed client can simplify communication and reduce boilerplate code. Kiota is a tool that generates strongly-typed API clients from Swagger/OpenAPI definitions. With Uno.Extensions, you can easily register and use Kiota clients in your Uno Platform app without additional setup.

Step-by-Step Guide

Important

This guide assumes you used the template wizard or dotnet new unoapp to create your solution. If not, it is recommended that you follow the Creating an application with Uno.Extensions documentation to create an application from the template.

1. Installation

Add HttpKiota to the <UnoFeatures> property in the Class Library (.csproj) file:

<UnoFeatures>
    Material;
    Extensions;
+   HttpKiota;
    Toolkit;
    MVUX;
</UnoFeatures>

2. Enable Http in Host Builder

Add the UseHttp method to the IHostBuilder:

protected override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs args)
{
    var appBuilder = this.CreateBuilder(args)
        .Configure(hostBuilder =>
        {
            hostBuilder.UseHttp();
        });
    ...
}

3. Generate the Kiota Client

Install the Kiota tool:

dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.OpenApi.Kiota

Generate the Client using the OpenAPI specification URL or a local file:

# From a static spec file
kiota generate --openapi PATH_TO_YOUR_API_SPEC.json --language CSharp --class-name MyApiClient --namespace MyApp.Client --output ./Client

# OR directly from the running server’s Swagger endpoint
kiota generate --openapi http://localhost:5002/swagger/v1/swagger.json --language CSharp --class-name MyApiClient --namespace MyApp.Client --output ./Client

This will create a client named MyApiClient in the Client folder.

4. Register the Kiota Client


protected override void OnLaunched(LaunchActivatedEventArgs args)
{
    var appBuilder = this.CreateBuilder(args)
        .Configure(hostBuilder =>
        {
            hostBuilder.UseHttp((context, services) =>
                services.AddKiotaClient<MyApiClient>(
                    context,
                    options: new EndpointOptions { Url = "https://localhost:5002" }
                )
            );
        });
}

5. Use the Kiota Client in Your Code

Inject the ApiClient into your view model or service and make API requests:

public class MyViewModel
{
    private readonly MyApiClient _apiClient;

    public MyViewModel(MyApiClient apiClient)
    {
        _apiClient = apiClient;
    }

    public async Task GetAll()
    {
        var something = await _apiClient.Api.GetAsync();
        Console.WriteLine($"Retrieved {something?.Count}.");
    }
}

Important Considerations

With Uno.Extensions.Authentication, the HttpClient automatically includes the Authorization header. You don't need to manually handle token injection. The middleware ensures the access token is included in each request.
Ensure your server is running and the swagger.json file is accessible at the specified URL when generating the Kiota client.